Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 05-03-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] EVROS BROKE ITS BANKS AT LAVARA

[02] FIRST INDICTMENT AGAINST VAVILIS

[03] THE HOLY SYNOD MEETS TODAY

[04] PASOK'S 7TH PARTY CONGRESS OPENS TOMORROW

[05] PRIME MINISTER KARAMANLIS ON A BALKAN TOUR

[06] THE GREEK PRIME MINISTER MET WITH HIS CROAT COUNTERPART

[07] THE GREEK TOURISM MINISTER IN HOLLYWOOD

[01] EVROS BROKE ITS BANKS AT LAVARA

Evros River broke its banks at the region of Lavara early this morning. Both the armed forces and the Fire Department make enormous efforts to stop the waters from flooding populated areas while 50 houses have already been flooded.

In statements to Macedonian Press Agency, deputy prefect of Evros Michalis Kougioumtsis characterized the situation very difficult because the waters have reached central Evros and cannot find a way out through Turkey like in the previous days.

It is possible that many regions in Turkey are flooded too and cannot accept more water. Therefore, huge and uncontrolled quantities of water have ended up in the region of Lavara, stated Mr. Kougioumtsis.

[02] FIRST INDICTMENT AGAINST VAVILIS

The first indictment against Apostolos Vavilis was issued today concerning the issuing of a passport he used under the name of Apostolos Fokas.

It is the first indictment against him and concerns the passports that were issued legally but with false certificates.

Apostolos Vavilis had allegedly in his possession and used other three identity cards and three passports with different names. A total of three court rulings and arrest warrants are pending against him.

[03] THE HOLY SYNOD MEETS TODAY

The Church of Greece Holy Synod meets again today under Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece in a heavy atmosphere and in the shadow of unending revelations.

Metropolite Dionisios of Chios will give explanations on the accusations that he has huge bank accounts in a US bank, while Metropolite Chrisostomos of Zakynthos will give explanations concerning the villa in the island of Patmos.

Also, Metropolite Nikiforos of Didimoticho will give explanations concerning sexual harassment accusations and Metropolite Chrisostomos of Peristerion will also appear before the Holy Synod accused of economic improprieties.

Meanwhile, the Holy Synod accepted yesterday the resignation of Metropolite Theoklitos of Thessaliotida, while Metropolite Germanos of Ilia insists in his call for the resignation of the Archbishop.

[04] PASOK'S 7TH PARTY CONGRESS OPENS TOMORROW

Main opposition Socialist Party of PASOK will hold its 7th congress in Faliro, Athens tomorrow.

The party congress theme is We change PASOK to change Greece and according to figures PASOK spokesman Nikos Athanasakis gave to publicity, a total of 5,898 delegates will attend, and 4,484 of them are elected ones (69% male and 31% female congress delegates).

Mr. Athanasakis stated that the goal of the party congress is to become a starting point for the new era PASOK, adding that it will form and ratify the party's new political positions. It will also define, finalize and decide on the new structure of PASOK as an open and democratic party and elect the members of the new party institutions.

[05] PRIME MINISTER KARAMANLIS ON A BALKAN TOUR

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis is on a two-day Balkan tour. First stop will be Zagreb and later today he will depart for Belgrade where he will stay overnight.

In Zagreb, he will meet with the Croatian Prime Minister, while in Belgrade he will meet with the Presidents and Prime Ministers of Serbia-Montenegro.

Tomorrow, Mr. Karamanlis will be in Pristina and later in the evening he will return to Athens. In Pristina, he will meet with the President and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, the Serb leadership and the UN special envoy, while he will also visit the Rigas Fereos army camp where the Greek military force is based.

Mr. Karamanlis will discuss bilateral relations as well developments in the region in the light of the talks held recently in NATO and the European Union.

The issue to dominate during Mr. Karamanlis' Balkan tour will be developments in the efforts to reach a solution concerning the status of Kosovo.

[06] THE GREEK PRIME MINISTER MET WITH HIS CROAT COUNTERPART

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis stressed Greece's goal to promote the European prospect of the southeastern European countries after the meeting he had with his Croat counterpart Ivo Sanader in Zagreb, first stop of his Balkan tour.

In statements he made after the meeting, Mr. Karamanlis stressed that Croatia is heading the western Balkan countries in their course toward their incorporation into the EU and expressed Greece's support to Croatia on its way to the opening of EU accession negotiations. He also made a special reference to Croatia's cooperation with the international courts and said that developments in the Balkans were also discussed with an emphasis on the issue of Kosovo.

He also pointed out that bilateral relations between Greece and Croatia are at an excellent level and congratulated Mr. Sanader for the reforms and the progress made in Croatia.

Mr. Karamanlis also stated that Greece takes over the Inter-Balkan Cooperation Presidency in May and being a member of the EU and NATO as well as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for two years is in close cooperation with the region's countries.

[07] THE GREEK TOURISM MINISTER IN HOLLYWOOD

The Greek Ministry of Tourism has launched an effort to bring foreign film productions back to Greece and within this framework, Minister of Tourism Dimitris Avramopoulos held a number of meetings in Los Angeles with major representatives of the US film industry as well as, Hollywood stars like Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.

This is an initiative undertaken by Greece aimed at warming up its relations with the international film industry, which was the main promotion factor for the Greek tourism in the decades until the 70s.

Billions of moviegoers met Greece through films like: The Child and the Dolphin, The canons of Navarone, Summer Lovers, Zorba, Never on Sunday, The Greek Tycoon and tens of others still played by television stations around the world.

Mr. Avramopoulos stated that Greece returns to the world film scene and in Los Angeles he had a number of contacts with major film producers and film studios to present Greece's proposals aimed at supporting such programs and initiatives. He stressed that Greece has an exceptional natural environment, an unprecedented historical and cultural heritage and modern infrastructure to host such movie productions.

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