Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 05-10-06

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

CONTENTS

[01] DEAD END TERMS BY ERDOGAN

[02] THE MESSAGE BY PRESIDENT PAPOULIAS ALARMED FYROM

[03] KOUMOUTSAKOS ON THE STATEMENTS BY FYROM OFFICIALS

[04] KOUMOUTSAKOS ON TURKEY'S EU ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS

[05] EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER ALMUNIA MET WITH THE PRIME MINISTER, THE FINANCE

[06] TH 19TH INFOSYSTEM TO BE INAUGURATED TODAY

[07] POPULATION AGEING WEAKENS THE EU MODEL

[08] THE GREEK PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT MET WITH THE PATRIARCH OF ROMANIA

[01] DEAD END TERMS BY ERDOGAN

Turkey will open its ports and airports to the Cyprus Republic ships and aircraft to the degree that the restrictions on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will be lifted stated Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Responding to an observation by a reporter that this leads to a dead end, Mr. Erdogan responded that for as long as the embargo is not lifted nothing else can be done.

The process presented before Turkey dictates its adjustment to specific terms, regulations and prerequisites, stated government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos expressing the belief that a new framework for the course of the Greek-Turkish relations is being formed.

Speaking in the Turkish television channel NTV, Mr. Erdogan referred both to the unilateral statement made by Ankara on July 29, with which it clarified that its signature on the EU-Turkey protocol for the expansion of its customs union with the EU to include the 10 new EU member states does not automatically mean recognition of the Cyprus Republic, as well as to the EU response.

The Turkish Prime Minister stated that the Cyprus issue can be solved only within the UN framework and referring to the EU statement he added that for as long as Turkey's statement has no legal character the same goes for the EU response as well.

The Turkish Prime Minister also referred to the telephone communication he had with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on October 3 and stressed that during their half-hour talk they discussed articles 2 and 7 of the negotiating framework. He said that the problem was resolved with the telephone communication he finally had with British Prime Minister Tony Blair later that night.

[02] THE MESSAGE BY PRESIDENT PAPOULIAS ALARMED FYROM

Hellenic Republic President Karolos Papoulias who sent a message to FYROM from Thessaloniki yesterday to change its attitude on the name issue and adopt other behaviors of good neighborly relations and cooperation with Greece for its own good and the mutual good as well, has alarmed Skopje.

Such statements do not contribute to the efforts aimed at forging good neighborly relations, stated in a written statement FYROM President Branko Crvenkovski commenting on Mr. Papoulias' statements which were extensively covered by the FYROM mass media.

[03] KOUMOUTSAKOS ON THE STATEMENTS BY FYROM OFFICIALS

Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos responded to a question by a reporter on the comments made by FYROM officials regarding the recent statements by Hellenic Republic President Karolos Papoulias.

The public statements and actions by FYROM and other countries that have European aspirations are taken under consideration by member states, Greece included, while evaluating to what extent these countries are ready to come closer to the EU.

[04] KOUMOUTSAKOS ON TURKEY'S EU ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS

The criterion and reference point for the Greek stance are the agreed upon texts by the 25 EU member states which will be constantly present throughout Turkey's EU accession course. Ankara's interpretations and statements made 48 hours after the opening of the EU accession negotiations are its own, said Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos commenting on recent statements made by Turkish officials.

Mr. Koumoutsakos reiterated that the British EU Presidency statement on the veto right reserved by Turkey on Cyprus' membership in international organizations has no legal force neither affects the content of paragraph 7 of the negotiating framework. He also stressed that the Greek side accepted it because it is something self-evident in international relations. However, he clarified that the way Ankara exercises its veto right will be judged within the framework of the negotiating process.

Regarding the involvement of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the opening of Turkey's EU accession negotiations, Mr. Koumoutsakos pointed out that in international relations states discuss with each other but what is important is who is finally making a decision.

Responding to a question on the presence of Turkish occupation forces in Cyprus, the Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman stated that the issue of the presence of occupation forces has been repeatedly condemned by the international community and Turkey is liable. He said that it is a complex issue that is associated with the solution of the Cyprus issue within the UN framework stressing, however, that this situation creates a specific climate in the EU.

