Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-05-21

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

CONTENTS

[01] MUTUAL SATISFACTION

[02] ROMANIAN DEFENSE SCHOOL OFFICIALS TO VISIT GREECE

[03] LOSSES IN THE ASE

[04] LIAPIS-VASILEV MEETING

[05] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE SECURITY OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

[06] A TOTAL OF 9,777,873 GREEKS VOTE IN THE EURO-ELECTIONS

[07] GREEK DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER VALINAKIS IN MEXICO

[08] PAPADOPOULOS-ANNAN MEETING

[09] THE GREEK PRIME MINISTER ADDRESSED THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

[10] PRIME MINISTER KARAMANLIS' PRESS CONFERENCE

[01] MUTUAL SATISFACTION

Athens and Washington appear satisfied with the outcome of the first meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis and US President George Bush in Washington yesterday.

Mr. Bush made the anticipated positive statement on the Athens Olympic Games, in which his father and former US President will be heading the US delegation, he also agreed with the continuation of the efforts for the solution of the Cyprus problem and expressed his intention to exert his influence for the reopening of the Theology School of Halki.

Mr. Bush and Mr. Karamanlis discussed their close cooperation for peace and stability in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean, as well as the efforts against international terrorism, according to a statement by the White House spokesman.

[02] ROMANIAN DEFENSE SCHOOL OFFICIALS TO VISIT GREECE

Romanian Defense School officials will be on a formal visit to Greece on May 23-31.

Most of the members of the 45-member delegation will visit the Hellenic National Defense General Staff to be briefed on issues concerning defense policy as well as Olympic Games' security issues. They will also visit the National Defense School and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be briefed on foreign policy issues. The Romanian delegation will visit a number of archaeological sites.

[03] LOSSES IN THE ASE

Losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -1.05% at 2341.96 points, while the volume of transactions was at 125.7 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 154 had gains and 124 had losses, while the value of 106 stocks remained unchanged.

[04] LIAPIS-VASILEV MEETING

Greek Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications Michalis Liapis called on his Bulgarian counterpart Nikolai Vasilev to ensure the creation of conditions of healthy competition in the Bulgarian telecommunications market to secure the Greek mobile phone company, Cosmote, investments in the country.

They also discussed the lifting of the discriminating treatment concerning the high tollage the Greek hauliers have to pay to use the Bulgarian road network, as well as the closer bilateral cooperation for the development of air traffic control centers in the region of southeastern Europe.

A special emphasis was given to the acceleration of the procedures in secondary border crossings between the two countries (Drama-Gotsedelshev, Xanthi-Rudosem and Komotini-Makaza) and Mr. Liapis assured his counterpart that the first border crossing will be ready by fall.

[05] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE SECURITY OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

A three-day International Conference on the security of the Olympic Games is organized in Athens on May 24-26 by the Greek Police in cooperation with Athens 2004 Organizing Committee within the framework of the Olympic Games preparations.

In the conference will participate Greek and foreign specialists on security issues to exchange experience on specialized security issues.

The conference will attend security officials of the International Olympic Committees of the 202 countries that will compete in the games as well as security officials of the games' sponsors and heads of Police Agencies and Information Agencies from EU countries and countries with which there has been cooperation within the framework of the security of the Olympic Games.

A presentation of the Olympic Security Operational Planning will take place in the conference for the delegates to be briefed and in turn prepare their missions on issues concerning the security of athletes, officials and spectators who will visit Greece on the occasion of the Olympic Games.

The conference participants will also visit Olympic venues and tour Olympic Games' facilities, while there will also be a presentation of the security measures that will be implemented.

[06] A TOTAL OF 9,777,873 GREEKS VOTE IN THE EURO-ELECTIONS

A total of 9,777,873 people will vote in Greece in the Euro-elections of June 13, according to official figures. Of them, 5,068,872 are women and 4,709,001 are men and they will vote in 19,645 polling stations.

The 35,123 Greek voters, who are residents of EU member states, will vote in 92 polling stations at their place of residence.

[07] GREEK DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER VALINAKIS IN MEXICO

Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Valinakis will represent Greece in the 3rd EU-Latin America and Caribbean Summit Meeting to take place in Guadalajara, Mexico on May 27-28.

Before arriving in Mexico, Mr. Valinakis will stay for a few days in the United States for meetings with US officials, representatives of mass media and foreign policy institutes and leading members of the Greek-American community.

