Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-03-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] PRIME MINISTER SIMITIS IN KYOTO

[02] COMPENSATION FOR DESTROYED CROPS

[03] HITIRIS ON THE ECEVIT STATEMENT

[04] EICHEL: THE GREEK ECONOMIC PROGRESS IS A TRUE MIRACLE

[05] GAINS IN THE ASE

[06] COMPENSATION OF 101 BILLION DRACHMAS TO FARMERS

[07] INVITATION TO THE PRIME MINISTERS OF GREECE AND JAPAN TO VISIT LEFKADA

[08] GERMANY SEES POSITIVELY MR. PAPADIMOS' CANDIDATURE

[09] VENIZELOS-PIOVANNI MEETING

[10] GREEK-BRITISH EXPERTS MEET IN DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY

[11] FRENCH OFFICIALS IN GREECE

[12] NEW EC INVESTIGATION ON OLYMPIC AIRWAYS

[13] PAN-MACEDONIAN ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA RESPONSE TO HOLBROOKE'S

[01] PRIME MINISTER SIMITIS IN KYOTO

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis, visited this morning the city of Kyoto, last stop in his 6-day visit to Japan.

Mr. Simitis who is returning to Greece tomorrow, appeared satisfied with the results of his trip, after having signed agreements on the financial and cultural level, while he had contacts with Japanese businessmen.

Greek Premier, in a press conference in Tokyo, appeared to be greatly impressed by Japanese achievements and stated that he was sure of the feelings of the Japanese towards the Greeks and characterized his discussions with the Japanese leadership as friendly and positive.

[02] COMPENSATION FOR DESTROYED CROPS

The government has decided to expend 297.76 million euro for farmers who suffered damages to their livestock and crops due to the harsh weather conditions during the November 2001-January 2002 period.

The file on the support measures of the farmers has already been submitted to the relevant Competition Committee of the European Union, according to an announcement made by the Ministry of Agriculture.

In total, 155,219 damage statements have been filed from all over Greece, of which 135,491 concern damages to plant production and plant capital, and 15,245 concern livestock.

[03] HITIRIS ON THE ECEVIT STATEMENT

We want to believe that Mr. Ecevit's statement was made for domestic consumption purposes only and does not represent Turkey's official position, stated acting government spokesman Tilemachos Hitiris. Mr. Hitiris commented on a statement made by the Turkish Prime Minister on the participation of the Turkish Cypriot pseudostate in the organizing of the 2008 European Football Championship that will be held jointly by Greece and Turkey. He added that Turkey's official position is to be announced on May 31.

Mr. Hitiris stated that Greece remains firm to the position agreed between the Foreign Ministers of the two countries, stressing that Greece believes that this position cannot be overturned.

He said that it is a meaningful position of a symbolic character, expressing the hope that by 2008 the Cyprus issue will be resolved and therefore, Cyprus will be able to participate in the event as a whole.

[04] EICHEL: THE GREEK ECONOMIC PROGRESS IS A TRUE MIRACLE

German Finance Minister Hans Eichel, who is on a visit to Greece, characterized as a true miracle the progress of the Greek economy, pointing out that there is potential for bilateral cooperation in the sectors of tourism, energy, telecommunications, the banking market and shipbuilding.

In a joint press conference he gave with his Greek counterpart Nikos Christodoulakis, Mr. Eichel stressed that the two countries share the same position on at least two important issues concerning the taxation systems harmonization and the speeding-up of structural reforms.

A special emphasis was given by the German Minister to the cooperation of German and Greek businesses for investments in the Balkans, stressing that the two countries together must help in the creation of stable democracies in the region.

From his side, Mr. Christodoulakis stated that the major issue for Europe is structural convergence aimed at the more effective liberalization of the markets and the linking together of the European networks. He also pointed out that the German companies could find significant investment opportunities in Greece, while there is great potential for strategic alliances in sectors such as energy, tourism and telecommunications.

[05] GAINS IN THE ASE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +0.70% at 2.432,08 points, while the volume of transactions was at 144.4 million Euro or 49.2 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, 211 recorded gains and 98 had losses, while the value of 63 stocks remained unchanged.

[06] COMPENSATION OF 101 BILLION DRACHMAS TO FARMERS

The Greek farmers, who suffered damages as a result of extreme weather conditions in the period November 2001-January 2002, will receive compensation of 101 billion drachmas.

The file with the measures that will be taken in support of the Greek farmers has already been forwarded to the responsible European Union Competition Committee.

[07] INVITATION TO THE PRIME MINISTERS OF GREECE AND JAPAN TO VISIT LEFKADA

Mayor of Lefkada, Panagiotis Skliros invited Prime Ministers of Greece and Japan, Kostas Simitis and Junichiro Koizumi, to visit the Ionian Sea Island within the framework of the 40th International Folklore Festival.

