Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-06-22

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

CONTENTS

[01] FRONT AGAINST UNEMPLOYMENT

[02] FRANCE IN OUR WAY

[03] THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC ORDER ON TERRORISM

[04] GREEK BUSINESS MISSION TO AZERBAIJAN

[05] GAINS IN THE ASE

[06] CLARIFICATIONS BY ROUSOPOULOS ON THE COUNCIL OF DEFENSE MEETING

[07] THE GREEK PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT TO VISIT CYPRUS

[08] DECLARATION ON THE RECONSTRUCTION OF PASOK

[09] THE NEW DEMOCRACY PARTY CONGRESS WILL BE A MILESTONE

[10] THE OLYMPIC FLAME VISITS BRUSSELS

[11] THESSALONIKI'S BID TO HOST EXPO 2008

[01] FRONT AGAINST UNEMPLOYMENT

Front against unemployment is created by the government taking measures in advance to deal with the problems that could arise after the end of the Olympic Games and the unemployment issue that could be raised.

For this reason, the Governmental Committee meets today under Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis to examine a complete action plan to deal with unemployment and the creation of new job positions.

According to Labor Ministry general secretary Dimitris Kontos incentives will be given to small-medium sized businesses to hire unemployed who belong to special categories like women, young people and long-time unemployed.

[02] FRANCE IN OUR WAY

France and England qualified to the next phase of the Euro 2004 football tournament excluding the national football teams of Switzerland and Croatia.

Therefore, France will be Greece's opponent next Friday, while Portugal will play against England on Thursday.

Thousands of Greek football fans want to go to Lisbon to watch the Greek national team while tickets are very hard to find.

[03] THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC ORDER ON TERRORISM

Minister of Public Order Giorgos Voulgarakis stated that there are invisible sides of terrorism and light has to be shed on them, speaking during the presentation of a book written by journalist Michalis Dimitriou and titled A juror in the 17 November trial.

Mr. Voulgarakis stated that through the process of the dismantling of the 17 November terrorist group an invisible side was lit the one concerning the action, role and effectiveness of the Greek Police. He pointed out that the trial gave answers to many questions but a lot of questions are still unanswered and for this reason, the 17 November case is still open and investigation continues. Mr. Voulgarakis said that the group's executing branch is dismantled but there are still invisible sides that remain to be lit.

On his part, the book's author stated that we only know half the truth on 17 November and many culprits at different levels are still at large.

Mayor of Athens Mrs. Dora Bakoyianni also spoke in the book presentation and stated among others that the case of terrorism has not been resolved to its entirety.

[04] GREEK BUSINESS MISSION TO AZERBAIJAN

The Association of Greek Industries signed an agreement of cooperation with the Employers Confederation Association of Azerbaijan in Baku on the occasion of the formal visit of Hellenic Republic President Kostis Stephanopoulos to the country.

According to Greek Industries Association spokesperson Mrs. Mitrogiannopoulou, the signing of the agreement with the main business association in Azerbaijan numbering a total of 1,500 members, has as a goal to support the efforts made by the Greek companies to become active in this relatively unknown market.

Until now, bilateral economic cooperation focused mainly on the energy sector for Greece's supply with oil and natural gas. However, there is potential for cooperation in the sectors of constructions, telecommunications, transportation, manufacturing and chemicals, as well as in banking and insurance services.

As a developing country, Azerbaijan shows a steady increase of its GDP for the past few years, has monetary stability, implements the foreign investments protection law and has launched privatization.

[05] GAINS IN THE ASE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +0.25% at 2343.55 points, while the volume of transactions was small at 108.3 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 95 had gains and 203 had losses, while the value of 96 stocks remained unchanged.

[06] CLARIFICATIONS BY ROUSOPOULOS ON THE COUNCIL OF DEFENSE MEETING

Government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos was asked to comment on yesterday's Council of Defense meeting and if a decision was made to reinforce the Greek military presence in Afghanistan and Bosnia.

Mr. Rousopoulos stated that he is not aware of such a decision, stressing that he only knows that the military officers serving there will be replaced.

