Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 05-12-06

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

CONTENTS

[01] COOPERATION ON KOSOVO

[02] REACTIVATION OF HIPERB

[03] EURO-SATISFACTION CONCERNING ECONOMY IN 2005

[04] MONTREAL CONFERENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE

[05] CHILDREN FROM FORMER YUGOSLAVIA TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S

[06] UNICEF TELETHON FOR THE CHILDREN OF PAKISTAN

[07] MOLYVIATIS-RUGOVA MEETING

[08] U.S. CLEARLY IN FAVOR OF THE ECUMENICAL CHARACTER OF THE PATRIARCHATE

[09] UNITED STATES: THE PATRIARCH HAS GLOBAL STANDING

[01] COOPERATION ON KOSOVO

Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis is on a two-day visit to Pristina and Belgrade heading the South East European Cooperation Process informal troika to register the neighboring countries' interest in the final status of Kosovo.

Mr. Molyviatis is accompanied by the Deputy Foreign Ministers of Romania and Croatia.

Belgrade requested formally the strengthening of security measures in Kosovo to avert further escalation of violence after the recent attacks against Serbs.

In Pristina, the troika is scheduled to meet with UN secretary general special representative Soren Jessen-Petersen, who is also the head of UNMIK, President of Kosovo Ibrahim Rugova, Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi, leader of the Serb List Oliver Ivanovic and opposition leader Hasim Taci.

In Belgrade, there will be meetings with Serb President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister of Serbia Vojislav Kostunica and Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic.

[02] REACTIVATION OF HIPERB

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis decided the reactivation of the Hellenic Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans (HIPERB) after a three-year delay as a result of economic, institutional, technical and political weaknesses. The goal is to make foreign policy respectable and protect Greece's credibility toward its neighbors.

The absorption rate of the 550-million-euro project increased from 2.4% to 10.4%, while regarding private investments absorption rate was 100% in Bulgaria, Romania 95%, Albania 75%, FYROM 16.5% and Serbia-Montenegro 6.5%.

[03] EURO-SATISFACTION CONCERNING ECONOMY IN 2005

The Greek authorities fully met the Council's recommendations concerning 2005, stated European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, responsible for economic and monetary affairs, after the meeting he had with Minister of Finance Giorgos Alogoskoufis in Brussels before the meeting of the Eurozone countries.

Regarding 2006, Mr. Almunia stated that Eurostat is expected to present its position concerning certain measures of temporary nature included by the Greek authorities in the budget draft plan clarifying that securitization is not among them.

Deputy Minister of Finance Antonis Bezas stated that like it happened last year the weight of the 2006 budget will not be lifted by the people.

[04] MONTREAL CONFERENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Deputy Minister of Environment, Land Planning and Public Works Stavros Kalogiannis is in Montreal, Canada to attend the proceedings of the 11th Summit meeting of the UN treaty on the climate change and the 1st meeting of the Kyoto Protocol parties.

The treaty on the climate change was signed by 154 countries and the European Union in Rio in June 1992 in the Summit Meeting on Environment and Development. Greece has ratified the treaty since 1994.

On the Kyoto Protocol, the summit is called to adopt a total of 19 resolutions concerning its implementation. The resolutions have been drawn up in previous conferences.

The proceedings will be completed on December 9 and the issues discussed will be the implementation of the Marrakech Agreements for the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol; the strengthening of infrastructure to help the parties most affected by the imminent climate change; and new ideas for an agreement concerning actions to be undertaken after 2012.

The conclusions that make up the EU joint position in the Montreal meeting were approved in the latest EU Environment Council in Luxembourg on October 17, 2005.

[05] CHILDREN FROM FORMER YUGOSLAVIA TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S EVE IN GREECE

More than 210 children, mostly orphans or children of refugee and jobless parents, from countries of the former Yugoslavia will celebrate Christmas and New Year's Eve with Greek families. The children between 8 and 16 years old will arrive in Greece on December 22 and stay until January 7.

