Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-02-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] THE CONFRONTATION OF THE 5

[02] US NOT WORRIED ABOUT COMPLICATIONS

[03] LARGE PASOK RALLY IN THESSALONIKI

[04] IMPRESSIVE RALLY IN KALAMATA

[05] INTER-BORDER COOPERATION FOR THE PREFECTURES OF EVROS, EDIRNE, HASKOVO

[06] LETTER OF CONDOLENCES BY KARAMANLIS FOR THE TRAGIC DEATH OF THE FYROM

[07] PAPANDREOU SENT A LETTER OF CONDOLENCES TO FYROM

[08] KARAMANLIS-ROGGE MEETING

[09] PROSPECTS FOR COOPERATION BETWEEN THESSALONIKI'S ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY

[10] GAINS IN THE ASE

[11] ARCHBISHOP CHRISTODOULOS WATCHED MEL GIBSON'S "THE PASSION OF THE

[12] GIANNITSIS CONDOLENCES ON TRAJKOVSKI'S DEATH

[01] THE CONFRONTATION OF THE 5

The televised debate of the leaders of PASOK, ND, KKE, the Coalition and DIKKI will be held at 21:00 tonight, after a long meeting of the parties' representatives in Parliament. The discussion will be divided into 6 sections, 5 thematic and one free section, and the leaders will have 90 seconds to answer. The debate is expected to last approximately 2.5 hours. Mr. Karatzaferis' party LAOS was not invited as it does not have parliamentary recognition as a party. Nikos Hatzinikolaou will be in charge of the coordination, ANT1 will not participate, however it will transmit the debate.

[02] US NOT WORRIED ABOUT COMPLICATIONS

The US are not worried about yesterday's postponement of the discussions for the resolving of the Cyprus issue, stated a State Department Spokesperson regarding complications yesterday after Turkish Cypriot Leader Rauf Denktash submitted a long document which the Greek Cypriot side needed time to study. Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Giorgos Iakovou stated that Denktash's behavior indicates embarrassment and nervousness. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is displeased with the Turkish Cypriot Leader's continuous statements to the press.

[03] LARGE PASOK RALLY IN THESSALONIKI

There is only one dilemma in these elections, conservation or progress, stressed President of PASOK, Giorgos Papandreou, speaking last night at a large rally of thousands of party supporters and friends in Thessaloniki, where he presented PASOK's positions for the next 4-year tenure. A rally, which, according to the organizers, extended from Aristotelous Square along the seafront to the White Tower, and from the bottom of Aristotelous square on the seafront to Egnatia street, at the statue of Venizelos.

[04] IMPRESSIVE RALLY IN KALAMATA

President of New Democracy Costas Karamanlis made an opening to voters to the left of ND, an attack on PASOK and gave public thanks to Antonis Samaras for his support to ND, while speaking at a major open rally of thousands of party supporters in Kalamata. Mr. Samaras greeted Mr. Karamanlis shortly before taking the stand, while he thanked Mr. Samaras during his speech, for the clear and forthright support he gave the party in 2000 and at the present.

[05] INTER-BORDER COOPERATION FOR THE PREFECTURES OF EVROS, EDIRNE, HASKOVO

Prefects of Evros, Greece Nikos Zabounidis, Edirne, Turkey Fahri Gusel and Haskovo, Bulgaria Georgi Zarcev expressed their will to strengthen inter-border cooperation in the meeting they had in Orestiada, northeastern Greece today.

The three prefects discussed in detail a framework of cooperation as a well as the charter for the establishment of a network of prefectures and the final proposals that will be presented in the plenary session of the prefectures to be held in Smolen, Bulgaria in mid March.

The meeting of the three prefects was held within the framework of the establishment of a network of prefectures along the border region with the participation of prefects from eastern Macedonia and Thrace in Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey.

[06] LETTER OF CONDOLENCES BY KARAMANLIS FOR THE TRAGIC DEATH OF THE FYROM PRESIDENT

Right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis sent a letter of condolences to FYROM Prime Minister Branko Cervenkovski and FYROM Parliament President Ljupco Jordanovski for the tragic death of FYROM President Boris Trajkovski who was killed in a plane crash today.

