Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-02-26

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] PAPANTONIOU MEETS SPANISH COUNTERPART

[02] MORE GREEK SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN

[03] LITHUANIA IN FAVOR OF OLYMPIC TRUCE

[04] KAKLAMANIS-OMIROU MEETING

[05] THE DISCUSSION ON THE BALKAN RECONSTRUCTION DRAFT LAW GOT UNDERWAY

[06] SIGNIFICANT GAINS IN THE ASE

[07] THE NEW ELECTION LAW DISCUSSION IN OCTOBER

[08] THE MAYOR OF TARKOVICE IN KOZANI

[09] ALBANIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS IN KOZANI

[10] THEODORAKIS SEES NO DANGER OF DEVIATION

[11] FISHING BOAT WITH 100 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

[12] ONE IN 4 WORKERS UNINSURED

[13] CHRISTODOULAKIS: SIX INITIATIVES AND EIGHT KEY-SECTORS

[14] CARS CHEAPER IN GREECE

[01] PAPANTONIOU MEETS SPANISH COUNTERPART

A common defense and security policy and the creation of a European rapid reaction force, were the main issues of discussion at the meeting of Defense Minister Giannos Papantoniou with his Spanish counterpart Federico Trillo.

Mr. Papantoniou and Mr. Trillio pointed out the need for this European force to be materialized as soon as possible, so that it is ready by the deadline decided on, specifically, by 2003.

Mr. Papantoniou stressed that "Greece will not accept the EU being brought under NATO, as far as military exercises and operations are concerned independently of NATO facilities.

He also underlined that "Greece will not accept the transfer of its problems with Turkey, as far as the Aegean is concerned, within the Euroarmy".

"NATO, a body in which Turkey participates as an equal member, and in which of course it has its opinion and the right to veto, is completely different from the Euroarmy, the European defense force, in which Turkey does not participate. Thus we cannot "transplant" NATO problems into the Euroarmy, because we would be risking immobilizing the Euroarmy in a large geographic area it should cover", he said.

On his side, the Spanish Defense Minister thanked Mr. Papantoniou for the clarity of his positions, as well as for the Greek government's willingness to find a solution between the 15 countries of the Union.

[02] MORE GREEK SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN

Eighty eight Greece soldiers, who are the second and final part of the Greek mission in Cabul, left from Thessaloniki's "Macedonia" airport to join the peacekeeping UN force, in a camp outside Cabul.

The Greek force (consisting of officers and non-commission officers), who have trained in the camp of the 71st Airborne Brigade in New Santa, Kilkis, departed from Thessaloniki's airport on a C-130 military aircraft, and are expected in Dubai, late this afternoon. They will depart tomorrow morning for their final destination, the international peacekeeping force camp, 6 km outside Cabul.

The soldiers were bid farewell by their families and friends at "Macedonia" airport, and are being accompanied by staff members of the Ministry of Defense.

This afternoon, an Antonof type transport aircraft will leave Thessaloniki, carrying armaments and military equipment for the Greek peacekeeping force.

The first part of the Greek force, consisting of 49 men, left for Cabul last Sunday.

All 132 military personnel are equipped with special uniforms, due to the extreme weather conditions in the region, while a special satellite communications system will be set up in the Greek force's camp in Cabul, since mobile and domestic telephony is virtually non-existent in Afghanistan.

[03] LITHUANIA IN FAVOR OF OLYMPIC TRUCE

Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou had discussions with the political leadership of Lithuania, during which the Prime Minister of Lithuania, Mr. Arvidas Brazauskas signed the for the Olympic Truce.

The main issue of the Foreign Minister's meeting, were the EU prospects of Lithuania.

After the dinner Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis held for the Greek delegation and Mr. Papandreou, he stated that His country must not miss this train to the new era.

[04] KAKLAMANIS-OMIROU MEETING

Cyprus' EU accession course and the progress of negotiations for the solution of the Cyprus problem, were the issues discussed in the meeting of Greek Parliament president Apostolos Kaklamanis with the visiting Cypriot Parliament Defense Committee delegation.

Mr. Kaklamanis and Cypriot Parliament Defense Committee President Yiannakis Omirou referred to the close cooperation of the two parliaments especially, in the final phase for the successful completion of Cyprus' EU accession course.

Mr. Omirou expressed optimism that the European collective bodies will ratify the EU enlargement in the following months to include the ten candidate states, among them Cyprus, stressing that the Helsinki decisions must be implemented regardless of whether the Cyprus issue is resolved.

[05] THE DISCUSSION ON THE BALKAN RECONSTRUCTION DRAFT LAW GOT UNDERWAY

The discussion on the draft law concerning the Greek program for the economic reconstruction of the Balkans opened in the responsible parliamentary committee today. Based on the draft law, the sum of 550 million Euro will be allocated to fund the reconstruction program in Albania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Romania and FYROM. The recipients will be the public sector, private of public agencies, non profit institutions and non governmental organizations active in those countries.

Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Andreas Loverdos stressed that the three targets of the draft law will be peace, stability and the European orientation of the recipient countries.