The invitation was issued on the occasion of the discussion the two Prime Ministers had in Tokyo on Japan's national poet Lefkadios Hern, who was born in Lefkada in 1850. His father was Irish and his mother was Greek. He died in the city of Sinzuku in Japan under the name Yakumo Koizumi

The marble bust of the poet is at the Park of Poets in Lefkada next to those of Valaoritis and Sikelianos. The twining of the city of Lefkada with that of Sinzuku took place in 1989.

[08] GERMANY SEES POSITIVELY MR. PAPADIMOS' CANDIDATURE

An excellent candidate for the post of the European Central Bank vice-president is Bank of Greece governor Loukas Papadimos, according to Germany's Minister of Finance Hans Eichel, who is on a visit to Athens.

After his meeting with Greek Minister of Finance Nikos Christodoulakis, Mr. Eichel stated that there is no doubt that Mr. Papadimos is an excellent candidate and Germany sees his candidature in a positive way.

[09] VENIZELOS-PIOVANNI MEETING

Greek Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos met with world famous Italian music composer Nicola Piovanni in the presence of Cultural Heritage Promotion Company managing director Manuela Pavlidou.

Mr. Piovanni presented his initial ideas on the Delos Opera to the Culture Minister. He is scheduled to perform the opera within the framework of the Cultural Olympiad.

[10] GREEK-BRITISH EXPERTS MEET IN DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY

A meeting between Greek and British experts is going to take place tomorrow at the Ministry of Development, in order to find ways of doing away with bureaucratic potholes in the process of founding new businesses and materializing investments.

The reduction of bureaucracy, the simplification of procedures related to business activities and the general facilitation of transactions between businessmen and civil services, are already the object of broad cooperation between Greece and Britain.

In the framework of this cooperation, a meeting organized by the Ministry of Development will take place tomorrow, in cooperation with the British Embassy to Greece and Small Business Service (DTI, Britain).

Minister of Development Akis Tsohatzopoulos, deputy Minister Alexandros Kalafatis and British Ambassador to Greece David Madden, are expected to participate in this meeting.

[11] FRENCH OFFICIALS IN GREECE

A delegation from the French Institute for Higher Defense Studies, will officially visit Greece from March 10-13. In total there will be 101 visitors, comprising of officers and high-ranking state officials.

During their stay, they will visit the Foreign Ministry, the General Army Staff in Athens, the 3rd Army Corps in Thessaloniki and they will be briefed on diplomatic, military and financial issues.

[12] NEW EC INVESTIGATION ON OLYMPIC AIRWAYS

The European Commission is beginning a new investigation on financial aid that Olympic Airways received from the government. Yesterday, in Brussels, the Commission officially announced its decision to dig deeper into the issue of the subsidies given to the company during the 1994-1998 period.

In the relevant announcement, it is mentioned that the procedure started because there were suspicions of possible excessive implementation of previous Commission decisions, made in 1994 and 1998, which gave the Greek State the green light to financially support Olympic Airways.

[13] PAN-MACEDONIAN ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA RESPONSE TO HOLBROOKE'S STATEMENTS

Pan-Macedonian Association of America Supreme President, Ms. Nina Peropoulou in a letter to former US ambassador to the UN, Richard Holbrooke expressed the strong discontent of the Greek-American community regarding the content of the speech he delivered to Johns Hopkins University in Washington on the situation in the Balkans.

Ms. Peropoulou mentions that according to the Skopje newspaper Outrinski Besnik, Mr. Holbrooke urged Greece to recognize FYROM with its so-called constitutional name.

According to the newspaper, Mr. Holbrooke called on Greece to adjust to the new situation and recognize FYROM with its constitutional name Macedonia, while responding to a question made by members of the audience, he stated that the citizens of FYROM should be called simply Macedonians.

On behalf of the Pan-Macedonian Association of America, which has an active presence of 56 years in the US, Ms. Peropoulou expressed the strong concern of the Greeks regarding the US mass media propaganda on the true identity of the Slavs living in FYROM who want to be called Macedonians.

Ms. Peropoulou points out that the issue of the name is not just political for the Greeks, as it is for the international community. She said that for the Greeks it is cultural, historical and national and has to do with their national identity, which is non-negotiable, and their past that cannot be copied.

Ms. Peropoulou cites statements made by FYROM officials who maintain that the people living in the country are of Slav origin and are not Macedonians. She also calls on Mr. Holbrooke to retract his statements and use the name FYROM whenever he wants to refer to the specific country.

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