Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-05-22

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

CONTENTS

[01] POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE SHAKES CRETE

[02] CLERIDIS MEETINGS WITH STATE AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

[03] ASYMMETRICAL THREATS AND STABILITY IN SE EUROPE

[04] THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN TRADE

[05] CHRISOCHOIDIS: GREECE WILL HOST SAFE OLYMPIC GAMES

[06] LOSSES IN THE ASE

[07] PROTOPAPAS ON THE US STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT

[08] PAPANTONIOU ON THE ASSYMETRICAL THREATS

[09] TWO OF THE 13 PALESTINIANS HAVE ARRIVED IN ATHENS

[10] THE PRIME MINISTER CALLS FOR UNITY AND VIGILANCE

[11] PAPANDREOU DENIES DISAGREEMENT WITH PRIME MINISTER

[01] POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE SHAKES CRETE

Many of Crete's residents preferred to spend the night in city squares and on the streets after the powerful seismic vibration that took place a few minutes before midnight. Its epicenter was in an underwater region between Crete and Milos.

The vibration was intense, between 6.1 and 5.8 points on the Richter scale. Specifically, the first estimations came from the Patra labs, which reported a 5.8 earthquake. The announcement of the AUTh mentions a 6.1 R earthquake, Bucharest recorded it at 4.8, Rome at 5.9, while the Strasburg seismological center recorded an earthquake of 6 points on the Richter scale. On their side AUTh seismologists characterized that differentiation is natural and that this has happened before.

No aftershocks are expected however and AUTh seismologist Manolis Scordilis, made the following statement to the MPA: As a rule, earthquakes of an intermediate depth (those whose epicenter is more than 60 km away from the Earth's crust) are isolated phenomena, and are not followed by aftershocks.

The earthquake caused an upset in the island's population who chose to spend the night outside. There were some problems with communications, as most residents immediately telephoned family or friends, however the problem was fixed immediately.

The quake also caused damages to supermarkets, the church of St. Pelagia, and a small fire was put out in a DEI electricity substation in Heracleon, which was attributed to a short-circuit.

[02] CLERIDIS MEETINGS WITH STATE AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

The President of the Cypriot Republic, Glafkos Cleridis, is expected in Athens this afternoon, in order to have discussions with the state and political leadership of Greece concerning to the progress of the Cyprus issue and Cyprus' accession to the European Union.

At 7pm, Mr. Cleridis will meet with the President of the Republic, Kostis Stefanopoulos, while half an hour later he will go to the Maximos Mansion, where he will discuss the progress of Cyprus issue with Prime Minister Kostas Simitis. After their meeting, Mr. Cleridis and Mr. Simitis will hold a press conference.

Mr. Cleridis will also visit the Archbishop of Cyprus, Mr. Chrysostomos, at the Annunciation hospital today, while he will meet with the President of the Greek Parliament Apostolos Kaklamanis. Later tonight, the Prime Minister will hold a dinner for the President of the Cypriot Republic.

Tomorrow morning, Mr. Cleridis will meet with the honorary President of New Democracy, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, the Executive Secretariat of the Federation of Cypriot Organizations in Greece (OKOE), the President of New Democracy, Kostas Karamanlis, and the President of the Coalition of the Left, Nikos Kosntantopoulos.

[03] ASYMMETRICAL THREATS AND STABILITY IN SE EUROPE

The issues of security, organized crime, cooperation for the promotion of peacekeeping procedures, and police cooperation will be among the topics to be discussed during the two-day convention on "Stability and asymmetrical threats in SE Europe", the works of which began this morning at the Hyatt hotel in Thessaloniki.

The convention has been organized by the Ministries of National Defense and Macedonia-Thrace, in cooperation with the US and US embassies and the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce. Speeches will be made by the Ministers of Macedonia-Thrace, National Defense and Public Order, US Ambassador Thomas Miller, and UK Ambassador David Madden.

Speakers at the convention include Vice-President of the Serb Government Zarko Korac, Romanian Secretary of State, Head of the Department for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Defense Politics George Cristian Maior, Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe Erhard Busek, the President for the Center of Democracy and Reconciliation in SE Europe, Richard Schifter, International Law experts, analysts and organization consultants.

[04] THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN TRADE

About 20.000 women in Greece are being forced to prostitution every year, while in the period 1990-2000 a total of 80.000 women and children from the Balkans and southeastern Europe were added to the domestic prostitution market.

The above were stressed by the speakers participating in the working team on the Illegal Human Trafficking and Trade in Southeastern Europe held within the framework of the conference on Assymetrical Threats in Southeastern Europe that is taking place in Thessaloniki.

Psychologist Bonnie Miller, wife of US ambassador Thomas Miller, stated that shelters should be established for the women who are victims of sexual exploitation. Ms. Miller stated that they should be offered medical care and psychological support, while a plan should be drawn up on what their future will be after they leave the streets.

Public Order Ministry special adviser Katerina Yiannetou stated that pimps in Greece run a very profitable business with minimal risk and usually they receive small sentences when they are brought to court. Their profits in Greece had an increase of 70% in the period 1991-1996, while at an international level their profits reached 7 billion Euro in 2000.

According to figures provided by international organizations presented by Ms. Yiannetou, every year 1 million children are being forced to prostitution worldwide, while in 2000 a total of 500.000 women were forced to prostitution.

Ms. Yiannetou stated that she is optimistic that with the new bill on human trade promoted by the Ministry of Public Order the phenomenon will be faced more effectively.

