Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-04-08

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

CONTENTS

[01] EUROPEAN MISSION MESSAGE FOR PALESTINIANS

[02] SIMITIS TELEVIZED INTERVIEW TONIGHT

[03] APOSTOLIDIS' MEETING WITH THE GEORGIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER

[04] THE GOVERNMENT INVITES THE FARMERS TO A DIALOGUE

[05] PROTOPAPAS ON THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

[06] MORE LOSSES IN THE ASE

[07] KAKLAMANIS' MEETING WITH ARAB AMBASSADORS

[08] THE GREEK SUGAR INDUSTRY IS INTERESTED IN THE FYROM MARKET

[09] A GERMANOS COMPANY SUBSIDIARY REACHED A DEAL WITH ROM TELECOM

[10] THE EASYJET PASSENGERS INCREASED BY 39% IN MARCH

[11] COASTAL SHIPPING LINE LINKING THE ISLANDS OF SAMOTHRAKI AND IMVROS

[12] O.A. NEW BUSINESS PLAN PRESENTED IN BRUSSELS

[13] GREEK SUPPORT TO SLOVAKIA'S REQUEST FOR EU AND NATO MEMBERSHIP

[14] 629 MILLION PEOPLE OVER THE AGE OF 60

[15] THE CONTACTS OF THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER IN CHINA

[16] FOREIGN MINISTER PAPANDREOU IS IN CHINA

[17] POSSIBLE CHANGE IN STEFANOPOULOS VISIT TO AUSTRALIA

[01] EUROPEAN MISSION MESSAGE FOR PALESTINIANS

The increase in number of foreign missions to Palestine and the pressuring all countries to take a clear position in favor of the Palestinians, was asked for by 30 Europeans at the side of Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, in order to stand in the way of the Yasser Arafat's killing by the Israeli Army. In a message to the solidarity protest of Initiative Genova 2001 for the Palestinians, taking place in Athens tonight, the representative of the 30-member mission, Joseph Bauvex, proposed that all countries boycott Israeli products, block exports and immediately enforcing heavy taxes.

Israel must withdraw from all the territories it has occupied. The headquarters of the Palestinian Authority must be liberated now. All countries must send protection forces for the Palestinian people, with orders to support the independent Palestinian State. From what we know, Yasser Arafat and all those with him are well in their health. They feel strong because they know that there is a huge wave of worldwide solidarity protests for Palestine. That, in fact, is the only way in which we hope we can stop the genocide of Saron and Bush against the Palestinians, mentioned Joseph Bauvex.

[02] SIMITIS TELEVIZED INTERVIEW TONIGHT

An interview on all matters will be given by Prime Minister Kostas Simitis tonight, and will be transmitted by the ERT network and Mega, Antenna, Alpha and Star private stations.

The Prime Minister is giving the interview on occasion of the two years since PASOK won the elections, and is expected to make a review of the government's work over the past two years, and then present the government's goals for the next two years. He will answer questions on all open issues, and he will attempt to convince that PASOK is the only reliable political power, with positions, a program and a vision for Greece of the 21st century. The interview is taking place after intense confrontations between the government and the Opposition, Kostas Simitis and Kostas Karamanlis during the weekend.

The interview will begin at 10:30pm and will be completed at midnight. Questions will be asked by journalists Terence Quick, Pavlos Tsimas, Manolis Kapsis, Stavros Thodorakis and the interview will be coordinated by Hatzinikolaou.

[03] APOSTOLIDIS' MEETING WITH THE GEORGIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER

Undersecretary of Defense Loukas Apostolidis met today with Georgian deputy Foreign Minister Giorgi Burduli, who is on a formal visit to Greece.

In the meeting they reviewed the course of bilateral relations at a bilateral and multilateral basis, the security situation in Caucasus and Trans-Caucasus and the prospects opened for the region.

Mr. Apostolidis stressed that Greece has the will to contribute in every way to the solution of the problems faced by Georgia in all sectors and specifically, in the sector of defense.

