Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-01-19

Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] NEW INITIATIVE FOR THE RETURN OF THE PARTHENON MARBLES

[02] ETE AND ALPHA BANK STATEMENTS ON THE MERGER COLLAPSE

[03] ROUSOPOULOS: THE GREEK JUSTICE WILL RULE ON THE MAYO CASE

[04] THE GREEK FOREIGN POLICY IN THE NEXT THREE YEARS

[05] THE ETE-ALPHA BANK MERGER COLLAPSED

[06] POWELL-PAPANDREOU TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION

[07] MILLER STATEMENTS ON CYPRUS' EU ACCESSION

[01] NEW INITIATIVE FOR THE RETURN OF THE PARTHENON MARBLES

Museum of the Acropolis Organization President Mr. Dimitris Pantermalis will send a letter to the British Museum on Monday requesting the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece in order to be exhibited in the grant hall of the new Museum of the Acropolis. The new museum will be inaugurated just before the opening of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

The announcement was made by Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos referring to the mobility observed in Britain at this period on the issue of the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.

Mr. Venizelos stated that Greece is very close to its target as it appears that both the British parliament and the British society show an increased sensitivity because they realize the gravity of the request.

[02] ETE AND ALPHA BANK STATEMENTS ON THE MERGER COLLAPSE

The negotiations on the merger of the National Bank of Greece, ETE, and Alpha Bank reached a deadlock. In a lengthy meeting of senior executives representing both banks it was decided that there is no potential for the materialization of the biggest bank merger ever planned in Greece.

The National Bank of Greece maintains that the main cause for the collapse of the agreement was the efforts made by Alpha Bank to control the biggest part of the new bank by placing its senior executives at key positions in the new management.

In the statement issued by the National Bank of Greece it is stressed that it was forced to the decision to abandon the merger because no further progress was possible in the negotiations for its materialization in spite of the systematic and consistent efforts made by its management.

The Alpha Bank statement mentions that it had to stop its efforts for the creation of a European-size bank with the National Bank of Greece as it was impossible to reach an agreement during the negotiations concerning the operation of the new bank.

According to the statement, Alpha Bank continues its autonomous and creative course with faith in its firm values and principles that made it the largest private bank in Greece.

[03] ROUSOPOULOS: THE GREEK JUSTICE WILL RULE ON THE MAYO CASE

Right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy press spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos stated that the party trusts the Greek justice system, commenting on the revelations made today by the Athens newspaper TA NEA according to which, the secret accounts of New Democracy date back to 1980.

Mr. Rousopoulos stated that his party has repeatedly stressed that the specific case is in the hands of the Greek justice.

According to the newspaper, the Liberian-based company MAYO INVESTMENTS CORP was founded on April 10, 1980 and soon afterwards New Democracy founder Konstantinos Karamanlis became President of the Hellenic Republic. The company continued to be in operation under the party leaderships of Evangelos Averof, Georgios Rallis and Konstantinos Mitsotakis.

[04] THE GREEK FOREIGN POLICY IN THE NEXT THREE YEARS

The period 2002-2004 will be the three-year period of the Greek foreign policy, according to the Prime Minister's speech in last Thursday's cabinet meeting published on the Athens newspaper Imerisia today.

Mr. Simitis referred extensively to the talks he had with US President George Bush and made speculations that conduce to the assessment that Greece is at a strong position, insinuating that it must undertake aggressive initiatives on its relations with Turkey.

He said that the year 2003 will be the year of the EU accession negotiations for Cyprus and by 2004 Turkey should bring its case to The Hague concerning the continental shelf issue.

On the issue of terrorism, he said that he underlined to the US President that there is a Greek-US cooperation to combat terrorism and expressed the wish that there will be results.

Regarding Turkey, he shared President Bush's fears concerning its transformation into an Islamic country and suggested that the only way to avoid this is the progress of its relations with the EU.

On the Cyprus issue, Mr. Simitis got the impression that Mr. Bush shared the position that Cyprus' EU accession course is a big opportunity for the solution of the Cyprus problem.

Regarding Greece's armaments, he said that the US is Greece's top customer but the country should have the opportunity to deal with others as well, who also pressure on the specific issue.

[05] THE ETE-ALPHA BANK MERGER COLLAPSED

The National Bank of Greece, ETE, and Alpha Bank merger collapsed today. According to unconfirmed information, there was no agreement on issues concerning, for example, the composition of the board of directors of the new bank.

Commenting on the developments, senior executives of the National Bank of Greece pointed out that the ETE management continues its work and in spite of the rumors there is no resignation issue for ETE President Mr. Karatzas.

[06] POWELL-PAPANDREOU TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION

Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou had a telephone communication with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is on a visit to India.

Mr. Powell characterized as positive the outcome of the recent visit of Prime Minister Kostas Simitis to the United States. In the telephone communication of the two foreign ministers were also discussed the developments in India, Pakistan and the Middle East as well as, the contribution of the EU and Greece to the easing of the tension.

Mr. Papandreou also had a telephone communication with Israeli and Palestinian officials.

[07] MILLER STATEMENTS ON CYPRUS' EU ACCESSION

The United States support Cyprus' European Union accession regardless of whether a solution will be found to the Cyprus problem, stated US ambassador to Athens Thomas Miller, responding to a question during an event organized in Washington by the Western Policy Center.

Mr. Miller stated that no party will be allowed to block Cyprus' EU accession course, while he also pointed out that Washington would like to see the whole of the island inside the European Union.

Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article