Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-05-24

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

CONTENTS

[01] 95% OF OLYMPIC PROJECTS HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED

[02] LALIOTIS FEELS JUSTIFIED ON ND FINANCING

[03] RESULTS OF SIMITIS MEETINGS WITH POLITICAL LEADERS

[04] PRIME MINISTER SIMITIS CALLED FOR NATIONAL UNITY

[05] APPEAL TO THE EUROPEAN COURT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

[06] PROTOPAPAS: ANKARA WILL ATTEMPT TO OPEN SECONDARY ISSUES

[07] SPIROS VOUGIAS PRESENTED HIS CANDIDATURE FOR THESSALONIKI MAYOR

[08] THE LOSSES CONTINUE IN THE ASE

[09] AGREEMENT ON THE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM IN TEN DAYS

[10] SAE PRESIDING BOARD MEETING

[11] BEGLITIS: US DEMAND TO CONDUCT INSPECTIONS ON SHIPS

[12] THE 2004 OLYMPICS WILL BE UNIQUE

[13] PAPANDREOU PRESENTED THE GREEK POSITIONS ON THE EURO-ARMY

[01] 95% OF OLYMPIC PROJECTS HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED

Minister of Culture Evaggelos Venizelos briefed the members of the Parliament's committee for Educational Matters and the National Olympic Committee on the progress of the preparations for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

50% of the Olympic village is complete and 95% of Olympic projects have been assigned, underlined Mr. Venizelos, while he made special mention to the programme of the Cultural Olympics.

All criticism, either friendly and unofficial, or expressed in the parliament or through other official procedures, is welcome, pointed out the Minister of Culture.

[02] LALIOTIS FEELS JUSTIFIED ON ND FINANCING

I believe it is my political and social duty, my institutional and moral responsibility, to continue my struggle for security of transparency in public life and for the protection of public interest, mentioned the Secretary of PASOK's Central Committee, Kostas Laliotis. His statements came in response to those of the Honorary President of New Democracy, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, and other Opposition party staff members, concerning the Liberian MAYO company.

Developments do complete justice to my documented disclosure as well as the truth of the evidence and the documents published in the media and turned in to Justice and the Institutions' Committee of the Parliament, underlined Mr. Laliotis.

He stressed that he is especially happy that Mr. Mitsotakis and Mr. Karamanlis, as well as some major ND staff members, stated they were fortunate, and he added that the investigation is still continuing in depth, concerning New Democracy's relations to MAYO.

[03] RESULTS OF SIMITIS MEETINGS WITH POLITICAL LEADERS

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis held consecutive meetings with the leaders of the opposition this morning. At 10:30am he met with the President of New Democracy, Kostas Karamanlis, at 11:15am with the Secretary General of KKE, Aleka Papariga, at 12 noon with the President of the Coalition of the Left Nikos Konstantopoulos.

After his meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Karamanlis stated: I responded to the Prime Minister's invitation because I always believed and in the need for national understanding, the need to trace a unified national strategy. Besides that is why always proposed the formation of a Foreign Policy National Council. Unfortunately, after the government's refusal on the issue for many years, it is now delaying bringing it to Parliament, despite its constitutional obligation to do so. I also want to point out that national understanding should not take place when the Prime Minister calls upon it only when badly handled national issues lead to serious difficulties.

Our positions are clear and firm: On the Cyprus issue, its resolving is not a prerequisite for Cyprus' accession to the EU. Cyprus must be incorporated in the first group of candidate countries, during Greece's Presidency in the Spring of 2003. On the Euroarmy issue, the government's negligence and I may be using a lenient term has led to the Ankara text. The government's responsibilities are clear and indisputable. We have been pointing this issue out for more than a year. At least now the government seems to be adopting this view. In any case the Ankara text cannot be accepted. So, our positions are standard and we will continue to stand by them firmly and with consequence. Finally, in my discussion with the Prime Minister, I stressed that it does not suffice to have occasional or coincidental discussions on important issues, because there is a need, and an urgent one indeed, to reevaluate, reexamine the vital aspects of foreign policy.