[04] THE GOVERNMENT INVITES THE FARMERS TO A DIALOGUE

The measures adopted by the government concern a total of 80.000 cotton producers, stated Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas. He underlined that the protest mobilizations are being held by special categories of farmers who face special problems, adding that the Minister of Agriculture has invited the protesters to a dialogue excluding those farmers who have broken the law by registering false crops.

He said that the Ministry of Agriculture has a list with the names of those who have violated the law, adding that the farmers themselves are against those individuals because they give a bad name to the farmers as a whole.

[05] PROTOPAPAS ON THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

For as long as the circle of violence continues no one can remain silent, stated Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas. He reiterated the statements made by Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou regarding the stance of the US side, requested the implementation of the UN decisions and called on the international community to intervene, adding that Greece will contribute to the efforts.

The government spokesman also stated that the interventions and demarches made by the Greek side continue in protest to the damages caused to religious monuments and the continuing siege of the Church of the Nativity by the Israeli occupation forces, calling for their withdrawal from Palestine.

[06] MORE LOSSES IN THE ASE

Losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -1.86% at 2.187,29 points, while the volume of transactions was at 62.1 million Euro.

Of the stocks trading today, 40 had gains and 291 had losses, while the value of 45 stocks remained unchanged.

[07] KAKLAMANIS' MEETING WITH ARAB AMBASSADORS

The critical developments in the Middle East dominated in the meetings of Greek Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis with Arab League member-states ambassadors, who visited him in his office in Athens.

Both Mr. Kaklamanis and the Arab ambassadors condemned the Israeli attacks and backed the immediate resumption of the peace process for a political solution to the Middle East problem.

Mr. Kaklamanis stated that Greece is against violence and the Israeli attacks and also against the incursions, occupations and crimes committed against the Palestinian people. He said that the proposal tabled by the Arab states for the return of the occupied territories, the adoption of the 1967 borders and the signing of a peace treaty between Israelis and Palestinians is probably the only solution to the deadlock in the Middle East.

From his side, Palestinian Authority ambassador Abdulah Abdulah stated that the Palestinians want to thank Greece for backing their just struggle.

[08] THE GREEK SUGAR INDUSTRY IS INTERESTED IN THE FYROM MARKET

Greek Sugar Industry managing director Christos Stamtsis had contacts with FYROM businessmen within the framework of the formal visit of Greek Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Giorgos Paschalidis to FYROM last week.

Mr. Stamtsis attended the meeting of Mr. Paschalidis with FYROM Minister of National Economy Nikola Gruevski and had contacts with businessmen aimed at the increase of the Greek Sugar Industry exports and activities in the neighboring country.

The sugar exports to FYROM in 2001 were 16.000 tons worth 1.6 billion drachmas. The Greek Sugar Industry supplies the sugar plant in the city of Bitola with 20.000 tons of molasses and is interested in a greater cooperation even a buyout.

[09] A GERMANOS COMPANY SUBSIDIARY REACHED A DEAL WITH ROM TELECOM

The Germanos Telecom Romania Company, a subsidiary of the Greek GERMANOS Company reached a deal with the Romanian Telecommunications Organization Rom Telecom in the sector of the fixed-line telephone service.

The deal provides for the distribution of fixed-line products and services by the Germanos Telecom Romania, while the management of the two companies also agreed to jointly undertake an ad campaign

For the record, the network of Germanos Company stores is already in cooperation with the Cosmorom mobile phone company, a Rom Telecom subsidiary, for the distribution of mobile phone products and services to the Romanian market.

[10] THE EASYJET PASSENGERS INCREASED BY 39% IN MARCH

The number of passengers traveling with the low cost EasyJet Airline increased by 39% in the month of March.

The airline continues to benefit from the problems faced by the large airline companies as a result of the September 11 terrorist attack on New York.

During the past month, the company served a total of 839.472 passengers.

[11] COASTAL SHIPPING LINE LINKING THE ISLANDS OF SAMOTHRAKI AND IMVROS

The mayors of Samothraki in Greece and Imvros in Turkey decided to launch a direct coastal shipping line linking the two islands. The decision will cut the time needed to cover the distance between the two islands from 8 hours to 1 hour.

