Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 05-11-14

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

CONTENTS

[01] NEW PUBLIC SERVANTS' CODE

[02] BORISOV WANTS GOOD RELATIONS WITH ATHENS AND THESSALONIKI

[03] THE FINANCE MINISTER ON BUDGET, SECURITIZATION, AND EUROSTAT

[04] FIVE-MILLION-YEAR OLD FOSSIL BONES OF PREHISTORIC ANIMALS FOUND

[05] ALEXANDER THE GREAT LOST SHIELD FOUND

[06] SE EUROPEAN PEOPLES CAN BE A PLEASANT CULTURAL SURPRISE

[07] REHAGGEL LEADS THE GREEK NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM UNTIL 2008

[08] GNTO DECLARED BEST EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION

[01] NEW PUBLIC SERVANTS' CODE

The new public servants' code will be submitted in Parliament by the end of the year according to statements made by Minister of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization Prokopis Pavlopoulos after the meeting he had with Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to brief him on the issue and the Central Union of Municipalities and Communities of Greece (KEDKE) conference.

Mr. Karamanlis during his visit to Japan, that was completed yesterday, had characterized the discussion on the imminent government reshuffle as wrong issue and expressed the belief that changing ministers regularly is counterproductive.

[02] BORISOV WANTS GOOD RELATIONS WITH ATHENS AND THESSALONIKI

I hope to have excellent relations with the mayors of Athens and Thessaloniki, stated in an interview to ANA-MPA the most popular Bulgarian politician and new Sofia mayor 47-year-old Bojko Borisov, who stressed that among the happiest things that happened to him on election night were the telephone calls he received from friends police directors in Greece and particularly those in drug enforcement congratulating him for his election.

Mr. Borisov won comfortably the second round of municipal elections in Sofia by securing the support of centrist and conservative voters.

[03] THE FINANCE MINISTER ON BUDGET, SECURITIZATION, AND EUROSTAT CONSULTATIONS

The securitization amounts will not be included in the budget, stated Minister of Finance and Economy Giorgos Alogoskoufis adding that the 2006 budget will be characterized by an effort to limit public spending, overspending and tax evasion.

Responding to relevant questions, Mr. Alogoskoufis stated that technical consultations with Eurostat are not over yet and therefore, officially the state budget will not include securitization but it will be done later as soon as technical consultations are completed.

The Minister of Finance and Economy stated that even without securitization, deficit will be reduced by over 2 percentage points as agreed with the EU. Deficit from 6.6% in 2004 will drop to 4.4% even without securitization, while Mr. Alogoskoufis also added that it was made clear from the start that securitization is temporary revenue.

Compared to previous securitization approvals now there is greater delay, stated Mr. Alogoskoufis, adding that this is due to the fact that certain securitizations made in the past were problematic and as a result Eurostat is now more cautious than before.

[04] FIVE-MILLION-YEAR OLD FOSSIL BONES OF PREHISTORIC ANIMALS FOUND

Fossil bones of prehistoric animals over 5 million years old were found in Dikea in the municipality of Trigono during works for the construction of a road linking the region with Egnatia Odos motorway.

Among the findings are parts of tusks, as well as, teeth and bones of prehistoric horses.

Construction work was suspended immediately and the responsible authorities in Komotini, northeast Greece, were notified as soon as the findings were unearthed.

[05] ALEXANDER THE GREAT LOST SHIELD FOUND

The shield that disappeared from the statue of Alexander the Great in Thessaloniki a few weeks ago was found by divers five meters under the sea not far from where the statue is located.

The search was conducted at the initiative of the Municipality of Thessaloniki and the shield was delivered to the monument's sculptor Evangelos Moustakas. After being restored, the retrieved shield will be put back to its place on the monument but earlier the new shield that was made to replace the stolen one will have to be removed to make room for the original shield.

[06] SE EUROPEAN PEOPLES CAN BE A PLEASANT CULTURAL SURPRISE

Peoples in SE Europe can be a pleasant cultural surprise for old Europe while preserving their national-cultural identity, stressed speaking to ANA-MPA new Culture Minister of Bulgaria professor Stefan Danailov within the framework of a private visit he made to Thessaloniki to attend the inauguration of an art exhibition with works by his friend artist Michalis Garoudis.

Mr. Danailov stated that among his immediate priorities in the Culture Ministry is the restoration of the damages caused to the existing cultural infrastructure by the latest devastating floods in Bulgaria and stressed that the firm goal of the Sofia government is to develop cultural relations between Bulgaria and Greece and the SE European countries.

Expressing his personal thanks to the Greek Parliament for the ratification of Bulgaria's accession into the EU, Mr. Danailov stressed that during the past few years a lot have been done but there is still a lot left to be done for the two peoples to come closer together.

Mr. Danailov studied in Bulgaria's Krastio Sarafov Theatre Academy and for the past 30 years is one of the leading members of the Ivan Vazov National Theatre. He has been honoured with Bulgaria's supreme decoration Stara Planina for his contribution to his country's culture.

He played central characters in the Bulgarian cinema and theatre and in over 60 films and television series and became one of the most popular actors in his country. He has received many prizes in international theatre and film festivals. In 1976, he was declared the most popular actor in the then Czechoslovakia while he was in Russian Mosfilm co-productions, in RAI 1 and RAI 2 television series and in two American films in the early 90s. Three years ago he participated in a Franco-Bulgarian film production.

After his election in the Bulgarian Parliament in 2001 under the Coalition for Bulgaria and from his post as the Culture Committee President, Mr. Danailov has contributed greatly to the adoption of a number of draft laws on culture and education.

His active involvement in his country's political life and the fact that he was appointed Culture Minister on August 16, 2005 have not stopped him from continuing to teach in the National Academy of Theatre and Cinema while he still plays in theatre.

[07] REHAGGEL LEADS THE GREEK NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM UNTIL 2008

The Hellenic Football Federation, HFF, Executive Board renewed the contract of coach Otto Rehaggel until 2008.

The German football coach will receive 800,000 euros annually, according to an HFF statement, and will lead the Greek team to the 2008 European Championship preliminaries.

This will be the second time Rehaggel leads the Greek national team to the European Championship after the victorious 2004 in Portugal.

[08] GNTO DECLARED BEST EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION

Minister of Tourism Dimitris Avramopoulos expressed satisfaction for the award received by the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) recognized as the best organization in Europe. Mr. Avramopoulos is in London, Britain on the occasion of the World Travel Market 2005 (WTM).

Commenting on the award received by the GNTO, Mr. Avramopoulos stated that it is the result of the policy followed by the Ministry of Culture during the past few years adding that this year too will be a successful one.

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