Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-03-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] PREPARATION FEVER

[02] CHANGES IN 2005

[03] FIRST MEETING

[04] THE ARCHBISHOP SEEKS A MEETING WITH THE PRIME MINISTER

[05] GREECE ASSURES THAT NO GREEK SOLDIERS WILL BE SENT TO IRAQ

[06] ANGELOPOULOU: THE OLYMPIC GAMES WILL BE HELD

[07] GAINS IN THE ASE

[08] FIDEL CASTRO PLANS TO VISIT MOUNT ATHOS

[09] POSITIVE RESPONSE BY NATO TO GREECE'S REQUEST

[01] PREPARATION FEVER

Preparation fever has struck the Maximos Mansion, in view of the new government's program statements to be made this Saturday in Parliament, regarding which Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is continuing his marathon of meetings. The Prime Minister has asked his Ministers to turn in the priorities of their Ministries by Wednesday, in order for them to be included in their program statements. The market and employment , competitiveness, the tax system, Education issues and the exams, are the first problems the government will deal with, after the Cyprus issue and the Olympics.

[02] CHANGES IN 2005

Changes in the examination system, mainly concerning students in the fourth form of secondary education, as the panhellenic exams for the 5th and 6th form will be carried out normally, were announced by Minister of Education Ms. Marietta Giannakou. Specifically, beginning next year, the panhellenic exams will be done away with in the 5th form, while students in the 6th form (their last year) will participate in examinations in 9 subjects, as is present practice. Beginning in the 2005-2006 school year, the lessons the 6th form will be tested on will be decreased from 9 to 6.

[03] FIRST MEETING

The New Minister of Education and Religious Issues Ms. Marietta Giannakou will meet with Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece Christodoulos on Friday at 10:00. Despite the fact that the meeting is just a matter of etiquette, the Archbishop will have the chance to give the Minister the file with all the hot issues concerning the Church. Among those are the community funds the Church is contesting, the construction of a Conference Center in Karea, the institution of an Ecclesiastic University, a new Metropolis and the identity card issue.

[04] THE ARCHBISHOP SEEKS A MEETING WITH THE PRIME MINISTER

Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All of Greece seeks to have a meeting with Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis.

According to ANT1 television channel, the meeting is expected to take place after the presentation of the new government agenda and among the issues to be raised will be the identity cards' issue.

On Friday, Education Minister Marietta Giannakou will visit Archbishop Christodoulos and among the issues under discussion will be the religion courses in schools as well as the upgrading of the ecclesiastical schools.

[05] GREECE ASSURES THAT NO GREEK SOLDIERS WILL BE SENT TO IRAQ

Clarifications on the content of the talks held yesterday in the meeting of Defense Minister Spilios Spiliotopoulos with US ambassador to Athens Thomas Miller were given today by a responsible Defense Ministry source.

According to Athens News Agency, it is categorically denied that the likelihood of the deployment of Greek forces in Iraq was discussed during the meeting.

[06] ANGELOPOULOU: THE OLYMPIC GAMES WILL BE HELD

Athens 2004 Organizing Committee President Mrs. Yianna Angelopoulou left open the likelihood of Olympic projects' cuts. Responding to a question on whether all Olympic projects will be completed on time for the games she stated that the Olympic Games will be held, adding that it is positive the fact that solutions are given quickly to the problems that arise.

At noon today, Mrs. Angelopoulou met with Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis and afterwards she stressed that Greece will give a response to those who dared to question it, referring to a relevant press report on Newsweek magazine.

According to the magazine, Greece is not ready to organize the games and the Greeks will feel ashamed by the outcome.

The issue of the security of the Olympic Games was also discussed in a meeting at the Ministry of Public Order presided over by minister Giorgos Voulgarakis with the participation of other 8 government ministers, Police Chief Fotis Nasiakos and Mrs. Angelopoulou.

[07] GAINS IN THE ASE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +0.78% at 2382.05 points, while the volume of transactions was at 152.4 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 162 had gains and 133 had losses, while the value of 99 stocks remained unchanged.

[08] FIDEL CASTRO PLANS TO VISIT MOUNT ATHOS

Cuban President Fidel Castro's close associate Eusebio Leal will be in Thessaloniki in May to prepare the Cuban leader's visit to the monastic community of Mount Athos in Chalkidiki, northern Greece.

President Castro has also accepted the invitation by Thessaloniki Mayor Vasilis Papageorgopoulos to visit the city given that fact that Thessaloniki and Havana will become twinned cities very soon.

According to Thessaloniki newspaper Angelioforos, the Cuban government confirmed President Castro's intention to visit Thessaloniki and Mount Athos after the visit to Cuba by the Ecumenical Patriarch last January on the occasion of the inauguration of the Saint Nikolaos church in Havana.

The date of the visit has not been set yet but according to the newspaper report, the leader of Cuba expressed his wish to visit Greece in a meeting he had with Metropolite Athinagoras of Panama and Central America

Fidel Castro's associate Eusebio Leal, ranking third in the hierarchy of the Cuban government, will visit Mount Athos in May to settle the details of Castro's visit to the monastic community.

[09] POSITIVE RESPONSE BY NATO TO GREECE'S REQUEST

NATO adopted a positive stance toward the request made by the Greek government asking for NATO's assistance in the security of the Olympic Games in Athens. NATO's Secretary-General submitted the request to the ambassadors of the alliance and a formal meeting will take place tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the issue will be discussed in the European Union this week within the framework of the Ministers of Public Order and Justice extraordinary summit against terrorism.

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