Meanwhile, the prefectures of Evros and Rodopi in northeastern Greece have proposed the establishment of a coastal shipping line that will be funded by the INTERREG-III program and will link the Greek island of Thasos, the Turkish island of Tenedos and Istanbul.

[12] O.A. NEW BUSINESS PLAN PRESENTED IN BRUSSELS

The new business plan of Olympic Airways, as well as the positions of the Greek government for the funding during the passed decade, will be presented this Wednesday in Brussels by a delegation from the Ministry of Transports and Communications to the cooperatives of EU Commissioner Loyola de Palacio.

The main goal of the national airliner's business plan, is cutting back in the company's functional cost. Apart from the readjustment of the flight schedule, with the dropping of flights causing losses, mainly those abroad, a new programme is expected to begin, one which will mainly concern subsidies in flights towards Greek islands, cutback in personnel of about 2000 individuals and a change in working regulations of airborn employees.

At the same time, the business plan foresees the inflow of private capital in certain activities of the company and specifically in the technical basis as well as catering, which case may be given exclusively to the private sector, as mentioned in a publication of the Imerisia newspaper.

[13] GREEK SUPPORT TO SLOVAKIA'S REQUEST FOR EU AND NATO MEMBERSHIP

Greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos in statements he made in Bratislava today expressed Greece's support to the efforts made by Slovakia to become a member of the European Union and NATO.

Mr. Stepahnopoulos was received by his Slovak counterpart and in a symbolic gesture he planted a tree in the garden of the Presidential Building.

The Greek President, who is accompanied by Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Andreas Loverdos, will be in Slovakia until Wednesday.

[14] 629 MILLION PEOPLE OVER THE AGE OF 60

Greece occupies the fourth place in the world in terms of elderly population, as the people over the age of 60 correspond to 24% of its total population. By the year 2050, they will be 3.6 million corresponding to 41% of the population.

The figures were given to publicity by the UN Population Directorate, pointing out that people over the age of 60 are estimated to be 629 million worldwide. In 2050, they will be at 2 billion and in 2150 one in three people on the planet will be older than 60.

Italy has the most elderly people (25%), while Turkey is last on the list (6%).

[15] THE CONTACTS OF THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER IN CHINA

The situation in the Middle East dominated in the contacts Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou had in China. He pointed out that the US mobility concerning the events in the region is positive and shows that a common approach is being formed at an international level to deal with the current crisis in the Middle East.

Mr. Papandreou met with the Chinese deputy Prime Minister and discussed the international situation and bilateral relations in view of the formal visit of Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis to China on June 5. Mr. Papandreou also met with his Chinese counterpart who expressed his support to the Olympic Truce initiative.

The organizing of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing was also discussed in the contacts of the Greek Foreign Minister with the mayor of the Chinese capital and the Chinese Sports Minister.

Meanwhile, Undersecretary of Development Dimitris Georgakopoulos, who is a member of the delegation accompanying Mr. Papandreou to China, had contacts with Chinese officials and discussed the Greek-Chinese cooperation in the sector of tourism.

[16] FOREIGN MINISTER PAPANDREOU IS IN CHINA

Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou is in China for a four-day working visit within the framework of the preparations for the trip of Prime Minister Kostas Simitis to the country this summer.

Mr. Papandreou will meet with his Chinese counterpart, the deputy Prime Minister and other officials and the talks will concern the Middle East issue and the Greek-Chinese bilateral relations.

The Greek Foreign Minister intends to request China's support to Greece's demand to become a non permanent member of the UN Security Council in the period 2005-2007.

[17] POSSIBLE CHANGE IN STEFANOPOULOS VISIT TO AUSTRALIA

A possible change in the date on which the Greek President of the Republic, Kostis Stefanopoulos, will visit Australia this coming June may take place. The visit, to take place after an invitation of the Australian government, had been set for June 11, but during that period the Federal Prime Minister John Howard may be abroad.

According to information from ERT, the Australians asked for a change in the dateof the visit, something that seemed to annoy the Ambassador of Greece, Mr. Xydas. Although it is believed that our Embassy will finally propose June 18, if the President's responsibilities.

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