Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-05-08

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

CONTENTS

[01] K. SIMITIS IN BELGRADE

[02] NO BOOKS, NO THEATER, JUST TV FOR GREEKS

[03] GAINS IN THE ASE

[04] PAPANDREOU ON THE ANAN VISIT TO CYPRUS

[05] KAKLAMANIS' VISIT TO THE US

[06] THE LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT IN THESSALONIKI

[07] PROTOPAPAS: NO ELECTIONS IN 2002 AND NO SUCCESSION ISSUE

[08] 100 EURO COUNTERFEIT NOTE

[09] N. CHRISTODOULAKIS IN TURKEY TOMORROW

[10] BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER IN THESSALONIKI

[11] G. PAPANTONIOU IN LONDON

[12] ALEKA PAPARIGA IN MADRID AND LISBON

[13] HOLLYWOOD PICTURE ON ALEXANDER THE GREAT

[01] K. SIMITIS IN BELGRADE

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis will make his second official visit to Belgrade tomorrow, where he will meet with the political leadership of Yugoslavia. Mr. Simitis will have meetings the President of Yugoslavia, Voislav Kostunica and the leadership of Serbia.

[02] NO BOOKS, NO THEATER, JUST TV FOR GREEKS

Greeks are in last place regarding reading and cultural activities, as their favorite pastime is watching television, while they do not read books or newspapers, listen to classical music, they do not go to the theater or the cinema, they do not listen to the radio or visit historical monuments.

These are the worrying results of the eurobarometer survey, published yesterday, concerning Europeans' relationships to cultural activities. The relationship Greek people have with books is not good. 54.3% of Greeks has not read a single book in the last 12 months. It is the third lowest percentage among Europe's 15, after the Portuguese (67.3%) and the Belgians (58.3%).

Greeks' relationship with newspapers is equally bad. Only one in five (20.3%) reads newspapers daily, a percentage that puts our country in last place, followed by the Portuguese who have 25.1%. It is also indicative that 30.5% of Greeks never reads newspapers.

Also, only one in two Greeks listens to music every day (50.2%). Greece is in the position before last, which is held by Spain (48.3%). 98.3% listens to music on the radio or on television. Of that percentage, 62.5% likes popular music (the highest percentage), 24.6% listens to rock, and only 13.5% (the lowest percentage) listens to classical music.

63.9% of Greeks has not set foot in a cinema within the last 12 months, and 80.9% has not gone to the theater. With these percentages, Greece is in the penultimate position in the EU.

Greece also has the lowest percentage of concertgoers. 81.2% of Greeks has not been to a concert in 12 months. Greece also has the fewest opera lovers (3.9%)

Also 91.3% of Greeks has not visited a library in the last 12 months. In a country such as Greece, 73.9% (the highest percentage) of its residents has not visited a historical monument in 12 months, but even as tourists in other countries, 94.3% of Greeks avoid visiting historical monuments. Also, 86.4% have not visited a single museum.

Greeks even avoid athletic events. The proof is that 79.1% (highest percentage) of those asked, stated that it has not gone to an athletic event in over 12 months. Hooliganism has greatly contributed to a great degree. But what do Greeks do when they are not working?

99.3% (the highest percentage after Sweden) stated that it watches television. 91% watches the news, 47.5% watches series, and 38.8% watches it for sport. There is no Greek household without a television. Only Greece and Spain have a 100% in the EU concerning television.

Greece also holds the highest percentage of households with two television sets (41.8%) and only 46.8% (lowest percentage) listens to the radio. As far as using a PC on a daily basis, Greece is in last position of the 15 with a 9.9%.

[03] GAINS IN THE ASE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +2.53% at 2.274,55 points, while the volume of transactions was at 103.5 million Euro or 35.3 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, the overwhelming majority namely, 322 recorded gains, and 25 had losses, while the value of 26 stocks remained unchanged.

[04] PAPANDREOU ON THE ANAN VISIT TO CYPRUS

The special significance of the imminent visit of UN secretary-general Kofi Anan to Cyprus on May 14 was underlined by Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou in statements he made after the meeting he had today with Prime Minister Kostas Simitis.

Mr. Papandreou stressed that Mr. Anan's visit to Cyprus is a historical opportunity for the promotion of the solution of the Cyprus problem and expressed the hope that this opportunity will be exploited by all the involved parties and mainly, the Turkish Cypriot and the Turkish sides.

It is a trip of a special importance because Cyprus has been visited only a few times by the UN heads and this trip reflects the importance the solution of the Cyprus problem has for the international community and the UN in particular.

Among the issues Mr. Papandreou discussed with the Prime Minister were the developments in the Middle East, the situation in the Balkans, the issue of the Euro-army as well as, issues concerning the Greek EU presidency. He clarified that there was no proposal made on behalf of the Greek side neither a demand was made to Greece to receive the 13 Palestinians, who are held inside the church of the Nativity. He stressed that Greece has already stated its intention to assist in the effort to send those Palestinians to a third country.

