Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-05-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] PASOK PRESIDENT TO BE ELECTED FROM BASE

[02] GRREK HOPE TO STRUGGLE AGAINST AIDS

[03] THE TRIAL ON THE YAKOVLEV CRASH WAS SUSPENDED

[04] PROTOPAPAS: POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS FOR THE GREEK ECONOMY

[05] THE ASE WAS UNABLE TO WITHSTAND THE PRESSURES

[06] GREEK SUPPORT TO LITHUANIA'S ACCESSION INTO THE EU AND NATO

[07] COUNTERFEIT POUNDS AND EURO IN GREECE

[08] "ACTION: THESSALONIKI 2003"

[09] ANAN WANTS THE SPEEDING-UP OF NEGOTIATIONS

[10] EUROPARLIAMENT APPROVES PAPADIMAS APPOINTMENT

[11] KAKLAMANIS DISCUSSED CYPRUS AND THE EURO-ARMY IN THE US

[01] PASOK PRESIDENT TO BE ELECTED FROM BASE

Governing PASOK's Executive Bureau unanimously decided to propose at the organizational conference that a President be elected from the base of PASOK and a Secretary at the congress. Political planning for the coming period, until the municipal and prefectural elections, was also discussed.

"From the moment that the President is elected at a vote where all Movement members vote, then the power he has is even greater. The Secretary was not elected at the congress specifically so that there would not be the same legalizing base as for the President", pointed out PASOK Central Committee Secretary Kostas Laliotis.

Kostas Laliotis characterized the conference as a great opportunity to mark PASOK as the dominant and pioneering political current for the future of Greece.

"The conference as a political high point, can decisively contribute to the reversal of unfortunate coincidences, creating hopes and expectations for the great majority of Greeks. The PASOK conference certainly can and must act as a catalyst for consolidation, the dynamics and the confidence of PASOK, the cohesion of the democratic progressive front, for the prospect of an existing political and social majority. It is a great opportunity for PASOK to dynamically and synthetically become stronger, more credible, and more modern", stressed Mr. Laliotis.

The conference is to take place on July 5 and 6, with the participation of all elected bodies of the Movement. In total 1700 people with participate.

[02] GRREK HOPE TO STRUGGLE AGAINST AIDS

A Greek scientist at the Frederick National Oncology Institute in Maryland US, discovered that the HIV virus, responsible for AIDS, can hide in other body cells, besides those known so far, so that it cannot be traced.

His important research gives new hope to AIDS patients. Specifically, according to Professor Giorgos Pavlakis who spoke to Flash radio, findings show that important cells of the immune system can be infected by HIV, while the infection remains even after the treatment.

As the Greek scientist stated, with this discovery we may be able to adjust future treatments in order to wipe out the virus from those cells, while he pointed out that many important steps have been taken concerning AIDS in just a few years, and we are now in the process of discovering new treatements.

The team of the Greek Professor is already experimenting with finding out which drugs best fight AIDS in NK cells, and have so far concluded that AZT and 3TG bear some results.

[03] THE TRIAL ON THE YAKOVLEV CRASH WAS SUSPENDED

The trial of the two air traffic controllers, who were on duty at Macedonia Airport on December 17, 1997 when a Ukrainian airlines airplane crashed at Pieria Mountains, was suspended to take place in November. The trial in Thessaloniki's Court of Appeals was suspended for a second time in a period of a few months because certain basic witnesses for the prosecution were absent causing the strong reaction of the victims' relatives.

The two air traffic controllers had been found guilty in a trial on a First Instance Court and were sentenced to 5 years in prison. They are accused of tragic omissions that caused the Yakovlev passenger plane accident killing the 74 people on board, both passengers and crew.

[04] PROTOPAPAS: POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS FOR THE GREEK ECONOMY

The Greek economy moves forward with a dynamic pace, stated Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas characterizing the economic developments as positive.

Mr. Protopapas stated the course of economic indexes is positive, unemployment is on the decline, the growth rates have recovered, and the 3rd Community Framework of Support funds are absorbed successfully.

The government spokesman stated that the Prime Minister will present these figures in Parliament at the end of the month and will prove to the people that the Greek economy has a positive course and positive prospects.

[05] THE ASE WAS UNABLE TO WITHSTAND THE PRESSURES

The efforts made today for the Athens Stock Exchange to close on positive grounds were not successful as it was unable to withstand the pressures exerted as a result of the liquidation of stocks aimed at securing the short-term profits made by investors in the previous sessions.

The general index dropped to -0.62% at 2.346,55 points, while the volume of transactions was satisfactory at 132.1 million Euro or 45 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, 125 recorded gains and 197 had losses, while the value of 51 stocks remained unchanged.

[06] GREEK SUPPORT TO LITHUANIA'S ACCESSION INTO THE EU AND NATO

Agreement to avoid double taxation was signed today by Greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos and his Lithuanian counterpart Valdas Adamkus, who is on a three-day formal visit to Greece.

