Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-01-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] CONVERGENCE RAISES

[02] OPEN POSITIONS ON PASOK BALLOTS

[03] CONFRONTATION ABOUT TV COVERAGE

[04] TURKISH AIRCRAFTS IN ATHENS FIR

[05] GREEK-ISRAELI COOPERATION IN INTERIOR MINISTRY SECTORS

[06] THOUSANDS OF GREEKS IN THE INAUGURATION OF ST. NIKOLAOS CHURCH IN CUBA

[07] MARGINAL LOSSES IN THE ASE

[08] SIMITIS MET WITH THE LEADERSHIP OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

[09] MAGRIOTIS IN FAVOR OF PUBLIC DIALOGUE ON LIGHT DRUG LEGALIZATION

[10] BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY IN ATHENS

[11] KARAMANLIS PROPOSES TERMS

[12] MAGRIOTIS MEETS ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER

[01] CONVERGENCE RAISES

On January 24 pensioners will receive their owed pensions due the changes in the past year's income policy, families of university students studying in cities away from their own will receive their 1000 euro benefit during the first week of February, the 30 euro increases in OGA pensions will be paid on February 10 and the first portion of the owed family benefits will be paid at the end of the same month, as announced yesterday by yesterday by the Minister of Economy and Finance Nikos Christodoulakis, who gave his reassurance that there is room for further benefits in the direction of the social state from 2005 onwards. The Convergence Charta is a dialogue framework which can be enriched, stressed Mr. Christodoulakis characteristically.

[02] OPEN POSITIONS ON PASOK BALLOTS

The order of the party powers in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections was discussed at the meeting of PASOK's Executive Office, which, however, referred the issue of filling the 19 empty positions on the PASOK ballots, for which there is a plethora of proposals, to next Tuesday's meeting. PASOK will form special campaigns in order to approach young people, women and Greeks abroad.

[03] CONFRONTATION ABOUT TV COVERAGE

The Government Spokesperson is undermining the National Radio-television Council and is opening the path for the adulteration of the rules that must govern the pre-election campaign, stressed ND Press Spokesperson Thodoris Roussopoulos, while Coalition of the Left parliamentary spokesperson Fotis Kouvelis asked for the immediate convening of the Committee for Institutions and Transparency, with the participation of the President and the members of the NRC, in a letter he sent to the Committee's President Foivos Ioannidis. We would propose that Mr. Rousopoulos, should once again read the political editor's briefing at last, responded Mr. Protopapas.

[04] TURKISH AIRCRAFTS IN ATHENS FIR

Eight formations of Turkish aircrafts carried out an equal number of violations of air traffic rules in the Athens FIR. In total 22 aircrafts entered and carried out violations in the Athens FIR, as they did not submit a flight plan. The aircrafts were recognized and intercepted immediately by Greek fighters, while in five cases the interception procedure turned into a virtual dogfights. As was made known, 5 of the Turkish aircrafts were armed.

[05] GREEK-ISRAELI COOPERATION IN INTERIOR MINISTRY SECTORS

Israel's Interior Minister Avraham Poraz met in Athens today with Greek Interior Minister Kostas Skandalidis and Deputy Interior Minister Nikos Bistis.

They exchanged views on sectors of mutual interest and the Israeli side presented its policy aimed at the merger of small municipalities for a more effective local administration, while the Greek side described the experience and knowledge it has acquired from the operation of the Citizens Service Centers.

They also discussed issues concerning electronic governance, local administration, immigration, ombudsman and civil protection.

The two ministers concluded that mutual efforts should be made for the strengthening and facilitation of actions leading to the promotion and development of relations between the two ministries. They decided to encourage contacts between the two ministries, and exchange visits, information and know-how in different sectors aimed at promoting the effective operation of public services in both countries.

[06] THOUSANDS OF GREEKS IN THE INAUGURATION OF ST. NIKOLAOS CHURCH IN CUBA

About 3.000 Greeks will attend the inauguration of the church of St. Nikolaos in Cuba's capital of Havana to take place on January 25. Most of the Greeks will come from Greece, while many members of the Greek-American community will also attend the formal ceremony.

The events will take place in the presence of Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos, Cuban President Fidel Castro, state leaders, archpriests, representatives of Greek-American organizations and representatives from countries in South and Central America.

The St. Nikolaos church is designed based on the Byzantine model and the mosaic and fretwork have been made in Thessaloniki.

