Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-12-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] HARSH WEATHER SWEEPS OVER GREECE

[02] KARAMANLIS HARSH CRITICISM ON THE EUROARMY

[03] PAPANDREOU: WE FOUGHT FOR OUR NATIONAL INTEREST

[04] GREECE WILL SEEK PASSARIS EXTRADITION

[05] PETROL FLOW FROM THES/NIKI TO SKOPJE IN FEBRUARY

[01] HARSH WEATHER SWEEPS OVER GREECE

A wave of harsh weather is sweeping over the whole of Greece, while the National Weather Service forecasts mention that the weather will worsen today, with very low temperatures, storms, snow in mountainous regions and powerful winds in the Ionian Sea.

There was dense snow in mountainous regions and in the flats of Northern Greece yesterday, and the it snowed even in the center of Thessaloniki.

The state has mobilized its forces to keep the roads clear for traveling. The Ministry of Public Order ánnounced measures for the more effective countering of the extreme weather.

[02] KARAMANLIS HARSH CRITICISM ON THE EUROARMY

The government was not able to enforce the self-evident, as far as the Euroarmy issue at Laaken Summit Meeting is concerned, and now it is celebrating a postponement, which, however, does not create better conditions for the solution of the problem, which is more worrying because it proves that it has learned nothing and that it's running after developments endangering Greece and without fortifying its security, commented the President of New Democracy, Kostas Karamanlis.

He pointed out that the government cannot defend Greece sovereign rights on its own, and it called it to accept the proposal for a National Council for Foreign Policy immediately.

Mr. Karamanlis mentioned that with its inactivity and carelessness, the government has allowed the development of a discussion without expressing its direct disagreement, while the discussion took place in the absence of Greece, which is the only country in the EU with a direct threat to its territorial integrity.

The President of New Democracy underlined that the upcoming period is crucial to national affairs, and mentioned that this policy cannot continue.

[03] PAPANDREOU: WE FOUGHT FOR OUR NATIONAL INTEREST

Not only did Greece not sit quietly in the corner at the Laaken Summit Meeting, but it proved that it knows how to defend its national interest by promoting collective decisions, underlined Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou.

Explaining the position of the Greek government on the Euroarmy issue, in an interview to the "Sunday Ethnos", he noted: "The history of negotiations in the EU has shown that the only way to achieve your goals, is by presenting your positions positively. Greece proved that it has constructive proposals, but that it also "plays hardball" in negotiations concerning its sovereign rights. It is an acceptable tactic in the EU, since every country must protect its sovereign rights, and does so. We are not negativists, but any solution given must cover both our national rights and the way the EU functions. With our positions, we sent a clear message which marks our European orientation, but does not put us in the corner. When we have arguments and present them properly, we get positive results".

[04] GREECE WILL SEEK PASSARIS EXTRADITION

The Greek government will do anything for the extradition of Passaris, assured Minister of Justice Philippos Petsalnikos from Thessaloniki, during a visit to the city's Courthouse.

On whether Passaris' extradition to Greece is possible, Mr. Petsalnikos stated: "we are doing all we can for him to be turned over to Greece and we will insist on his extradition".

[05] PETROL FLOW FROM THES/NIKI TO SKOPJE IN FEBRUARY

In February 2002 the oil pipeline connecting Thessaloniki to Skopje will begin functioning, according to the announcements of Skopje OKTA petrol refinery representative, Risto Yanevski, at the session of the Chamber of Finance-Commerce of FYROM.

The power needs of the country for 2002 were discussed at the session. Áccording to expert speculations, the increase in power consumption for 2002 in FYROM will be 7.4%. The country will cover 56.47% of that with its own power resources, while it will have to expend $211 million for the purchasing of petrol, natural gas and electricity from abroad.

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