Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-11-23

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] IOC PLEASED WITH PROGRESS

[02] ILIESKU IN CRETE

[03] CHRISOCHOIDIS: INTERNATIONAL-EUROPEAN POLICIES AGAINST ILLEGAL

[04] SANTIAGO CALATRAVA EXHIBITION IN THESSALONIKI

[05] SIGNIFICANT LOSSES IN THE ASE

[06] POSITIVE ATMOSPHERE IN THE SIMITIS-OSWALD MEETING

[07] AVRAMOPOULOS: HOPE IS BORN IN THESSALONIKI

[08] EPILEPTICS IN GREECE ARE ESTIMATED AT 100.000

[09] BORDER GUARDS ARRESTED 45.000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

[10] GREECE: TOURISM INCREASE IN 2002

[11] CONFERENCE ON DEVELOPMENT ON SE EUROPE

[12] TOP SECRET REPORT ON TERRORISM IN GREECE

[13] MAGRIOTIS ATTENDS THE CENTRAL-EUROPEAN INITIATIVE MEETING

[01] IOC PLEASED WITH PROGRESS

The members of the International Olympic Committee seem to be pleased with the progress made on the works in Athens, in view of the 2004 Olympics.

The IOC group is completing its 48 hour visit to Greece today, and President of the Coordination Committee Dennis Oswald, will meet with Prime Minister Kostas Simitis and the other Ministers, responsible for the preparations. This morning Mr. Oswald met with the Minister of Transfers, Mr. Verelis, while meetings with the Ministers of Culture and of the Environment, Planning and Public Works, Mr. Venizelos and Mrs. Papandreou, will follow.

This afternoon Mr. Oswald will hold a press conference, where he will refer to the progress of the works. The inspection of the IOC group mainly focused on the Olympic Village, infrastructure works, transfers and communication.

[02] ILIESKU IN CRETE

President of Romania Ion Iliesku has been in Crete since this morning, continuing, for the third and last day, his official visit to Greece.

Mr. Iliesku will visit the archeological sites of Heracleion and Knossos at noon, and will later attend a reception held by the Prefect of Heracleion in a city hotel.

Mr. Iliesku will meet with businessmen and representatives of the Romanian community of Crete. Late in the afternoon, Mr. Iliesku will depart from the island for Romania.

[03] CHRISOCHOIDIS: INTERNATIONAL-EUROPEAN POLICIES AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Significant steps have been made against illegal immigration but further international and European policies are necessary to deal with the problem at its origin. Illegal immigrants come from countries facing problems and therefore, they will have to be assisted both economically and socially to stop the phenomenon of illegal immigration.

The above were stated in parliament today by Minister of Public Order Michalis Chrisochoidis.

Mr. Chrisochoidis said that the top priority is to create more Reception Centers for illegal immigrants and added that Greece received the congratulations of the responsible Schengen Control Committee for the efforts it has made on the problem of illegal immigration.

Mr. Chrisochoidis underlined that illegal immigration is an international problem, stating that a total of 10.5 million illegal immigrants entered Germany and 7 million of them were returned to their countries. In Italy, 5.5 million people entered the country illegally and in France their number reached 7.5 millions. Referring to the measures taken by the government, the Minister of Public Order stated that in Greece a total of 700.000 foreigners have been legalized, while in the period 2000-2001 a total of 360.000 illegal immigrants were returned to their countries.

[04] SANTIAGO CALATRAVA EXHIBITION IN THESSALONIKI

An exhibition of works by famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava will be inaugurated in Thessaloniki this evening by Minister of Culture Evangelos Venizelos. The scale models and designs created by Calatrava for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games make up the nucleus of the exhibition.

Santiago Calatrava, who is in Thessaloniki on the occasion of his exhibition, spoke to reporters about his relation with Greece, the new Museum at the Acropolis which will house the Parthenon Marbles when they will be repatriated from Britain, the Olympic projects he undertook, the architecture of Thessaloniki and the Cyclades which he admires and the modern cities that have lost their human dimension because of their rapid and uncontrolled expansion.

He said that his relation with Greece started when he was a university student and came to Greece to study the architecture of monuments and the traditional architecture of the Cyclades islands. Mr. Calatrava said that he was born in Valenthia and his house was close to the sea but the sea of the Cyclades is the most beautiful he ever saw in his life. He added characteristically that this was the best lesson of architecture he ever got.

Mr. Calatrava said that the classic monuments even if they are 2.400 year old ruins are characterized by harmony, adding that architecture is to be able to make beautiful buildings that one day will become beautiful ruins.

Mr. Calatrava is one of the leading architects in the world and his constructions can be found in different countries, combining high aesthetics and function in a unique way. Among the most distinguished samples of his work are the bridges Bach de Roda in Barcelona and Alamillo in Sevilla, the Lyon Airport railway station and the unique City of Arts and Sciences in his home city Valenthia.

[05] SIGNIFICANT LOSSES IN THE ASE

Significant losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -2.65% at 2.674,98 points, while the volume of transactions was 203 million Euro or 69 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, only 13 recorded gains and the overwhelming majority namely, 345 had losses. The value of 11 stocks remained unchanged.

[06] POSITIVE ATMOSPHERE IN THE SIMITIS-OSWALD MEETING

The International Olympic Committee, IOC, members expressed satisfaction with the course of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games preparations.

