Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-12-20

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

CONTENTS

[01] THE NATIONAL ACTION PLAN AGAINST DRUGS

[02] MILLER-PAPANDREOU MEETING

[03] CLARIFICATIONS BY THE FOREIGN MINISTER ON THE EURO-ARMY AND CYPRUS

[04] BALKANS-BLACK SEA COUNTRIES-EASTERN EUROPE: A HANDY GUIDE BY MPA

[05] REPPAS: 2.1 TRILLION DRACHMAS TO DEAL WITH UNEMPLOYMENT

[06] LOSSES IN THE ASE

[07] OLYMPIC AIRWAYS ENDED ITS FLIGHTS TO AUSTRALIA AND THE ISLAND OF PAROS

[08] 200 MILLION DRACHMAS COMPENSATION TO A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE VICTIM

[09] MASS MEDIA MOBILIZATION AGAINST JOB LOSSES IN THE SECTOR

[10] CABINET IN SESSION

[11] SIMITIS MEETS DELEGATES OF CHINESE C.P.

[12] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPEAN DEFENSE MINISTERS MEET IN TURKEY

[13] SIMITIS WILL VISIT BULGARIA

[14] THE EU WANTS THE CYPRUS ISSUE TO BE RESOLVED BEFORE CYPRUS' EU

[15] INTERRELIGIOUS SUMMIT STARTS

[16] INTERNATIONAL INTEREST IN BALKANS MUST RETAIN

[01] THE NATIONAL ACTION PLAN AGAINST DRUGS

The national action plan against drugs was discussed in the Ministerial Committee meeting today held under the presidency of Prime Minister Kostas Simitis with the participation of 10 government ministers.

Mr. Simitis referred to a number of measures that will be implemented in the next five-year period of 2002-2006. The measures will be based on two axes: the drop in the demand of drug substances through prevention, treatment and social rehabilitation and the effective control of illegal drug-trafficking. The Prime Minister stated that the national action plan will be discussed in the responsible parliament committee for greater consensus and support by society.

[02] MILLER-PAPANDREOU MEETING

The visit Mr. Simitis will pay to the US on January 9 and 10, was the topic of discussions during the meeting Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou and US Ambassador Thomas Miller had yesterday.

In statements after the meeting, Mr. Miller underlined that the Simitis-Bush agenda will include terrorism, the situation in the Middle East and the Balkans, the Euroarmy and its relation to NATO and the EU.

[03] CLARIFICATIONS BY THE FOREIGN MINISTER ON THE EURO-ARMY AND CYPRUS

The assurance that Greece will not sign an agreement on the Euro-army if its demands are not satisfied was given by Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou in a press conference today.

Mr. Papandreou stated that a road of tough negotiations was opened after the Laeken EU Summit meeting, stressing that Greece will be firm in its positions. He stated characteristically that Greece will defend its interests.

On the Cyprus issue, the Foreign Minister stated that Cyprus' EU accession into the European Union is given and is independent of the solution of the political problem on the island. He also stated that the current situation favors the efforts to find a solution to the problem stressing, however, that excessive expectations must be avoided.

On the occasion of the imminent visit of Prime Minister Kostas Simitis to the United States where he will meet with US President George Bush, Mr. Papandreou stated that the two leaders will discuss the Euro-army, the Cyprus issue, the cooperation in the fight against terrorism and the Greek-US cooperation in the Balkans.

[04] BALKANS-BLACK SEA COUNTRIES-EASTERN EUROPE: A HANDY GUIDE BY MPA

Macedonian Press Agency, MPA, has published a handy guide for a fourth year with useful information on the Balkan, and Central and Eastern European countries.

The guide includes the political system of the Balkan and Black Sea countries, a description of their economy in numbers, the main political figures and their diplomatic representation. It also includes many geographic and historical details, their international conflicts, their state of defense as well as, useful telephone numbers.

[05] REPPAS: 2.1 TRILLION DRACHMAS TO DEAL WITH UNEMPLOYMENT

The sum of 2.1 trillion drachmas will be allocated by 2006 to back the efforts aimed at dealing with the problem of unemployment, according to Labor Minister Dimitris Reppas who made the announcement in the discussion of the new state budget in parliament.

He also announced that the social protection measures for the weaker classes will be strengthened with new social benefits starting on January 1, 2002.

Mr. Reppas confirmed that 300.000 new job positions, and 300.000 new job training positions will be created by 2004, while 300.000 workers will be placed in training programs.

[06] LOSSES IN THE ASE

Significant losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -1.01% at 2.584,98 points, while the volume of transactions was 202 million Euro or 69 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, only 66 recorded gains and 255 had losses, while the value of 31 stocks remained unchanged.

[07] OLYMPIC AIRWAYS ENDED ITS FLIGHTS TO AUSTRALIA AND THE ISLAND OF PAROS

The state-run airline Olympic Airways announced that it will end its flights to Australia and the Aegean island of Paros in early 2002. The passengers who want to go to Australia will have to fly to Singapore with Olympic Airways and from there they will board Singapore Airlines' planes to Australia.