[05] CHRISOCHOIDIS: GREECE WILL HOST SAFE OLYMPIC GAMES

The belief that Greece will win the bet with itself and will host the safest Olympic Games ever in 2004, was expressed by Minister of Public Order Michalis Chrisochoidis, who addressed the conference on Stability and Assymetrical Threats in Southeastern Europe, taking place in Thessaloniki.

Mr. Chrisochoidis stated that the Geek Police has acquired valuable experience and know-how and referred to the Olympic Games Security Department in which participate all the involved agencies. He also referred to the establishment of an advisory body in which will participate representatives from 7 countries.

Mr. Chrisochoidis referred to the positive comments included in the US State Department report on Greece's contribution to the efforts against international terrorism and pointed out that Greece cooperates with the United States, the FBI, the European Union and third countries.

He said that it is a utopia to believe that an international problem, such as terrorism, can be dealt with by a single country, adding that terrorism can be combated only through cooperation at an international level for the efforts to be more effective.

[06] LOSSES IN THE ASE

Losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange. The general index dropped to -1.60% at 2.367,07 points, while the volume of transactions was at 13.2 million Euro or 41.9 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, only 32 recorded gains, while the overwhelming majority of 317 had losses, and the value of 24 stocks remained unchanged.

[07] PROTOPAPAS ON THE US STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT

The big progress made by Greece in the efforts against terrorism is being pointed out in the US State Department report, stated Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas, who stressed that this progress is being recognized internationally even by those who had criticized Greece in the past.

Regarding the comments on the Greek justice, that are included in the report, he stated that nobody has the right to intervene in the way the Greek justice operates, stressing that it is independent and does its work very well.

[08] PAPANTONIOU ON THE ASSYMETRICAL THREATS

In southeastern Europe there are elements of instability that can be characterized as assymetrical threats and the most characteristic cases are illegal immigration and organized crime.

The above were underlined by Minister of Defense Yiannos Papantoniou speaking in the conference on Stability and Assymetrical Threats in Southeastern Europe taking place in Thessaloniki.

Mr. Papantoniou stated that there are regions in southeastern Europe that back terrorism and the activities of extremists. Terrorism can be dealt with through a dual strategy namely, increased security and economic and social development. Greece's contribution to the preservation of peace and the promotion of the economic and social development is significant. About 1.700 Greek army officers participate in the peacekeeping forces deployed in the Balkans, said Mr. Papantoniou. Referring to the issue of the Euro-army, Mr. Papantoniou expressed the hope that the existing difficulties will be resolved in a satisfactory manner. This way, the replacement of the NATO force in FYROM by a European military force will proceed.

Mr. Papantoniou stated that the period of nationalist aspirations in the Balkans has ended permanently. The political map will not change and the peoples in the region must learn to live inside the existing borders.

Meanwhile, Mr. Papantoniou visited the Greek Automobile Industry plant near Thessaloniki. On the sidelines of his visit, he stated that the Turkish oceanographic ship Sizmik is being watched by the Greek armed forces and for the moment there were no problems.

[09] TWO OF THE 13 PALESTINIANS HAVE ARRIVED IN ATHENS

Two of the 13 Palestinians, who were sent to Cyprus after they were allowed to leave the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem which was under siege by the Israelis, arrived in Athens at noon today.

They arrived on board a Spanish Air Force transport plane and their reception at the Athens airport was held in top secrecy and under strong security measures.

Meanwhile, government spokesman Christos Protopapas stated that the Palestinians, who will stay in Greece will live in total freedom, while measures will be taken for their protection.

[10] THE PRIME MINISTER CALLS FOR UNITY AND VIGILANCE

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis called for unity and vigilance in the efforts concerning the issues of national importance, while he also called for unity inside the governing Socialist Party of PASOK in order to complete the government work and be the winner in the next parliamentary elections.

Addressing the PASOK parliament deputies, Mr.Simitis gave an emphasis to the decisions that will be made on the issues of major significance for Greece, stressing that the time for decision making has come. He reiterated the government's decision to reject the Ankara text on the Euro-army and underlined that Cyprus' EU accession course proceeds well but vigilance and strong political presence is necessary to meet the strategic goal of Cyprus' accession into the European Union.

Mr. Simitis stated that there are no automatic pilots and nothing that was achieved until now in the international scene or in Europe was offered to Greece as a gift.

The Prime Minister stressed that PASOK itself is not in a crisis, underlining that in crisis are all those who do not want PASOK to be united and strong.

He launched an attack on the right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy, stressing that it is the only right-wing party in Europe that does not dare to say its name and added that Greece does not deserve such an opposition.

On the imminent municipal elections, the Prime Minister pointed out that they will have a political character for the local communities but they will not be a referendum. He added that New Democracy underestimates the Left when it thinks that a couple of compliments will be enough to get the vote of the Left.

[11] PAPANDREOU DENIES DISAGREEMENT WITH PRIME MINISTER

In statements made at the Maximos Mansion, Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou refuted information that there was a disagreement between the Prime Minister and himself on the Euroarmy issue, which supposedly led to his absence from the governmental committee.

The Prime Minister stood by me both in the various scenarios and during my sickness, stressed Mr. Papandreou, referring to the flu he contracted during the Foreign Ministers' meeting in Reykjavik.

The Foreign Minister characterized the succession scenarios as untimely and ill-opportuned. They arise deterministically and depending on developments, he added.

Furthermore, he made it clear that he is not under pressure to take initiative. No one is pressuring me. I have made public statements, I'm not playing on two boards.

It should be noted that Mr. Papandreou will meet with the Prime Minister tomorrow at the Maximos Mansion tomorrow at 7pm, in order to discuss developments in foreign policy.

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