Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-12-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] PAPANDREOU PROMOTES OLYMPIC TRUCE

[02] KAKLAMANIS: CYPRUS' ACCESSION A HISTORIC EVENT

[03] STABILITY PACT MEETING

[04] HISTORY MADE AT COPENHAGEN

[05] BAKOYANNI SHOOTER TESTIMONY TOMORROW

[06] STRATEGY BRED SUCCESS

[01] PAPANDREOU PROMOTES OLYMPIC TRUCE

Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou has scheduled meetings with the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Jacob Celenberger and Luxembourg Commissioner Vivian Redding tomorrow afternoon in Athens.

The foreign officials will also be given the chance to sign the Declaration in support of the Olympic Truce.

[02] KAKLAMANIS: CYPRUS' ACCESSION A HISTORIC EVENT

President of the Greek Parliament Apostolos Kaklamanis characterized Cyprus' accession to the EU an event of historic significance. Mr. Kaklamanis pointed out that expectations are created in the Cypriot people, as well as in the peoples of Greece and turkey, on the reversal of the island's division and the just resolving of the problems caused by the coup and the invasion of 1974.

[03] STABILITY PACT MEETING

The fourth regular meeting of the Regional Bank of the Stability Pact will be held tomorrow in Thessaloniki, at the Macedonia Palace hotel.

Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou has been invited to participate in the meeting. During the opening of the Regional Bank's meeting, which is a general assembly of all countries and institutions participating in the Stability Pact, comments will be made by Special Coordinator of the Pact, Erhard Busek. Other speakers include Yugoslavian Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovich, who will speak on the importance of regional cooperation and the experience gained from the cooperation procedure of Southeastern Europe, and EuroMP Johannes (Hannes) Swoboda. The Danish Ambassador to Greece Hans Grunet will read a message from the Presidency of the European Union, while the outline of the European Commission on the accession and connection, will be presented by Reinhart Pribe from the General direction of Foreign Affairs.

[04] HISTORY MADE AT COPENHAGEN

The Simitis government reached the unattainable: It detached Cyprus from Turkey, and led it to the EU as a whole and gained Ankara's commitment for a solution, distancing the danger of dichotomy, stressed the analysis of the Sunday Eleftherotypia newspaper, and added:

Mr. Simitis has every reason to celebrate. Nobody could accuse him for the pre-electoral victory tone of his speech at Copenhagen last Friday at midnight.

President Cleridis, at the setting of his political career, had the supreme honor of announcing to the Cypriot people the attainment of the national goal of gaining accession to the EU, and the commitment for a quick solution to the Cyprus issue based on the Annan plan, which, although problematic, was Cyprus' passport for EU accession.

The star of the decision at Copenhagen was Prime Minister Kostas Simitis, with the support of President of New Democracy Kostas Karamanlis, and with the hard work put in by Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou, mentions the Kathimerini newspaper.

The Copenhagen decision on Cyprus' accession to the EU, without terms or precondition, was one of the highlights of Prime Minister Simitis' career, despite failing to achieve a an agreement in principal on resolving the island's political problem. A large portion of the credit for the developments two days ago belongs to Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou, as well as the President of New Democracy Kostas Karamanlis. He (Mr. Karamanlis) not only influenced the Prime Ministers of the European People's Party, but he also held a very responsible position regarding the Cyprus issue throughout the previous period, facilitating and often strengthening government handling.

Equally intense activity was shown by Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou. The Foreign Minister's contribution was mainly concentrated on interventions towards British and American officials, Lord Hannay and Mr. Wheston, who, along with Mr. De Soto, held the strings for the success of Mr. Annan's initiative. With his constant notes on points of the plan that could not be accepted by Nicosia, he succeeded in preserving the positive atmosphere on Cyprus' candidacy. Finally, the Foreign Minister took advantage of the excellent relation he has developed with the leaders of Cyprus' political powers, so that it would be as easy as possible for Mr. Cleridis to make his moves.

However, Mr. Karamanlis also played an essential role in securing the unhindered accession of Cyprus, by utilizing New Democracy's special relations to Center Right European parties, with the Kerkyra decision as the climax, where the Prime Ministers of Spain and Portugal signed their support to the unconditional accession of the island. At the same time, on the interior front, he contained the voices proposing a strong opposition to the government's handling of the Cyprus issue.

Meanwhile, Minister of Development, Akis Tsochatzopoulos, Minister of Culture, Evaggelos Venizelos, and Deputy Foreign Minister Giannis Magriotis, characterized Cyprus' accession as a great national success, and referred to the conditions that have been formed for the resolving of the Cyprus issue.

At the same time, President of the Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE) Andrew Athens, expressed his complete satisfaction with Cyprus' accession, and congratulated the Greek and Cypriot governments on the effectiveness of their diplomatic efforts that led to this great success.

[05] BAKOYANNI SHOOTER TESTIMONY TOMORROW

The 35-year-old accused of trying to murder newly elected Mayor of Athens Dora Bakoyanni, will be taken to the trial examiner tomorrow. Giorgos Sandalidis used a sawn of hunting shotgun against the car carrying Mrs. Bakoyanni on Friday, wounding her slightly, and her driver, Giorgos Liberiou, more seriously.

The District Attorney filed criminal charges against him for attempted mass murder and illegal possession and usage of arms.

Sandalis, who has mental problems, underwent involuntary psychiatric hospitalization in 1997 at the order of the DA.

[06] STRATEGY BRED SUCCESS

The handling of the Cyprus issue by the Greek and Cypriot governments, was deemed successful by the majority of those asked during a telephone opinion poll carried out by Kappa Research, and published in the Sunday Vima.

According to the results of the poll carried out yesterday in Athens, Cyprus, Istanbul, the occupied territories and London, Prime Minister Simitis' handling was judged as positive by 66.1% in Athens, 82.8% in Cyprus, 56.5% in Istanbul and 57.1% in the occupied territories.

In contrast, there is a negative outlook towards the position held by Rauf Denktash. He concentrated 80.4% negative responses in Athens, 89.1% in Cyprus, 24.6% in Istanbul, while he was criticized by 51.7% of the occupied territories.

The entire Cabinet and several MPs greeted Prime Minister Simitis and the Greek delegation at the Eleftherios Venizelos airport, upon their return to Athens on Saturday afternoon. Mr. Simitis stated that Copenhagen was a success, because the government worked with a strategy and a plan, and not rhetoric and party goals.

Meanwhile, arriving at the Larnaka airport in Cyprus on Saturday, President of the Cypriot Republic Glafkos Cleridis stated that, yesterday was a historic day both for the EU and for Cyprus, and he underlined that after many years of efforts, a vision of Cyprus is coming true, that of accession to the EU, in the framework of which it will be an equal member to the other member states.

The accession of Cyprus to the EU creates a foundation for further confidence to make bold steps in the coming weeks, which will help Turkish Cypriots and create a better atmosphere, which, in turn, will support the resolving of the Cyprus problem.

In addition, Greece is being called to play a new part in an enlarged European Union, as was underlined by Minister of Finance Nikos Christodoulakis, in his assessment of the decisions at Copenhagen.

With the enlargement, Greece is upgrading its relative size. Today, Greece is a small or medium country in the Europe of the 15. In the new formation of the 25, Greece will be large or medium country, with more influence on decision making.

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