Mr. Papandreou reiterated Greece's interest in the solution of the Middle East problem and the easing of the tension in the church of the Nativity underlining the special role of the Greek Patriarchate in the developments.

[05] KAKLAMANIS' VISIT TO THE US

Greek Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis will depart for the United States tomorrow.

He is scheduled to have meetings in Washington with the Speaker of the US House of Representatives , senior officials of the US Congress and members of the Greek-American community.

In New York, he will meet with the local Parliament Speaker and representatives of the Greek community.

[06] THE LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT IN THESSALONIKI

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus will be in Thessaloniki on May 17.

Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Giorgos Paschalidis will give a formal dinner in his honor at the Governor's Mansion.

[07] PROTOPAPAS: NO ELECTIONS IN 2002 AND NO SUCCESSION ISSUE

No elections will be held in 2002 and there is no succession issue in the leadership of the governing Socialist Party of PASOK. Those issues were closed in the party congress, stated government spokesman Christos Protopapas.

Mr. Protopapas stated that no PASOK member will raise a succession issue, adding that this discussion is being made every now and then by the so-called political analysts.

[08] 100 EURO COUNTERFEIT NOTE

A gas station owner was paid with a counterfeit 100 euro note, by a driver who is now wanted by the authorities.

According to the statement of 33-year-old Evaggelos Lazaridis to the authorities, he realized the note was counterfeit after the driver had left the gas station.

It should be noted that this is the first counterfeit 100 euro bank note to be found in Thessaloniki, while 3 counterfeit 20 euro notes were found in the same city last week.

[09] N. CHRISTODOULAKIS IN TURKEY TOMORROW

Minister of Economy and Finance Nikos Christodoulakis will begin his two-day visit to Turkey tomorrow, in an attempt to further strengthen Greek-Turkish relations. The Minister will be accompanied by a small group of businessmen.

During his visit to the neighboring country the Minister of Economy and Finance will meet with his Turkish counterpart, Cemal Dervish, as well as with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem. At the same time he will have meetings with the board of directors and member-businesses of the Turkish Industrialists' Association, in order to discuss prospects of Greek-Turkish alliances in the business world.

Mr. Christodoulakis' visit to Turkey aims at further strengthening bilateral relations. It should be noted that Greece and Turkey recently signed two memoranda of cooperation, in the key sectors of natural gas and electricity.

[10] BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER IN THESSALONIKI

Prime Minister of Bulgaria Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha will visit Thessaloniki tomorrow, and will go to Mt. Athos on Friday.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister is expected tomorrow at 3pm at Macedonia airport, and at 6pm he will meet with the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace, Giorgos Paschalidis. Among other issues they will also discuss bilateral cooperation, in continuance to discussions they had a short time ago in Sofia, and in the framework of the decisions made during Prime Minister Simitis' visit to Bulgaria.

On Friday and Saturday, Simeon will be taken on a tour of Mt. Athos and his main interest lies in the Holy Zografos Convent, where there are some Bulgarian monks staying. On Sunday, the Bulgarian Prime Minister will return to Bulgaria.

[11] G. PAPANTONIOU IN LONDON

Minister of National Defense Giannos Papantoniou is leaving for a two-day trip to London today.

Mr. Papantoniou will meet, among others, his British counterpart, Mr. Geoff Hoon, with whom he will discuss the Euroarmy issue and the accession of Cyprus to the European Union.

He will also lay down a wreath at the memorial for Brigadier Steven Saunders, murdered by November 17.

[12] ALEKA PAPARIGA IN MADRID AND LISBON

A delegation of the Greek Communist Party's Central Committee (KKE), consisting of KKE's Secretary General Aleka Papariga and Babis Aggourakis, a member of the Central Committee, will visit Madrid and Lisbon today, May 8, and tomorrow, May 9.

The delegation will meet with the Secretary General of the Spanish Communist Party F. Frutos on May 8 and the Secretary General of the Portuguese Communist Party C. Carvallias on May 9. They will discuss developments on the basic fronts of the workers' struggle, solidarity issues with the Palestinian people and developments within the European Union.

[13] HOLLYWOOD PICTURE ON ALEXANDER THE GREAT

A team of distinguished Greeks of the Diaspora aspires to make a motion picture on Alexander the Great with the support of big Greek community organizations.

According to the Australian newspaper Neos Kosmos, the motion picture production has been taken over by the Hollywood based H. B. Inc. Productions company, headed by the Greek-Australian movie director Eustratios Magias, who has also written the script.

Mr. Magias stressed that it is very important that the film in question be made by Greeks to secure a great historical accuracy in the presentation of the life and achievements of Alexander the Great.

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