Also, the Olympic Airways management announced that it ends the airline's flights to the Aegean island of Paros as well.

For the record, those measures are placed within the wider framework of the efforts aimed at dealing with the international crisis in the air transportation sector.

[08] 200 MILLION DRACHMAS COMPENSATION TO A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE VICTIM

An Athens court awarded a 200 million drachmas lump sum compensation and 1.5 million per month for a period of two years to a woman who was the victim of medical malpractice in a breast plastic surgery she underwent in the Naval Hospital.

In the lawsuit filed by the woman against the Greek state, she claimed that a number of serious omissions were made by the doctors when she was admitted in the hospital and during a breast plastic operation.

As a result of the omissions and errors that are attributed to the anesthesiologist and the surgeon, the woman became a "vegetable" with a 100% handicap.

[09] MASS MEDIA MOBILIZATION AGAINST JOB LOSSES IN THE SECTOR

The layoffs in the sector of mass media, the collective work contracts' violations, and the downgrading of the quality of the news, as it is expressed mainly in the television news bulletins, caused the reaction of the Greek journalists who held a work stoppage this afternoon.

The work stoppage decision was reached by the Association of Daily Newspapers Journalists in Athens. In the mobilization also took part the Macedonia-Thrace Association of Journalists and the mass media technicians.

[10] CABINET IN SESSION

The Cabinet will hold a meeting today, presided over by Prime Minister Kostas Simitis. The topic of their discussions will be the materialization progress of the 3rd Communal Support Framework in relation to the schedule and the goals that have been set.

[11] SIMITIS MEETS DELEGATES OF CHINESE C.P.

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis met with a delegation of the Chinese Communist Party yesterday. The international juncture we are at, international relations and the situation in Central Asia, were at the center of their meeting. Furthermore, Mr. Simitis announced he will visit China by the end of Spring.

[12] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPEAN DEFENSE MINISTERS MEET IN TURKEY

The Southeastern European Defense Ministers annual Summit meeting opened in Antalia, Turkey to discuss, mainly, the establishment of a multi-national Southeastern European Brigade.

Greek Minister of Defense Yiannos Papantoniou participates in the summit meeting and in statements he made underlined that Greece will not accept any Euro-army regulations that are in conflict with the Greek positions.

Mr. Papantoniou stated that the decisions on the issue are made by the European Union and speculated that the Greek-Turkish relations will not be affected by the specific issue.

On the sidelines of the summit, Mr. Papantoniou met with his Turkish counterpart Sabahadin Cakmakoglu.

[13] SIMITIS WILL VISIT BULGARIA

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis will be on a working visit in Bulgaria on January 22.

The Prime Minister will leave for Sofia in the morning with a special flight and will return to Athens later on the same day.

[14] THE EU WANTS THE CYPRUS ISSUE TO BE RESOLVED BEFORE CYPRUS' EU ACCESSION

The European Union called on Turkey to encourage the Turkish Cypriot leadership to proceed with the solution of the Cyprus problem before Cyprus' EU accession negotiations are completed.

The above were stressed by the European Commission in response to a question by Greek Euro-deputy Christos Zacharakis, elected with the right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy, on the occasion of the provocative statements made by Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit.

[15] INTERRELIGIOUS SUMMIT STARTS

The two-day interreligious meeting on "God's Peace in the World" is beginning today in Brussels. The meeting is being organized by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the President of the European Committee, Romano Prodi, under the auspices of the European Union, and is aiminf at tightening the relations between monotheistic religions for peace, coexistence and cooperation of people. Approximately 100 representatives of the three major monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, will be present at the meeting.

The Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all of Africa Peter VII left for Brussels today, in order to participate in the Interreligious Meeting. The Patriarch of Alexandria will have official meetings with the Ecumenical Patriarch, the President of the European Committee and other ecclesiastic, state and religious agents, during his stay in the Belgian capital.

The Head of the Alexandrian Throne will be accompanied by the Metropolites of Kenya and Irinopoli, Makarios, and Pretoria, Serafim, on his trip to Brussels.

Today, the first day of the works, speakers include Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Greek EU Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou, while the President of the European Committee, Romano Prodi, will also address the participants.

[16] INTERNATIONAL INTEREST IN BALKANS MUST RETAIN

The need to retain the International Community's interest in the Balkans was underlined by Defense Minister Papantoniou during his intervention in the Ministerial Meeting of NATO in Brussels, pointing out that Greece intends to play a decisive role in the Balkans, in the framework of stability, peace and security of the broader region.

Mr. Papantoniou stressed the need for the International Community not to withdraw from the Balkans, that organized crime and terrorism in the region needs to be dealt with, and that the role of NATO is very important because organized crime is harbored in the Balkans, adding that Greece ascribes great importance to the region and is ready to dispose its forces for as long as necessary.

He mentioned that the force to remain in the Balkans must have a unified command and a clear policing role over the borders and the orderly functioning of the region's countries, and expressed the appreciation that there will be a pullback in existing forces in the Balkans, but that that does not mean that the remaining force will be inadequate to fulfill its stabilizing role in this sensitive region.

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