Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-02-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE FOR MILOSEVIC

[02] CHRISTODOULAKIS: THE INFLATION INCREASE IS NOT PERMANENT

[03] BIG INTEREST BY FOREIGN INVESTORS IN GREECE'S GENERAL BANK

[04] CROAT, MUSLIM AND BOSNIAN SERB SOLDIERS TRAINED IN KILKIS

[05] THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENTS IN THE BATTLE AGAINST TERRORISM IS POSITIVE

[06] UNEMPLOYMENT DROPPED IN THE SECOND TRIMESTER OF 2001

[07] THE FIRST GREEK TROOPS DEPART FOR KABUL TOMORROW

[08] THE GREEK-TURKISH DIALOGUE OPENS ON FEBRUARY 26

[09] INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY IN THESSALONIKI

[10] ΠΕΡΙΕΡΓΟ ΘΑΝΑΤΟ ΔΙΕΡΕΥΝΑ ΤΟ FBI

[01] SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE FOR MILOSEVIC

Three Greek parliament deputies Panagiotis Kritikos from the governing Socialist Party of PASOK, Panagiotis Lafazanis from the party Coalition of the Left and Angelos Tsekis from the Greek Communist Party visited the UN offices in Athens. They requested to be allowed to visit Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague to be briefed on the condition of his health and the charges against him.

The three Greek Parliament deputies represent 80 of their colleagues, who had signed an appeal maintaining that Milosevic should not be extradited to The Hague.

[02] CHRISTODOULAKIS: THE INFLATION INCREASE IS NOT PERMANENT

The increase of inflation in Greece in the month of January is a temporary phenomenon that was observed in the rest Euro-zone member-states as well and was the result of the wave of bad weather that hit the continent.

The above were stated by Minister of Finance Nikos Christodoulakis, who stressed that by the end of the year inflation will be at the levels predicted by the government.

The increase of inflation is not permanent, stated Mr. Christodoulakis on the sidelines of the 2nd Forum for the viable development of Thessaloniki that is being held in the city.

[03] BIG INTEREST BY FOREIGN INVESTORS IN GREECE'S GENERAL BANK

Five non binding offers were submitted yesterday to Rothschild of Milan within the framework of the bid concerning the adoption of a strategic alliance with the Greek General Bank.

According to information published on the Athens newspaper Kathimerini, offers were submitted by Societe General, the French bank Caisse d' Epargne, BCI Intesa, SaPaolo and Unicredito.

[04] CROAT, MUSLIM AND BOSNIAN SERB SOLDIERS TRAINED IN KILKIS

The seven-day training program for 90 soldiers from Bosnia-Herzegovina that takes place in Kilkis, northern Greece is aimed at their preparation for their participation in a UN peacekeeping mission to Ethiopia.

The military force in question is made up of 30 Serb Republic of Bosnia soldiers and 60 Croat-Muslim Federation soldiers, half of whom are Muslims. The Ministers of Defense of the three ethnic entities are expected to arrive tomorrow at the training camp.

The troops arrived in Thessaloniki on board a Greek C-130 transport plane and the training program was drawn up during the visit of the Greek Undersecretary of Defense to Bosnia at the end of 2001.

[05] THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENTS IN THE BATTLE AGAINST TERRORISM IS POSITIVE

Greek Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis stated that every country wants to eradicate the phenomenon of terrorism. The statement was made by Mr. Kaklamanis in the 3rd Conference of Euro-Mediterranean Parliament Presidents that opened in the Greek parliament today.

Mr. Kaklamanis stated that the battle against terrorism can be successful through the consolidation of democratic institutions, the respect and implementation of international law, and the eradication of religious and nationalist fanaticism. Mr. Kaklamanis stated that fanaticism takes advantage of the poverty and misery of the people especially, in the Third World countries, adding that another factor that favors terrorism is the big economic distance separating the Third World countries and the developed world.

In the conference participate Greece, Egypt, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Spain, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Cyprus, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Holland, the Palestinian National Council, Portugal, Sweden, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Finland, and the European Parliament.

[06] UNEMPLOYMENT DROPPED IN THE SECOND TRIMESTER OF 2001

Initial figures on unemployment in Greece in the second trimester of 2001 show that there was a decline of 1 percentage point.

According to a report published by the National Statistics Agency, unemployment was at 10.2% compared to 11.1% in the second trimester of 2000.

In the second trimester of 2001 unemployment dropped more quickly for women (1.3%) compared to 0.6% for men, while the overall unemployment rate for men and women was 6.7% and 15.4% respectively.

[07] THE FIRST GREEK TROOPS DEPART FOR KABUL TOMORROW

The first contingent of the Greek force, made up of 49 army officers, that will be deployed in Afghanistan will depart from Thessaloniki tomorrow on board a C-130 transport plane.

The Greek force will be supplied with its own vehicles and infrastructure. The aircraft that will take the Greek contingent to Afghanistan will land in Kabul under heavy security.

[08] THE GREEK-TURKISH DIALOGUE OPENS ON FEBRUARY 26

A significant step in the long process of the upgrading of the Greek-Turkish dialogue will be the meeting the Political Directors of the Foreign Ministries of Greece and Turkey will have in Athens on February 26. This contact initially is being placed within the framework of the regular biannual contacts between high ranking diplomats of the two countries.

However, after the political will that was expressed in Istanbul by Foreign Ministers of Greece and Turkey, Giorgos Papandreou and Ismail Cem, the meeting acquires a very unique character.

According to the Athens newspaper Imerisia, the two delegations will be called to examine a number of bilateral issues as well as, regional and international issues among them, the creation of confidence-building-measures in different sectors.

[09] INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY IN THESSALONIKI

The issue of the establishment of an international university in northern Greece for students coming from Balkan countries has been opened by the Ministry of Education and was discussed in the meeting Education Minister Petros Efthimiou had yesterday with Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou.

The cooperation of the universities of Ioannina, Thessaloniki and Thrace for the establishment of such an education institute is being considered.

The two ministers in their meeting yesterday also discussed the coordination of education and foreign policy and also ways in which the two ministries can strengthen the Greek presence abroad and create Greek studies departments in universities around the world.

[10] ΠΕΡΙΕΡΓΟ ΘΑΝΑΤΟ ΔΙΕΡΕΥΝΑ ΤΟ FBI

Το FBI διερευνά τον θάνατο από πυρκαγιά εξετάστριας αδειών οδήγησης στο Τεννεσσή, η οποία είχε κατηγορηθεί ότι είχε πουλήσει πλαστές άδειες σε 5 άνδρες από τη Μέση Ανατολή. Σύμφωνα με το FBI πρόκειται για εμπρησμό και όχι για αυτοκινητιστικό ατύχημα όπως είχε αρχικά νομιστεί, από τον οποίο βρήκε τον θάνατο η εξετάστρια Κάθριν Σμίθ.

Σύμφωνα με την έρευνα, τα ρούχα της είχαν περιχυθεί με βενζίνη πριν καεί ζωντανή στο αυτοκίνητό της μόλις μία μέρα πριν καταθέσει στο δικαστήριο, μαζί με άλλους 5 συγκατηγορούμενούς της, σχετικά με κατηγορίες πώλησης πλαστών αδειών οδήγησης. Οι πέντε άνδρες κρίθηκαν προφυλακιστέοι χωρίς δικαίωμα καταβολής εγγύησης μετά από ακροαματική διαδικασία την Τετάρτη και το FBI αναζητεί πιθανές διασυνδέσεις με τρομοκρατικές ομάδες.

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