The above were stated by Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos after the meeting Prime Minister Kostas Simitis had with International Olympic Committee Coordinating Committee president Dennis Oswald.

Mr. Venizelos stated that the Simitis-Oswald meeting was held in a positive climate, stressing characteristically that the problems that were traced can be faced responsibly in the future. He stressed that the Coordinating Committee got a balanced and positive picture of the preparations made and realized that a big progress has been made since its last visit to Athens in September.

Minister of Environment, Land Planning and Public Works, Vaso Papandreou stated that the organizing of the Olympiad proceeds in a satisfactory manner and added that the timetables set will be met regardless of how pressing they are.

[07] AVRAMOPOULOS: HOPE IS BORN IN THESSALONIKI

The Movement of Free Citizens Party is open to post-election alliances if there is an agreement in agendas and it would cooperate easily with the socialist party of PASOK and the right-wing New Democracy Party, stated its leader Dimitris Avramopoulos in a press conference he gave in a Thessaloniki hotel today in view of his party's founding congress tomorrow.

Mr. Avramopoulos stated that he will complete his term as mayor of Athens, stressing that this is an act of consistency and responsibility. He ruled out the likelihood to be again a candidate for the post of the mayor of Athens, regardless of whether the Athens municipality will maintain its present form or become a Metropolitan municipality.

[08] EPILEPTICS IN GREECE ARE ESTIMATED AT 100.000

About 100.000 Greeks suffer from epileptic seizures, and 33.000 of them are children.

The above were announced in the 7th Mediterranean Conference on Epilepsy that is being held in Athens and will be completed on Sunday.

It was also stressed that parents should be careful with the video games and television programs watched by their children as about 80 children a year suffer an epileptic seizure due to photosensitivity.

[09] BORDER GUARDS ARRESTED 45.000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

The work of the newly created Border Protection Corps is characterized as impressive.

According to official figures, in the two years since its establishment its members have arrested more than 45.000 illegal immigrants, and 296 human traffickers, while about 200 trucks and private cars used in the transportation of the illegal immigrants have been confiscated.

[10] GREECE: TOURISM INCREASE IN 2002

The number of tourists that will visit Greece in 2002 will be increased, stated Undersecretary of Development Dimitris Georgakopoulos, speaking in parliament yesterday.

The undersecretary stressed that the bookings by German tourists for next year have increased by 3%, while bookings by British tourists have increased by 4% compared to last year, adding that the number of bookings could have been increased by 10% if the terrorist attack on the United States had not taken place.

Mr. Georgakopoulos admitted that there is a problem with the bookings from the United States and the special types of tourism and stated that crises management committees have been formed in the Ministry of Development to deal with those problems.

Meanwhile, according to a study by the Tourist Research and Outlook Institute foreign winter tourism in Greece corresponds to 9% of the overall annual foreign tourism, when in other countries like Italy, Spain, France and Portugal it reaches 25%.

[11] CONFERENCE ON DEVELOPMENT ON SE EUROPE

A conference on Democracy, security, and economic growth in Southeastern Europe, will take place today and tomorrow in the Athens Plaza Hotel. At the conference, which is being organized by the K. Karamanlis Institute and the German foundation "Conrad Adenaouer", speakers will include Balkan University Professors, while among the Greek speakers is the President of the In stitute, Giannis Varvitsiotis, Petros Molyviatis and Giannis Valinakis.

[12] TOP SECRET REPORT ON TERRORISM IN GREECE

A top secret report of the Greek authorities on terrorism in Greece, was published today by Ta Nea newspaper. The report was characterized by the newspaper as an extensive informative note of the Greek authorities, but the source and service that compiled it were not mentioned, although it is a recent analysis.

The report sees common starting points and roles for the November17, E.L.A. and Antistate Struggle organizations. It analyzes their activities and describes them as, if not a unit, communicating containers. Two people killed in shoot-outs, Christos Tsoutsouvis and Christos Kasimis, were characterized key-individuals.

Especially on November 17th, the report states that it is a group with few members, completely airtight, conspiratorial, of a strict vertical hierarchical structure, fighting with city guerilla warfare tactics. It's general staff has few members, but there are more executive bodies.

Also, as it mentions, November 17th has renewed itself as far as executive bodies are concerned, more than twice. It is certain that its human resources include women, and it is not out of the question for them to use foreigners for certain actions.

Finally, the report mentions cases related to terrorist attacks in Greece as evidence that came into the possession of the authorities.

[13] MAGRIOTIS ATTENDS THE CENTRAL-EUROPEAN INITIATIVE MEETING

Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Yiannis Magriotis attended today the Central-European Initiative summit meeting in Trieste, which is held under the presidency of Italy in the presence of Prime Minister Sylvio Berlusconi. Mr. Magriotis represents Greece, which currently holds the presidency of the Adriatic and Ionian Sea Initiative.

Mr. Magriotis speaking in the meeting referred to the actions undertaken by the Greek presidency within the framework of the Adriatic and Ionian Sea Initiative in combating organized crime, and terrorism and strengthening relations among the state parliaments of the member-states. He also pointed out the parallel course of activities developed by the two regional initiatives covering the region of Central Europe and the region of the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea.

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