[08] PAPADOPOULOS-ANNAN MEETING

Cypriot Republic President Tassos Papadopoulos stated that he will meet with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York on June 3.

Speaking on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly of the Association of Cypriot Hotel Owners, the Cypriot President stated that the meeting will take place on June 3 at 11am.

Asked to comment if there is information on the UN Secretary General report on Cyprus, President Papadopoulos responded negatively.

[09] THE GREEK PRIME MINISTER ADDRESSED THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis gave a symbolism of peace to the Athens Olympic Games addressing the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington today. His speech focused on the issue of security in the Olympics on which he stressed that never again so many people have worked so hard and so meticulously to ensure the success of such great event.

At the same time, he gave a response to those who question Greece's ability to organize successful and secure Olympic Games by saying that for certain ones fear is a source of exploitation but trust is the greatest long-term benefit.

The Greek Prime Minister assured that Greece will do everything possible for the Summer Olympics to take place in the safest and best possible way. He mentioned characteristically that Athens has spent over US billion on security, an amount that is 30 times higher than what Atlanta spent on security issues and three times higher than the amount spent in Sydney.

On the Cyprus issue, Mr. Karamanlis said that the Greek government wishes that the last dividing wall in Europe, after the Berlin Wall, namely the one dividing Cyprus, will fall. He stressed that the result of the referendums in Cyprus must be respected and added that the opportunities created by the Annan Plan for the solution of the Cyprus problem should not be missed.

The Greek Prime Minister also referred to the European prospect of Turkey saying that Turkey will have Greece on its side in every effort it will make to be able to meet the constitutional, political and economic European standards. He also expressed his support to the EU accession course of Bulgaria and Romania.

Addressing the businessmen, he underlined that Greece is an ideal country for those who want to develop business activities in eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans.

[10] PRIME MINISTER KARAMANLIS' PRESS CONFERENCE

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis referred to the safety of the Olympic Games, the Greek-Turkish relations, the Cyprus issue and the situation in Iraq in a press conference he gave in Washington yesterday within the framework of his visit to the United States.

He characterized as very satisfactory the statement made by US President George Bush on the safety of the Olympic Games and underlined the fact that the father of the US President, a former US President himself, will be heading the US delegation in the Olympic Games. He pointed out that the US President was aware of the issues concerning the Olympic preparations and appeared satisfied with the progress made and the cooperation with allies and partners on issues of security. Mr. Karamanlis added that the US side did not raise an issue regarding the adoption of additional security measures.

He reiterated that the Greek government backs the European prospect of Turkey, pointing out that it will benefit Greece and contribute to the settlement of pending issues. Asked to comment on what will be the gain for Greece if it says yes to Turkey's accession into the EU, he underlined that it is not an issue of what you get in return but it is a matter of a strategically beneficial choice.

Mr. Karamanlis stressed that the only issue faced by the Greek side in the Aegean is the continental shelf and beyond that there is also the reopening of the Theology School of Halki, and the Cyprus issue.

On the Theology School of Halki he said that he raised the issue to US President Bush, who backed its reopening.

On the Cyprus issue, the Prime Minister pointed out that in his contacts he underlined that the strategic goal should remain for everybody the reunification of the island and that he regards as encouraging the fact that he received neither a rejection nor an objection on the issue. He also speculated that it is premature to talk about a resumption of the talks.

He also mentioned that both the Greek government and the Cypriot Republic believe that there should be aid programs and economic strengthening of the Turkish Cypriots, however, he stressed that this cannot mean a de facto recognition of the northern part of the island.

Mr. Karamanlis pointed out that the firm position of the Greek government is that power should be transferred to the Iraqis and the country should be democratized. He added that the US side made no reference to a Greek military participation in Iraq.

On the issue of Kosovo, Mr. Karamanlis said that it was discussed in his contacts and stressed that for Greece it is an issue of top priority, adding that there was agreement on the position that in any case the developments in the region should not lead to a change of borders.

On the issue of FYROM, he said that he had the opportunity to brief the US President that Greece is actively involved in the efforts for the reconstruction of the wider region and reiterated that Greece is the number one investor in countries like Albania, FYROM and Bulgaria.

He added that there is a process between Greece and FYROM in progress under the auspices of the UN and there is nothing new on that. Mr. Karamanlis stated that there should be a display of good will and faith on behalf of FYROM reminding that bilateral relations are satisfactory both at an economic and a political level.

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