The President of the Coalition of the Left met with the Prime Minister and members of the Political Secretariat N. Hountis and N. Voutsis. Mr. Konstantopoulos characterized their discussions as sincere and he stressed that deliberation between politicians are always useful, while he repeated his request for the forming of a Foreign Policy Council on crucial issues.

Referring to the Euroarmy, the President of the Coalition stressed that the government must not back down on the Ankara text, while on Cyprus he stated that he must insist on the completion of the accession process, without obstacles and regardless of the point at which the resolving of the Cyprus issue is at. He made mention of an internationally unfavorable atmosphere, which requires clear positioning.

[04] PRIME MINISTER SIMITIS CALLED FOR NATIONAL UNITY

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis called for national unity and militancy in statements he made after the briefing of the political party leaders on issues of national importance.

Mr. Simitis referred to three issues, Cyprus' EU accession, the solution of the Cyprus problem and the settlement of issues in the EU and NATO, such as the Euro-army, pointing out the necessary preconditions are here for final decisions.

On Cyprus' EU accession course, Mr. Simitis stated that the governing Socialist Party of PASOK has made a big effort to reach the point it is today and reminded the Helsinki decisions. On the solution of the Cyprus problem, he said that it is at a turning point and that he has noticed maneuvering on behalf of the Turkish and the Turkish Cypriot side. On the Euro-army, he said that the issue concerns the framework of cooperation between the European Union and NATO, while he reiterated Greece's opposition to the Ankara Text.

[05] APPEAL TO THE EUROPEAN COURT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Kostas Horomidis, a lawyer from Thessaloniki and former Land Register Ltd Managing Council member, made an appeal to the European Court for Human Rights concerning the court case on his alleged involvement in the delays recorded in the drawing-up of the national land register.

In October 2001, Athens prosecutor Mr. Gerakis launched legal action against Mr. Horomidis and the rest 6 members of the Land Register Ltd Board of Directors. The seven were accused of misconduct toward the Greek State when an EU document on the course of the work for the drawing-up of the national land register was made public.

According to the appeal made by Mr. Horomidis to the European Court for Human Rights, about 8 months after the charges were brought against him he was still not called to testify before a magistrate and as a result he is defamed and a charge is hanging over him.

[06] PROTOPAPAS: ANKARA WILL ATTEMPT TO OPEN SECONDARY ISSUES

Ankara, being aware of the difficult position it is in and knowing that it will be isolated within the framework of the international community, will attempt to open secondary fronts. Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas made the statement when he was called to comment on the Turkish violations of the Greek airspace.

Mr. Protopapas stated that Greece should be focused on its main goal namely, the solution of the Cyprus problem based on the UN decisions and Cyprus' EU accession course.

[07] SPIROS VOUGIAS PRESENTED HIS CANDIDATURE FOR THESSALONIKI MAYOR

The effort that was launched 4 years ago continues and this time we will reach the end of the journey, stated Undersecretary of Transportation Spiros Vougias, during the formal presentation of his candidature for Thessaloniki mayor.

Mr. Vougias stated that he will keep his 1998 municipal election campaign title Thessaloniki a Humane City.

In a press conference he gave today, he stated that in a month he will resign from the post of the Undersecretary of Transportation and by mid June he will present the main core of his ballot in a special event.

[08] THE LOSSES CONTINUE IN THE ASE

Losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -0.71% at 2.329,59 points, while the volume of transactions was at 79.5 million Euro or 27.1 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, 66 recorded gains and the overwhelming majority of 250 had losses, while the value of 57 stocks remained unchanged.