The program first got underway in 1993 at the initiative of the Central Union of Municipalities and Communities in Greece (KEDKE) and since 1997 the Greek Red Cross, in cooperation with the Serb Red Cross, has taken over the coordination of the program.

More than 14,500 children have stayed with Greek families since 1993. The families that express interest in hosting them cover the expense and the children come to Greece during Christmas, Easter and summer.

Families from a total of 32 municipalities across Greece have expressed interest in having the children in their homes this Christmas, stated to ANA-MPA program coordinator in charge of the Greek Red Cross Public Relations office Mary Traga. These children are Greece's best ambassadors abroad because they develop close ties with Greece and the host families, they speak Greek and learn about the Greek culture, she said.

[06] UNICEF TELETHON FOR THE CHILDREN OF PAKISTAN

The leading UNICEF event for 2005, the annual Love Telethon, will be held on December 12 on the occasion of the World Children's Day in cooperation with public television channel ET1 and with the participation of leading personalities from the area of politics, the sciences and art.

The telethon will be launched early in the afternoon on December 12 and will last until the early morning hours of the next day. It will be dedicated to the children around the world and focus on the 4 million children that are unprotected after the devastating earthquake in Pakistan.

Tens of thousands of children were injured, separated from their parents or left orphan. UNICEF immediately reached out to them with vaccination programs, while supplying drinking water, medical and pharmaceutical material and emergency aid. However, winter is heavy in the region and hundreds of children live in inaccessible areas desperately needing help.

[07] MOLYVIATIS-RUGOVA MEETING

Kosovo's President Ibrahim Rugova, who received Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis and the Deputy Foreign Ministers of Romania and Croatia (informal troika of the South East European Cooperation Process) at his residence earlier today visibly weakened by his illness, maintained that the direct recognition of Kosovo's independence is the sole solution to the issue in the region.

An independent and democratic Kosovo, part of the Euro-Atlantic institutions, in steady cooperation with the United States, sharing good relations with its neighbors and showing respect to minorities is the only solution for calm and stability in the region, stated Mr. Rugova.

Referring particularly to the rights of the minorities in Kosovo, Mr. Rugova pointed out that the legal system is relatively new and constantly improving, while he also stressed that Kosovo's independence will mean improved living standards for all people.

The President of Kosovo thanked the three ministers for their interest and for the military presence of their countries in the region.

On his part, Foreign Minister Molyviatis stressed the need for close cooperation between the Kosovo leadership and neighboring countries and wished that the principles adopted by the international community as preconditions for the settlement of the final status of Kosovo will be the basis for the upcoming negotiations.

[08] U.S. CLEARLY IN FAVOR OF THE ECUMENICAL CHARACTER OF THE PATRIARCHATE

Washington adopted a clear position in favor of the Ecumenical character of the Patriarchate in a written statement issued by the U.S. State Department. The statement was issued in response to a question posed to deputy spokesman Adam Ereli during the press briefing yesterday.

The statement mentions that the U.S. considers Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to be a religious leader of global standing.

It is stressed that the United States takes the issue of religious freedom in Turkey very seriously as illustrated in the 2005 International Religious Freedom Report. It is pointed out that among specific concerns highlighted in the report are issues related to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, including the reopening of the Halki Seminary as well as issues related to other religious minorities in Turkey.

The U.S. State Department statement also mentions that the U.S. has consistently raised concerns regarding the Ecumenical Patriarchate with Turkish authorities at the highest levels for many years. President Bush urged the reopening of Halki Seminary in his June meeting with Prime Minister Erdogan. Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes also discussed this issue with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during her visit to Istanbul in September.

[09] UNITED STATES: THE PATRIARCH HAS GLOBAL STANDING

The U.S. considers Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to be a religious leader of global standing. This is mentioned in a written statement issued by the US State Department.

In the statement it is stressed that the United States takes the issue of religious freedom in Turkey very seriously as illustrated in the 2005 International Religious Freedom Report. It is pointed out that among specific concerns highlighted in the report are issues related to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, including the reopening of the Halki Seminary as well as issues related to other religious minorities in Turkey.

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