[07] THE GREEK PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT TO VISIT CYPRUS

Greek Parliament President Anna Psarouda-Benaki will visit Cyprus on Thursday at the invitation of her counterpart Dimitris Christofias.

During her visit she will meet with Cypriot Republic President Tassos Papadopoulos and the Cypriot Parliament President, while she will have separate meetings with party leaders and representatives.

[08] DECLARATION ON THE RECONSTRUCTION OF PASOK

Opposition party of PASOK leader Giorgos Papandreou prepares his party's political declaration, the second after the September 3rd Declaration, which he will present to the National Council of Reconstruction.

His goal is to give the political outline of the new party he envisions and describe the policy to be followed by PASOK in the sectors of foreign policy, economy and social policy.

According to the Athens newspaper TO VIMA, Mr. Papandreou decided to present the political declaration first and then deal with the organizational structures.

[09] THE NEW DEMOCRACY PARTY CONGRESS WILL BE A MILESTONE

The 6th New Democracy party congress scheduled to take place at Hellinikon in Athens on July 23-25 will be a milestone for its organizational reconstruction.

In the congress is expected to participate over 5,200 leading party members from all over Greece, while among the issues on the agenda will be the change of the party charter and organizational structure.

According to the Athens newspaper Eleftherotipia, among the party congress delegates will be former and current state Parliament and Euro-parliament deputies as well as, mayors and prefects elected with the party of New Democracy.

[10] THE OLYMPIC FLAME VISITS BRUSSELS

This morning, the Olympic Flame arrived in Brussels after Antwerp where it arrived yesterday and was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd as it enters the last leg of the International Torch Relay in Europe.

The specially modified airplane carrying the Olympic Flame arrived in Belgium from Canada after completing a successful journey in four continents (Asia, Oceania, Africa, America) continuing its trip to Europe where it will visit a total of 19 countries to finally return to Greece on July 9.

The Belgian newspapers wrote characteristically the Flame tonight sleeps in Brussels, stressing that the European Union capital welcomes the Olympic symbol for a day and two nights with a number of events that put Europe in the Olympic dance.

It is the third time the Flame visits Belgium after the London Olympic Games in 1948 and the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996. According to the Antwerp municipality (1920 Olympic Games) schedule, the Flame covered a distance of 48 kilometers passing through all its neighborhoods and after a short stop at the Greek house ended up at the city central square where music and dance events took place. About 120 torchbearers, famous athletes, carried the Flame through the streets of Antwerp and later in the evening, took part in a great celebration.

In Brussels, the Flame started its tour of the city from the main city square, where all the EU buildings are located, and ended up to the Grand Place square where a number of events are scheduled to be held.

When lights go out in the great square of Brussels, the Olympic Flame will travel to Amsterdam, regarded as the Flame's birthplace given the fact that it was first born there in the 1928 Olympic Games.

[11] THESSALONIKI'S BID TO HOST EXPO 2008

Thessaloniki's bid to host EXPO 2008 has a strong chance for success in tomorrow's formal presentation of its candidacy in the General Assembly of the International Exhibitions Bureau, BIE, in Paris.

Thessaloniki has to face other two candidate cities, Spain's Zaragoza and Italy's Trieste.

The exhibition theme selected by Thessaloniki is Terra Mater and refers to the knowledge of earth, health and nutrition. The city's bid will be backed in Paris by a government delegation and representatives of organizations and production sector.

Thessaloniki's 30-minute presentation will take place tomorrow afternoon and will be done by world-famous singer Nana Mouskouri, French television celebrity Nikos Aliagas and Greek state-run television presenter Alexis Kostalas.

Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Nikos Tsiartsionis, who is heading the Greek delegation, reiterated this morning that Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis has pledged to meet the EXPO 2008 cost estimated at 600 million euros. The Greek government has also pledged to allocate 15 million euros to support the presence of countries that want to participate as exhibitors but do not have the financial resources, stressing that this amount is enough for over 45 such participations.

The advantages of Thessaloniki's bid are first of all its theme, Terra Mater, the location of the city, which is of strategic importance, in the sensitive region of southeastern Mediterranean and the Balkans and the fact that it neighbors to countries such as Bulgaria and Romania expected to be full EU members in 2008.

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