[09] AGREEMENT ON THE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM IN TEN DAYS

The national agreement on the social security system will be signed within 10 days, according to a statement issued by Minister of Finance Nikos Christodoulakis. He clarified that by the end of June the institutional part of the arrangement will be settled and already a draft bill is under preparation.

Mr. Christodoulakis, in an interview with an Athens radio station, stated that in his meeting yesterday with the social partners an agreement was reached on the readjustment of the state financing of social security funds which was a Greek General Confederation of Labor request. The minister agreed that a complete study on the social security system must be conducted every five years to determine if there are deficits.

Referring to the erasure of the Social Security Fund, IKA, debts (a package of 3 trillion drachmas), Mr. Christodoulakis stated that this is a very brave settlement because IKA has to make a new start in 2003 without suspicions and new negotiations.

[10] SAE PRESIDING BOARD MEETING

The World Council for Hellenes Abroad, SAE, Presiding Board meets today to plan future actions and programs. The meetings will continue until May 26 in the presence of Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Yiannis Magriotis, Foreign Ministry General Secretary Dimitris Dollis, responsible for the Greeks living abroad and General Secretariat for Greek Living Abroad officials.

In the meeting, SAE Presiding Board members will refer to their activities, while they will also discuss the organizing of regional symposiums, culture weeks, and the World Camp 2002. They will outline SAE's plans and programs for 2002 and 2003 and discuss the issue of the National Fund and SAE's Medical Center, which is under construction in Mariupolis, Ukraine.

[11] BEGLITIS: US DEMAND TO CONDUCT INSPECTIONS ON SHIPS

Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis confirmed the report on the Athens newspaper Eleftherotypia according to which, the United States requested from the Greek government the right to conduct inspections on ships in the Greek territorial waters if they are suspect for actions of terrorist nature.

Mr. Beglitis stated that the United States have submitted such a request in many countries including Greece. He said that the Greek side examines the US demand taking under consideration the country's constitutional order, its sovereign rights and the observance of international law.

[12] THE 2004 OLYMPICS WILL BE UNIQUE

President of the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee Gianna Aggelopoulou-Daskalaki, referred to the progress in the Olympic projects and catching up on lost time, during the general assembly of the Union of National Olympic Committees. We are going according to schedule in all our programmes. We are working hard on a daily basis, she supported.

Today, we presented the progress made by Athens 2004 in the past two years, to the Union of National Olympic Committees. The National Olympic Committees are valuable partners in the success of the Games. We had a productive meeting and we described the services we will offer to the National Olympic Committees. We received very positive comments. We have focused our efforts on the functions of the games, moving from planning to materialization. We are going according to schedule in all our programmes. As far as the projects are concerned, the construction of 5 facilities is moving at a faster pace than the schedules foresaw.

Progress in the Olympic Village is going according to schedule. We have tangible examples of results on volunteerism, the torch race, the tickets' programme, the opening and closing ceremonies, transports and security, where we hired the Head of Security of the Sidney Olympics. We are working hard on a daily basis. The personal involvement and contribution of Prime Minister Kostas Simitis, has been decisive in the progress we have achieved. However, we will not relax from regaining the lost time. The 2004 Olympics will be unique and will meet the expectations of the world sports community, ended Mr. Aggelopoulou.

It should be noted that on Sunday a report of the progress will be presented to the Executive Committee of the IOC.

[13] PAPANDREOU PRESENTED THE GREEK POSITIONS ON THE EURO-ARMY

Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou presented Greece's position to US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in their meeting in the US Pentagon. Mr. Papandreou stated that the operation of the Euro-army will proceed unhindered without the adoption of the Ankara Text.

Mr. Papandreou, who is on a visit to the United States, presented the Greek objections to the contents of the agreement on the Euro-army, while he also referred to the efforts made by the Spanish EU Presidency to reach a compromise solution.

They discussed the latest developments in the Cyprus issue after the visit of UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to Nicosia, while they also exchanged views on bilateral cooperation in the efforts against international terrorism.

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