Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-10-24

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

CONTENTS

[01] ACCESSION OF CYPRUS PROMOTED BY ATHENS

[02] NEW STANCE OF TERRORISM SUSPECTS

[03] COMMISSION COMPLAINTS AGAINST GREECE

[04] GAINS IN THE ASE

[05] THE ACTING GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE TURKISH COAST GUARD SHIP IN IMIA

[06] THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTRY ON THE TURKISH GUARD SHIP IN IMIA

[07] NATO MEMBERS' MEETING IN RHODES

[08] THE OA FLIGHTS TO AND FROM AUSTRALIA WILL STOP ON SUNDAY

[09] A CASSETTE CONTRADICTS THE CONTRADICTION

[10] ONE OUT OF 5 WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

[11] EUROSTAT AUDITS GOVERNMENT SURPLUS

[12] VENIZELOS MEETS SPANISH COUNTERPART

[01] ACCESSION OF CYPRUS PROMOTED BY ATHENS

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis is in Brussels today, in order to participate in the two-day informal Summit of the European Council. The meeting's works will end on Friday night.

The Summit's topic, the agricultural reform and structural funds in general, was characterized as difficult by Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou, during a Cabinet meeting yesterday. Mr. Papandreou also informed the members of the Cabinet of Cyprus' accession prospects and his meeting with the UN's Special Consultant on Cyprus Alavaro de Soto.

As far as Cyprus is concerned, he stressed that there are no prerequisites for Cyprus' accession, pointing out that it would be preferred that the Cyprus issue be resolved before its accession. He also stated that when the accession is at hand, many parties may raise a conversation on all aspects of the situation. Thus, we must be careful of what we promote, so that the efforts we have made so far and which we will continue to make - on resolving the Cyprus problem, are evaluated positively.

Concerning his meeting with Mr. de Soto yesterday, he informed the Cabinet that he was asked to observe UN principles, Security Council resolutions, and their spirit. He also told the Greek Foreign Minister that if a solution is offered by the UN Secretary General, it will be within a UN framework.

Meanwhile, after the Summit, the Greek Prime Minister will tour European capitals in order to promote Greek positions for the accession of Cyprus to the European Union and the Euroarmy.

Mr. Simitis' first stop will be London, where, on Monday, he will meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

[02] NEW STANCE OF TERRORISM SUSPECTS

Further developments are expected in the "November 17" case today. N17 suspect awaiting trial in "Corydallos" penitentiary, Dimitris Koufontinas, will testify before Special Examiner Leonidas Zervobeakos.

Also, Mr. Zervobeakos is expected to announce 12 new charges against Christodoulos Xeros, while he is expected to deny any involvement in the organization.

Two more N17 suspects, Vassilis Tzortzatos and Theologos Psaradelis, have been called to testify tomorrow, after additional charges were also announced against them.

Special Examiner Leonidas Zervobeakos received Vassilis Xeros' testimony memorandum, in which he denied the charges against him.

Meanwhile, criminal charges were set against Giannis Serifis for participation in the organization, and he is expected to testify on Sunday morning.

[03] COMMISSION COMPLAINTS AGAINST GREECE

Two complaints have been filed with the European Communities Court by the European Commission against Greece, concerning violations of community legislature as far as consumer protection is concerned, according to relevant Commissioner David Burn, in answering a question of ND EuroMP Antonis Trakatellis.

The Commissioner for consumer protection issues pointed out that violations have been noted in the directive concerning suits against consumer interests and certain aspects of the of sales and guarantees of consumer goods directive, while the Commission affirmed that complaint procedures are underway to the ECC. Concerning the first directive, the case has been brought before the Court, while procedures concerning the second directive are still in their preliminary stages.

[04] GAINS IN THE ASE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today which was affected by the favorable conditions in the major European markets.

The general index rose to +0.21% at 1.777,27 points, while the volume of transactions was small at 51.4 million Euro.

Of the stocks trading today, 174 recorded gains and 121 had losses, while the value of 80 stocks remained unchanged.

[05] THE ACTING GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE TURKISH COAST GUARD SHIP IN IMIA

Acting government spokesman and Undersecretary of Press Tilemachos Hitiris confirmed a press report according to which, an inflatable boat of the Turkish Coast Guard was spotted in the region of the rocky islets of Imia in the southeastern Aegean Sea.

Mr. Hititris confirmed that an inflatable boat of the Turkish Coast Guard was spotted by the Greek Coast Guard and was requested to leave the area. Fifteen minutes later the Turkish boat left the region without an incident, stated the Undersecretary of Press. He stated that such incidents take pace from time to time and they should not be given greater dimensions than they deserve.

[06] THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTRY ON THE TURKISH GUARD SHIP IN IMIA

Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis confirmed that a Turkish guard ship approached the rocky islets of Imia in the southeast Aegean Sea on October 17. The Turkish ship approached the islets with great speed and sailed around them violating the Greek territorial waters. A Greek Coast Guard ship was very close to the area and informed the Port Authority, while at the same time it warned the Turkish guard ship to leave the area. The Turkish guard ship stayed in the area for a while and later on it sailed away.