Mr. Koumoutsakos stated that to a similar extent, the violations of the Greek national airspace by Turkish fighter jets are not consistent with Turkey's obligations for good neighborly relations.

[05] EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER ALMUNIA MET WITH THE PRIME MINISTER, THE FINANCE MINISTER AND THE PASOK LEADER

European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia responsible for economic affairs met today with Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis in the presence of Minister of Finance and Economy Giorgos Alogoskoufis.

No statements were made after the meeting neither by the European Commissioner nor the Minister of Finance.

They discussed the efforts and initiatives undertaken by the Greek government to reform public finances in Greece with basic goal to cut deficit under 3%.

Regarding the planned debt securitization, there will be no problem with the EU, according to the Greek economic staff, given the fact that this solution has been tried in the case of Portugal too and therefore, there is no reason for concern.

Mr. Almunia also met with main opposition Socialist Party PASOK President Giorgos Papandreou and later in the afternoon he will deliver a speech in the Greek Parliament in the extraordinary joint session of the Standing Committees on Economic Affairs, European Affairs, Defence and Foreign Affairs, Production and Trade and Euro-Parliament deputies.

[06] TH 19TH INFOSYSTEM TO BE INAUGURATED TODAY

Minister of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization Prokopis Pavlopoulos will inaugurate this evening the 19th International Exhibition on Information Technologies, Telecommunications and Digital Technology, INFOSYSTEM, held in HELEXPO Thessaloniki. Mr. Pavlopoulos will also inaugurate the 12th Congress on information technologies applications taking place with the participation of a total of 700 delegates.

The INFOSYSTEM exhibition will last until Sunday, October 9 with a total of 555 exhibitors compared to 469 last year, while the foreign exhibitors represent 30 countries.

[07] POPULATION AGEING WEAKENS THE EU MODEL

European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia speaking in a formal dinner given in his honor in Athens yesterday called for decisive measures aimed at dealing with the problems stemming from population ageing to prevent negative developments in the future.

Mr. Almunia said that the EU member states share common values and the fact that the systems of the EU member states include social security and labor protection measures is not accidental.

Population is aging and this has great cost weakening the European social model, said Mr. Almunia, adding that a greater emphasis must be given on active employment policies and modernization of taxation systems.

Mr. Almunia characterized globalization and population ageing as the greatest challenges. Referring specifically to globalization, he said that it should be regarded as an opportunity and not as a threat pointing out, however, that reforms must be promoted. On the second challenge, the population ageing, he said that there will be negative effects on development if the problems stemming from it are not solved.

On the Greek economy, he said that if reforms are not adopted there will be problems in the pension system in the near future. He referred to the fact that the growth rate is over 3.5% and therefore, is higher than the Euro-zone average adding, however, that the per capita income in Greece is lower than the EU average. He said that decisive measures are necessary to deal with the problems stemming from the aging of population because otherwise developments will be negative. He called for the coordination of taxation policies and structural reforms and also referred to the fact that public deficit and public debt in Greece are among the highest in the EU recognizing, at the same time, that efforts are being made to deal with the problems.

Mr. Almunia characterized as very important the efforts to cut deficit from 6.6% in 2004 under 3% in 2006. He stated that part-time employment must be promoted and education and training programs must be adjusted. He characterized the productivity increase as a challenge and called for more investments in the sectors of education, research and development.

Mr. Almunia stated that the European Commission is ready to support the efforts made by Greece but reminded that the Greek economy will continue to be monitored by the European Commission.

[08] THE GREEK PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT MET WITH THE PATRIARCH OF ROMANIA

Greek Parliament President Anna Benaki-Psarouda met with Patriarch Theoktistos of Romania in Bucharest today.

The Greek Parliament President referred to Romania's European course pointing out that the country's accession into the EU will be an important development.

Patriarch Theoktistos thanked Mrs. Benaki for Greece's support to the efforts made by Romania to become an EU member and stressed that the Christian Orthodox Church of Romania must preserve its identity while, at the same time, be open to the European values that are in line with the principles and values of the Gospel.

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