[07] MARGINAL LOSSES IN THE ASE

Marginal losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -0.05% at 2.481,00 points, while the volume of transactions was at 298 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 99 recorded gains and 217 had losses, while the value of 68 stocks remained unchanged.

[08] SIMITIS MET WITH THE LEADERSHIP OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

The Greek government's support to the effort of Bosnia-Herzegovina for economic development and accession into the Euro-Atlantic structures was expressed by Prime Minister Kostas Simitis after the meeting he had with the country's presidency which is on a formal visit to Athens.

Mr. Simitis referred to the cooperation between the two countries, which includes economic assistance, Greece's participation in the international peacekeeping force and the training of Bosnia-Herzegovina police by the Greek Police.

The Prime Minister referred to the prospects of economic cooperation, while he pledged the Greek government's support to Bosnia-Herzegovina in its effort aimed at the cooperation with the EU to lead to the signing of a Stabilization and Association Agreement.

On his part, Croat representative of the Bosnia-Herzegovina presidency Dragan Covic expressed gratitude for the assistance offered to his country by the Greek state and the Greek people.

He underlined that Bosnia-Herzegovina is firm on its Euro-Atlantic orientation and asked for Greece's assistance toward this direction.

Mr. Covic stated that his country is willing to meet all its obligations for a feasible approach with the EU and NATO and in order to attract foreign investments, announcing that an international conference on investments will be held in Mostar in the following weeks with the participation of Greece.

Referring to the issue of those wanted for war crimes, he stated that Bosnia-Herzegovina is closely cooperating with the international court in The Hague, adding that his country will cooperate with all international organizations for justice to be served.

[09] MAGRIOTIS IN FAVOR OF PUBLIC DIALOGUE ON LIGHT DRUG LEGALIZATION

Deputy Foreign Minister Giannis Magriotis is in favor of a public dialogue and an organized discussion on the legalization of light drugs and the decriminalization of their use.

When asked by journalists if he agrees with the views of Mr. Papandreou on the subject, he answered that he is in favor of the idea and the proposal, and added that the discussion should be held with all related bodies and the youth on how it should be applied on the uniqueness of our society and country.

Mr. Magriotis stressed that the Greek youth is facing many problems in its daily life and that many of the dead ends young people live through, the lack of hope and vision, which are not given to them by those in charge of public authority and lead them to dark paths.

[10] BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY IN ATHENS

Members of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Dragan Covic, Suleiman Tihic, and Borislav Paravac were received by President of the Greek Republic Costis Stefanopoulos at the Presidential mansion this morning.

The meeting was carried out in the framework of strengthening bilateral relations and the three-member Presidency then visited Prime Minister Costas Simitis at the Maximos Mansion.

[11] KARAMANLIS PROPOSES TERMS

New Democracy's proposals for the securing of a new political culture in the course towards the March 7 elections and the rules that must govern the pre-election period were presented to the President of the Republic Costis Stefanopoulos by the President of ND Costas Karamanlis.

It is our collective debt, to secure, to enforce a new political culture, stated Mr. Karamanlis to the press, adding: For this to happen we must:

- Firstly, secure the absolute certainty of the state. For example it is unacceptable for 7 drafts favoring specific parties' interests to appear just yesterday.

- Secondly, the Constitution must be observed for the objective informing presenting of the facts, for the respect of ethics and the promotion of all parties, all views.

- Thirdly, at least one pre-election discussion must be held among the leaders of all the parties represented in the Parliament and the Europarliament, and at least three broad ranging discussions must be held between the leaders of the two major parties must also take place.

- Fourthly, citizens demand respect, that is why we must all protect and respect the environment from pollution and sound pollution.

We want a dialogue that is modern, honest, civilized, without insults, with respect for the other view. A dialogue to concentrate on the citizens' real problems and the solutions we propose for them.

[12] MAGRIOTIS MEETS ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER

The issue of the Israeli government recognizing the Patriarch of Jerusalem Irineos was raised by deputy Foreign Minister Ioannis Magriotis at the meeting he had today with Israeli Foreign Minister Mr. Poraz.

Mr. Magriotis pointed out that this issue is especially important to Greek government, and the Israeli Minister expressed his optimism on an upcoming final solution.

During the meeting, the good relations between Israel and Greece were verified, and potential further cooperation was discussed.

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