Mr. Beglitis characterized the incident as an isolated one and pointed out that it cannot hurt the good atmosphere between the two countries. He also said that there is no increase in the number of such incidents on behalf of Turkey, and no moves were made showing that a hot incident is likely.

The issue was brought to light by the Athens newspaper Espresso which referred to another similar incident on October 18. The Navy General Staff confirmed the October 17 incident, while Undersecretary of Press Tilemachos Hitiris, speaking to the state-run NET television channel, pointed out that there was no tension in the incident and therefore there is no reason for concern. The Ministries of National Defense and Foreign Affairs also characterized the incident as being of a lesser importance.

[07] NATO MEMBERS' MEETING IN RHODES

The meeting of the Mediterranean special group that belongs to NATO's Parliamentary Assembly opened in the southeastern Aegean Sea island of Rhodes today.

In the meeting participate Parliament representatives from 14 countries and NATO officials to discuss issues like, terrorism, organized crime, drugs and the way the situation in the Middle East can be faced in terms of security.

[08] THE OA FLIGHTS TO AND FROM AUSTRALIA WILL STOP ON SUNDAY

The last scheduled Olympic Airways passenger flight from Australia to Athens will take place on Sunday after the state-run airline decision to cancel its flights to and from Australia within the framework of spending cuts.

The pilots and flight attendants of the Greek state-run airline will hold protests next week against the cancellation of the Athens-Melbourne-Sydney flight.

[09] A CASSETTE CONTRADICTS THE CONTRADICTION

Parts of Archbishop Christodoulos' comments concerning the local government elections and the voters of Giorgos Karatzaferis, Athens-Piraeus candidate prefect characterized as ultra-right politician, that had been recorded, were revealed this morning by "Flash" radio. The Archbishop had made comments during a speech of his at a seminar of 100 metropolitan radio station executives from all of Greece, between the two election Sundays, due to the large percentage of voters concentrated by Mr. Karatzaferis, stating that his voters were not extremists, but "very good Christians". When the media had made the issue public last week, Mr. Christodoulos had contradicted that he had expressed political views.

According to the recording played today, the Archbishop said: "Of course one could say that the threat that we supposedly have Ultra Right wing tendencies is being brandished. We heard all this stupidity on the channels by individuals who were supposedly analyzing the election results, saying that the Karatzaferis party belongs to the ultra right, but they hadn't realized that those voting for him were protesting ND's position with Tzannetakos against the Church. Isn't this the truth? They are looking for needles in haystacks. If they had selected another candidate, Karatzaferis would not have even gotten 1%. Lets call it a majority by chance, which was formed by those disappointed with the specific person. In any case, they called us right wing extremists and other such claptrap, which has nothing to do with reality. All the people who went there (Karatzaferis voters) are very good Christians".

[10] ONE OUT OF 5 WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

Mental disorder symptoms, such as stomach or leg pains and vomiting due to stress, are recorded in 1 out of 5 children, while 1 out of 4 families probably has at least 1 member with mental or behavioral disorders, underlined Minister of Health K. Stefanis, in an event for the presentation of the exhibition on Global Health, titled Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope.

These psychosomatic indications of children, are caused by what happens within the family, at school, and in their broader social environment, and can lead to extreme phenomena, such as blindness, deafness, even paralysis of a body part, according to Pediatrician N. Matsonis, while the more intense disorders can lead to more serious illness to individuals, isolating them from the social whole.

[11] EUROSTAT AUDITS GOVERNMENT SURPLUS

Audits by Eurostat specialists on the state budget and public sector transactions of Greece are continuing for the second day. The specialists are aiming at the government's so called white hole, in order to ascertain if the surplus in the Greek budget is real or not, and if the public debt is being recorded correctly.

Special attention is being paid to the audits of legal entities of public law and Local Government Organization budgets. Furthermore, in depth investigations are being carried out concerning the so called developmental aid supplied to Public Benefit Enterprises, such as Olympic Airways, the Railway Organization, Attiko Metro, Egnatia SA (through the Programme for Public Investments).

[12] VENIZELOS MEETS SPANISH COUNTERPART

Minister of Culture Evaggelos Venizelos met with his Spanish counterpart, Pilar de Castillo, who is visiting Greece, drawing on the opening of The Century of Picasso and Salvator Dali: Myth and Idiosyncrasy exhibitions yesterday.

In statements after their meeting, Mr. Venizelos underlined that Greek-Spanish cultural cooperation is very intense both in the framework of the Cultural Olympics, as well as in the framework the Greek Presidency of the European Union. Following the great exhibition of the works of Dominikos Theotokopoulos, and after the exhibitions of Picasso and Dali, we are preparing a great show in Barcelona on the Bull in the Mediterranean, and very many activities until 2004, because there is a very close relationship between the Cultural Olympics and the Barcelona Forum, which also promotes the Cultural dialogue, he mentioned.

On her side, Mrs. de Castillo referred to the Picasso-Dali exhibition, which was opened in Athens by the Queen of Spain Sophia and the President of the Republic Kostis Stefanopoulos, underlining that these glorious events are indicative of the level Greek-Spanish relations are at.

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