[06] SIGNIFICANT GAINS IN THE ASE

Significant gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +2.11% at 2.406,80 points, while the volume of transactions was 105.13 million Euro or 35.82 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, the overwhelming majority namely, 317 recorded gains and 27 had losses, while the value of 13 stocks remained unchanged.

[07] THE NEW ELECTION LAW DISCUSSION IN OCTOBER

The discussion on the change of the election law will start in October without preconditions, stated Interior Minister Kostas Skandalidis, who denied press reports according to which, he has already examined a specific plan.

The dialogue procedure is planned to get underway after the municipal elections this fall.

[08] THE MAYOR OF TARKOVICE IN KOZANI

A delegation of Tarkovice municipality in Bulgaria will be on a two-day visit to the prefecture of Kozani in northwestern Greece starting tomorrow.

The members of the delegation headed by Mayor Krasimir Mitev will have contacts with local officials during which the common characteristics of the two regions will be presented and cross-border cooperation will be promoted in the social, economic and cultural sector.

[09] ALBANIAN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS IN KOZANI

A large delegation of Albanian local administration officials visited the Development Company of Western Macedonia (DCWM) in the city of Kozani today.

The visit took place within the framework of the two-day seminar on the Training of Local Administration officials on Local Development issues organized by the DCWM with the support of the Inter-Balkan Cooperation Center.

[10] THEODORAKIS SEES NO DANGER OF DEVIATION

Composer Mikis Theodorakis intervened in the latest political developments, with statements to the press before presenting four groups of his songs at the Athens "Megaron" Music Hall.

Mr. Theodorakis made mention of reeking and festering in Greek society and added: "We are witnessing a complete absence of the State, the police, as well as the MPs, who should, by area, be fully informed of what is happening, and ignorance is not excused". "Ignorance of scheming in each district is unacceptable for an MP", he noted.

Furthermore, he characterized the Prime Minister's statements on political deviation as exaggerated, stressing that his generation lived through political deviation, and there are no similar conditions today.

[11] FISHING BOAT WITH 100 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

A fishing boat carrying 100 illegal immigrants was spotted early this morning by the Coast Guard off the coast of Evia.

The fishing boat, "Eleftheria III" was towed to the Karystos harbor due to engine problems, escorted by Coast Guard patrol boats. The fishing boat's crew comprised of three Greeks.

[12] ONE IN 4 WORKERS UNINSURED

One out of four employees is working without insurance, according to the report of the Labor Inspection Body of IKA.

According to the report - 943 businesses in Thessaloniki and Patra were inspected - the percentage of "black market" labor is as high as 25.1%.

Further violations were discovered during the investigations, such as exceeding working hours and not observing the employees' weekly time off. Specifically, 111 businesses violated regulations concerning maximum labor hours and minimum weekly personnel time off.

[13] CHRISTODOULAKIS: SIX INITIATIVES AND EIGHT KEY-SECTORS

Minister of Finance Nikos Christodoulakis announced six initiatives that will be implemented in the Greek economy through which the government will attempt to reverse the negative climate of the past few days. The announcement was made in Germany yesterday where Mr. Christodoulakis is currently on a visit.

Addressing German investors in an event organized by the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Christodoulakis gave assurances that every possible effort will be made for the Greek economy to avoid becoming a scapegoat in the case of a political dispute.

To meet this goal the government will activate six initiatives already announced in the past aimed at the improvement of the business climate, the strengthening of the private sector and the attraction of direct foreign investments.

The six initiatives concern tax reform, adoption of a new legal framework for next fall's investments, social security system review, introduction of more open economic procedures, speeding-up of the privatization procedures and broader use of the private economic funding systems in medium and large investment infrastructure programs.

Also, Mr. Christodoulakis presented eight sectors to German investors which offer notable investment opportunities in Greece. They are, telecommunications, energy market (electricity, natural gas, Hellenic Petroleum), tourist industry, New Economy, privatization of state-run public service companies, private investment programs, the 2004 Olympic Games and the exploitation of the Balkan market.

[14] CARS CHEAPER IN GREECE

Factory prices, the price of cars before taxes, for new cars in Greece, are amongst the lowest in all of the European Union, according to research of the European Commission on the prices of new cars, which was published in Brussels on Monday.

According the research results, Great Britain is the most expensive car market of the "15", regarding 52 of the 80 car models in question, while in the Eurozone, the highest prices are observed in Austria and Germany.

The lowest prices for new cars are observed in Greece, Spain, Finland and Denmark. Specifically for Greece, Spain and Finland, there is a 20% price difference for more 90% the car models in question. The European Commission pointed out that the "generally low prices in cars prior to taxes observed in Greece, Finland and Denmark, are mainly due to the pricing policies of the manufacturers". And it explained that because taxes are high while buying a new car in these countries, most manufacturers set lower prices, before taxes, at lower levels, so that they are more approachable after taxes.

The European Commission supported that in countries where there are no such taxes, prices prior to taxes are either the same, as in Spain, or much higher, as in Germany. 17 European and 7 Japanese manufacturers participated with more than 80 of their most popular models. In Germany, the prices of 41 car models are the highest in the Eurozone, while 40 of those car models are 20% more expensive than in other Eurozone markets.

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