In the letter of condolences, Mr. Karamanlis underlined the contribution of the deceased to the effort for the consolidation of stability and security in the region and expressed his deep regret for the loss, as well as his sympathy to the people of FYROM.

[07] PAPANDREOU SENT A LETTER OF CONDOLENCES TO FYROM

Governing Socialist Party of PASOK leader Giorgos Papandreou expressed his deep regret for the violent death of Boris Trajkovski, characterizing him as a good friend who worked for peace and stability in the region.

Mr. Papandreou also expressed the wish that he will be an example for all the leaders in the region and extended his condolences to the family of the deceased and the people of FYROM.

[08] KARAMANLIS-ROGGE MEETING

Issues concerning the course of the Olympic Games preparations were discussed today by right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis and International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge who met in the presence of Athens 2004 Organizing Committee President Mrs. Yianna Angelopoulou-Daskalakis.

Mr. Karamanlis stated after the meeting that not one day should be wasted of the 169 remaining until the opening of the Olympic Games and pointed out that everybody do their best for successful and secure Olympic Games. He also gave the assurance that Greece will observe all its commitments to the Olympic Games family.

[09] PROSPECTS FOR COOPERATION BETWEEN THESSALONIKI'S ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY AND BRAZIL'S GOIAS UNIVERSITY

The prospects of cooperation between Thessaloniki's Aristotle University and Brazil's Universidade Federal de Goias was considered in a meeting of the top administrators of the two higher education institutions in Thessaloniki.

According to their statements, the sectors in which they will look for cooperation are history, environment, archaeology, mineralogy and fine arts.

Thessaloniki's Aristotle University maintains cooperation relations with an estimated 400 higher education institutions around the world.

Universidade Federal de Goias is among the top eight universities in Brazil with an estimated 40,000 students.

[10] GAINS IN THE ASE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +0.96% at 2415.89 points, while the volume of transactions was at 163.6 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 221 had gains and 66 had losses, while the value of 103 stocks remained unchanged.

[11] ARCHBISHOP CHRISTODOULOS WATCHED MEL GIBSON'S "THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST"

Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All of Greece watched a private screening of Mel Gibson's picture The Passion of the Christ organized by the film distributor in an Athens cinema theater yesterday.

Archbishop Christodoulos stated afterwards that the picture is characterized by extreme and shocking realism, mainly the violent scenes, but it is in conflict with the controlled narration on the Holy Passion included in the gospels.

The goal of the Holy Passion is not to provoke the faithful or to excite their imagination and feelings, neither to cause feelings of hatred and indignation toward people who collaborated in the passion and crucifixion, given the fact that the passion of Christ was voluntary. The goal of the Holy Passion is for people to come face-to-face with their own selves and their own sins, stated the Archbishop.

[12] GIANNITSIS CONDOLENCES ON TRAJKOVSKI'S DEATH

Drawing on the death of FYROM President Boris Trajkovski, who died in a plane crash today, Greek Foreign Minister Tassos Giannitsis made the following statement:

We are shocked by the tragic news of the plane crash, which resulted in the death of the President of FYROM Boris Trajkovski and his associates.

As Foreign Minister of Greece I would like to express the warmest and most sincere condolences of our government to our friends, the people of our neighboring country, and to the families of the deceased, for the loss of President Trajkovski, his associates, and the members of the crew.

His unexpected and tragic death is a significant loss for his country and for the Balkan region, because it comes during a period when great efforts are being made from FYROM's political powers for the stabilization of political life, for national reconciliation, for the consolidation of stability and security and the strengthening of the country's relations to European institutions.

President Trajkovski contributed to this effort in a decisive way.

I would like, on this tragic occasion, to reconfirm the ties of friendship and cooperation between Greece and FYROM and its people, and our will to stand by their side, as we have done all these years, in the best interest of our bilateral relations and for the greater good of the broader Balkan region.

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