Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-12-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] THE GOV'T FOCUSES ITS EFFORTS ON THE SOLUTION OF THE CYPRUS PROBLEM

[02] THE PRIORITIES OF THE GREEK EU PRESIDENCY IN THE BALKANS

[03] BAKOYANNI SHOOTER TESTIFIES

[04] REGIONAL ELECTRICITY MARKET IN THE BALKANS

[05] PROTOPAPAS ON CYPRUS' EU ACCESSION

[06] LOSSES IN THE ASE

[07] JUDICIAL COOPERATION AGAINST ORGANIZED CRIME

[08] GREEK LEFT LEADER IN IN ANKARA

[09] T/C OPPOSITION ASKS FOR DENKTASH RESIGNATION

[01] THE GOV'T FOCUSES ITS EFFORTS ON THE SOLUTION OF THE CYPRUS PROBLEM

The Greek government focuses its efforts on the solution of the Cyprus problem after the successful outcome of the Copenhagen Summit meeting in which Cyprus' EU accession was decided. The above were stated by Prime Minister Kostas Simitis after the meeting he had with President Kostis Stephanopoulos whom he briefed on the domestic and foreign political developments and mainly on the outcome of the EU Summit meeting.

Mr. Simitis thanked Mr. Stephanopoulos for his contribution to the successful outcome of the Summit because through his international contacts and the position he adopted contributed greatly to this very good result.

The Prime Minister stated that the next step will be the settlement of the political problem in Cyprus with the adoption of a fair, viable and operational solution.

President Stephanopoulos congratulated the Prime Minister and the government for the successful, coordinated and carefully planned efforts that led to Cyprus' EU accession. He also congratulated all those who contributed to this result among them, right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis.

[02] THE PRIORITIES OF THE GREEK EU PRESIDENCY IN THE BALKANS

The promotion of the procedure for the association of the western Balkan countries with the EU is one of the targets set by the Greek EU Presidency in the first half of 2003. Within this framework, a summit meeting will be held in Thessaloniki on June 21 with the participation of EU members and the countries in the stabilization and association process. The above were stated by Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Giorgos Paschalidis in the 4th Regional Meeting of the Stability Pact.

Mr. Paschalidis stated that the priorities of the Greek EU Presidency in the Balkans will be: the strengthening of peace, stability and democratic development, and the adjustment of the stabilization and association procedure to the new conditions created by the EU enlargement. Also, the adoption of measures against organized crime and corruption, the return of the refugees, illegal immigration, protection of historical and religion monuments, energy issues and the open market, as well as the promotion of regional cooperation and initiatives toward this direction in association with the Stability Pact.

Stability Pact Special Coordinator Erhard Busek stated that relations between the European Commission and the special coordinator were improved considerably. He recognized that expectations were very high with the creation of the Stability Pact and attributed to this fact the existing sense of delay in the work it has undertaken.

[03] BAKOYANNI SHOOTER TESTIFIES

Giorgos Skandalis, the 35-year-old man who attacked newly elected Mayor of Athens Dora Bakoyanni on Friday, slightly wounding her and causing more serious injuries to her driver, will be taken to the Trial Examiner.

He has been charged with attempted murder and illegal usage and possession of arms, while he has so far presented the police with no logical explanation for the reasons that led to the attack against the Mayor and her driver.

The 35-year-old mechanic fired on the vehicle of the Mayor with a sawn off hunting shotgun. The shot found driver Giorgos Limperiou in the neck and Mrs. Bakoyanni was miraculously saved, as she bent over to pick something up in the back seat. Police officers pursued and arrested the shooter and the driver was taken to the General State Hospital.

According to police announcements, Skandalis has obvious mental problems and was involuntarily hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital in 1997.

Meanwhile, investigations are underway concerning whether any of Mrs. Bakoyanni's police guards are in any way responsible for the events. According to information, Skandalis had been bothering the Mayor recently, often visiting her political office.

[04] REGIONAL ELECTRICITY MARKET IN THE BALKANS

An agreement was signed in Thessaloniki by Croatia, Slovenia and Austria that brings closer the target set concerning the creation of a regional electricity market by the countries in southeastern Europe.

The agreement was signed yesterday in view of the Stability Pact regional meeting in Thessaloniki today. Greece, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, FRY and FYROM had already signed the relevant memorandum of understanding in Athens last November.

Based on those agreements, the participating countries undertake the obligation to modernize and develop their electricity networks and markets by the year 2005. The goal is the region's accession into the European Union electricity market.

[05] PROTOPAPAS ON CYPRUS' EU ACCESSION

The accession of Cyprus into the EU without terms and preconditions was welcomed by government spokesman Christos Protopapas pointing out that this success was the result of the right strategy.

He congratulated the government of Cyprus and the Cypriot people for the efforts made to meet the necessary criteria for the EU accession and for the moves made after the presentation of the Annan Plan for the solution of the Cyprus problem. National unity also contributed to the success in Copenhagen, stated the government spokesman.

Mr. Protopapas stated that Turkey received many messages after Copenhagen, like the spontaneous protest rally in the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus which was a message against the intransigent.

He said that Cyprus' security was strengthened as a result of the EU accession, while it was politically upgraded as opposed to Turkey which has to realize that the intransigent position adopted by certain parties, among them Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, caused damage instead of good.

[06] LOSSES IN THE ASE

Small losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange. The general index dropped to 0.17% at 1.817,35 points, while the volume of transactions was at 71.1m euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 105 recorded gains and 180 had losses, while the value of 91 stocks remained unchanged.

[07] JUDICIAL COOPERATION AGAINST ORGANIZED CRIME

The speedy developments in Europe make imperative the creation of new judicial and magistrate cooperation structures in the European Union aimed at combating organized crime and any other form of crime.

The Judicial Cooperation Unit (Eurojust) was established within this framework. It is an EU institution that will lead to a single judicial area and will coordinate the battle against organized crime. Eurojust began its operation in Brussels in March 2002 and it is based in The Hague. It is made up of 15 members, one from each EU member-state.

Eurojust was the subject of a one-day conference organized in Thessaloniki by the International and European Financial Law Center, the National School of Judges and Eurojust. The conference attended prosecutors, judges, university professors and Eurojust representatives.

In his opening speech, Justice Minister Filippos Petsalnikos stated that the characteristic element of our time is the variety of crime and its internationalization. He also underlined that one of the main forms of crime is human trafficking.

[08] GREEK LEFT LEADER IN IN ANKARA

President of the Coalition of the Left Nikos Konstantopoulos will have meetings with the political leadership of Ankara today, in the framework of the visit he began yesterday.

Mr. Konstantopoulos will meet with Foreign Minister Yasar Yakys, President of the governing party Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republican People's Party Deniz Baykal, Secretary General of the Social Democrat Party Fikri Saglar, representatives of the Freedom and Solidarity Party and the President of the Turkish Association for Human Rights. Mr. Konstantopoulos is being accompanied by a delegation consisting of MPs Nikos Chountis, Panos Trigazis and Mustafa Mustafa.

[09] T/C OPPOSITION ASKS FOR DENKTASH RESIGNATION

Mehmet Ali Talat's Republican Turkish Party has asked for the resignation of Rauf Denktash and holding early elections. Mr. Talat was urgently asked to travel to Ankara for meetings in order to avoid a political crisis in the Occupied territories of Cyprus.

In the party announcement, there is mention of betrayal by Denktash and his allies in Turkey, who are against the European course. Furthermore, the platform This Land is Ours, which is made up of 41 organizations, has also asked for Denktash's resignation. It accused Dentkash of blowing up the prospects of peace.

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