Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 06-01-12

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

CONTENTS

[01] EURO-VIGILANCE

[02] ELIAMEP ORGANIZED DISCUSSION ON THE FUTURE STATUS OF KOSOVO

[03] THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON GREECE'S PROTECTION FROM BIRD FLU

[04] THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON THE QUESTIONINGS OF IMMIGRANTS

[05] POULTRY DEATHS IN RODOPI WERE CAUSED BY SALMONELLOSIS

[01] EURO-VIGILANCE

The Greek public health authorities are in a state of total vigilance but without being panicky given the fact that epidemiological developments in Turkey are not good, according to Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis who made the statement after briefing Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis together with Minister of Interior Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Minister of Rural Development and Food Evangelos Basiakos.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned that the bird flu can assume an endemic form in Turkey and can threaten neighboring countries, while Dr. Bochosian, head of the Regional Veterinary Agency, in Sofia stated that the killer bird flu virus is likely to hit Bulgaria within the next 30 days.

The bird flu virus can spread in spite of the measures taken in Turkey, warned UN Food and Agriculture Organization infectious animal diseases specialist Juan Lubroth.

[02] ELIAMEP ORGANIZED DISCUSSION ON THE FUTURE STATUS OF KOSOVO

Our common future is in the European Union, agreed Dusan Batakovic, special adviser to Serb President Tadic and member of the negotiating team of Serbia and Veton Surroi, member of the Kosovo Albanian negotiating team, who were the main speakers in the debate on the Future Status of Kosovo organized in Athens yesterday by the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, ELIAMEP. They also agreed that the problem of Kosovo is probably the hardest faced by Europe at the present time.

Mr. Batakovic emphasized the need for the different communities in Kosovo to be treated equally in spite of the demographic superiority of the Albanians. He pointed out that none of the criteria set as precondition for the promotion of a solution regarding the final status of the region has been met and in certain cases there have been steps backwards, as it became apparent in March 2001.

Finally, he stated that the Serbs face daily problems like who will be the next victim underlining that as a state we have responsibilities and no illegally imposed solution will be accepted. There is no more Dayton, Milosevic is in The Hague, Tudjman and Izetbegovic are dead and there is no one who can impose solutions, only elected leaders answerable to their peoples, concluded Mr. Batakovic.

Veton Surroi underlined that Democracy, which is a precondition and criterion for a solution, means being able to make decisions. Independence, he added, will not make Kosovo democratic automatically but without independence it will never be able to become democratic. We do not want to talk about territories, we want to talk about people making the Serb community part of society, he said.

Alexandros Yannis, EU Council official and a Javier Solana close associate, was the commentator of the debate and stated that the credibility of the EU foreign policy will be judged based on the course of the problems in the Balkans and whether it will manage to tidy up its own courtyard. The basic EU goal stated Mr. Yannis, is to make sure that Belgrade and Pristina, at the end of the road toward a solution, will be closer to Brussels.

Referring to the EU positions, particularly on security issues, he said that the solution to be adopted should boost security in the wider region as well. The EU is against the unilateral solution of violence, the partition or union with a country or part of a country and in favor of the territorial integrity of all neighboring countries.

Prof. Theodore Couloubis, Director General ELIAMEP, moderating the discussion, stated that the mediation of the international community is good but we should not go back to the 19th century letting third powers to dictate a solution.

[03] THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON GREECE'S PROTECTION FROM BIRD FLU

Government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos stated that all measures decided within the framework of the EU are into effect for the protection of the country from bird flu.

He added that the government's effort does not focus on informing and sensitizing only the responsible services and authorities but the people themselves who can become infected with the virus if uninformed.

[04] THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON THE QUESTIONINGS OF IMMIGRANTS

Police authorities briefly detained for questioning over 5,000 immigrants to determine if they were involved in unlawful activities, stated government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos.

He said that the government has enacted one of the most democratic laws on the treatment of immigrants as it has been widely acknowledged.

Mr. Rousopoulos also said that the government treats immigrants in the same way it treats any other citizen.

[05] POULTRY DEATHS IN RODOPI WERE CAUSED BY SALMONELLOSIS

The poultry deaths recorded in the past few days in Rodopi, in the region of Thrace northeast Greece, were caused by pseudoplague or salmonellosis.

The test results on the first five samples from the village of Agra sent on Monday to laboratories in Thessaloniki are not alarming, stressed Rodopi Veterinary Director Michalis Diamantakis.

The responsible authorities in the prefecture of Rodopi are in a state of alert after tens of birds died in the villages of Agra, Filira, Kalhas and Dilina. According to Mr. Diamantakis more than one poultry producers have reported the deaths of tens of homebred birds during the past few days.

He also added that 11 more samples from the region of Dilina were sent to Thessalonki on Tuesday and lab test results are expected tomorrow. Veterinarians visit local villages and inform the population on how they should react in case they spot sick birds in their farms.

Vet authorities in Thrace are in a state of heightened vigilance after the bird flu reports from Turkey and conduct continual checks on all poultry farms.

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