Mr. Stephanopoulos expressed Greece's support to Lithuania's accession course into the Euro-Atlantic structures, while he also referred to the achievements of the Baltic Sea countries in the past 12 years in the development of democratic institutions and the course of their accession into the European family.

The meeting was held in a warm atmosphere and the two men discussed developments in the Middle East and the Balkans, as well as the improvement of bilateral trade relations.

The Lithuanian President expressed his country's gratitude for Greece's support to its efforts to become part of the Euro-Atlantic structures and pointed out that stability in the wider region depends on good bilateral relations.

The Lithuanian President also met with Prime Minister Kostas Simitis, who stated that Mr. Adamkus' visit is an opportunity for the further development of closer relations between the two countries, adding that negotiations for Lithuania's accession into the Euro-Atlantic structures develop smoothly.

Regarding the EU, the Prime Minister pointed out that the first enlargement wave must include 10 countries for which a decision has already been made and Greece will welcome Lithuania's participation in this first wave.

He also underlined that NATO wants to expand and Greece believes that it should expand toward Eastern Europe because this move will contribute to Europe's security and better peace cooperation in the region.

Mr. Simitis stated that Europe must acquire an identity on foreign and defense policy issues, stressing that all European countries must participate in the Euro-Atlantic structures.

[07] COUNTERFEIT POUNDS AND EURO IN GREECE

Unidentified individuals bought items at the Heracleon Crete Airport Duty Free, using 11 UK £20 bank notes, while searches are still in progress to find them.

One counterfeit 50 euro note was used by an unknown party in a transaction at a New Orestiada kiosk, while two counterfeit 20 euro bank notes and one 100 euro note were found circulating in the Komotini market. The counterfeit bank notes were seized by the proper authorities, while the parties that put them into circulation are being searched for.

[08] "ACTION: THESSALONIKI 2003"

A delegation of the Action: Thessaloniki 2003 movement participated in the second preparatory meeting of the European Social Forum held in Vienna from May 10 to May 12.

Hundreds of organizations, parties and movements from all over Europe participated in the meeting, and discussed how the goals of the movement against globalization based on the declaration of the movements' forum in Porto Alegre, will be materialized and become more specific.

Action: Thessaloniki 2003 used the stand at the Vienna meeting, where, apart from interventions in the discussions, it appealed for mass participation from all the movements and organizations in the protest organized in Thessaloniki in June 2003, drawing on the EU Summit Meeting.

One of the meeting's results was the announcement of a new preparatory meeting of the European Social Forum in Thessaloniki, and a delegation of the organizing committee will hold meeting in that direction on May 20.

Participants in the Vienna meeting from Greece included delegations from KKE, PAME, the Panhellenic Agricultural Consilidation, the Greek Committee for International Dentente and Peace, the Youth Action for Peace, and the Balkan AntiNATO Center.

[09] ANAN WANTS THE SPEEDING-UP OF NEGOTIATIONS

The speeding-up of direct talks on Cyprus was at the center of the meeting Cypriot President Glafkos Clerides had in Nicosia this morning with UN secretary-general Kofi Anan.

After the meeting, Mr. Clerides stated that he discussed with Mr. Anan ways to speed up negotiations, while the UN secretary-general refused to make any comments in spite of the persistent questions made by reporters.

Mr. Anan will meet this afternoon with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash in the occupied part of Nicosia, while later in the evening he will give a formal dinner at the residence of the UN representative to Cyprus in honor of the Cypriot President and the Turkish Cypriot leader.

[10] EUROPARLIAMENT APPROVES PAPADIMAS APPOINTMENT

The appointment of Lucas Papadimas to the position of Vice-President of the European Central Bank, was approved by the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. 435 out of 516 EuroMPs voted in favor of Mr. Papadimas.

EuroMP Christa Razzio- Platt, commenting on the introductory report on Papadimas' candidacy, pointed out that Mr. Papadimas is an excellent candidate as far as the basic demands of the Convention are concerned, meaning personal integrity and acknowledged authority and professional experience on monetary and banking issues.

Lucas Papadimas is succeeding the French Christian Noyer, whose term will be over at the end of the month.

[11] KAKLAMANIS DISCUSSED CYPRUS AND THE EURO-ARMY IN THE US

Greek Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis, who is on a visit to the United States, discussed the issues of Cyprus and the Euro-army with US assistant Secretary of State Mark Grossman, responsible for political affairs, in a meeting that was held in the US State Department.

After the meeting, Mr. Grossman stated that Mr. Kaklamanis expressed his views on different issues including the Cyprus problem, while Mr. Kaklamanis stated that Mr. Grossman reiterated that Cyprus' accession into the European Union is not necessarily linked with the prior solution of the Cyprus problem.

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