Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 06-01-25

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

CONTENTS

[01] PROBLEMS CAUSED BY THE SNOWY WEATHER

[02] PRESIDENT PAPOULIAS VISITS ITALY

[03] SARKOZY TO SEND MESSAGE TO THE EVENTS COMMEMORATING THE VICTIMS OF THE

[04] THE FOREIGN MINISTRY GENERAL SECRETARY MET WITH THE TURKISH AMBASSADOR

[05] THE BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY VISITS CYPRUS

[01] PROBLEMS CAUSED BY THE SNOWY WEATHER

Greece is in the grip of snowy weather since yesterday. The state mechanism handles the problems caused by the bad weather, while an estimated 300 villages in mountainous areas are snowed in.

Temperature in certain areas is expected to drop to -12C, while gusty winds sweep over sea regions.

Snowfall continues and according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Service, EMY, weather will improve tomorrow.

Schools, universities and technological institutes are closed in many prefectures. Schools in Thessaloniki will open tomorrow. Courts of Justice are closed except from magistrates' courts.

Cars need snow chains in most of the provincial road network, while drivers have to be very careful in certain parts of the national road network.

Trucks were not allowed to use the Athens-Thessaloniki-Evzoni national motorway until noon today, while the Athens-Corinth-Patra national motorway and the Corinth-Tripoli-Kalamata national motorway opened after 9 am today.

[02] PRESIDENT PAPOULIAS VISITS ITALY

Hellenic Republic President Karolos Papoulias meets in Rome today with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and later in the afternoon he will have separate meetings with Italian center-left leader Romano Prodi and Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini.

President Papoulias has already met at his hotel with former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, old acquaintances from the time they served as Foreign Ministers, while he also visited the city hall of the eternal city and met with Rome Mayor Walter Beltroni.

President Papoulias responding to Mr. Beltroni's complimentary remarks about Mr. Papoulias' personality and the excellent Greek-Italian relations, stated that Democracy namely, the power of the people, was born in Athens and then this supreme institution of political civilization continued in Rome and was adopted by most of the countries in the world.

[03] SARKOZY TO SEND MESSAGE TO THE EVENTS COMMEMORATING THE VICTIMS OF THE JEWISH HOLOCAUST

Two events will be held in Thessaloniki on Sunday, January 29 commemorating the victims of the Jewish Holocaust in WWII.

A Thessaloniki Jewish Community event with main speaker its president David Saltiel will be held on Sunday morning at Eleftheria Square where the summer of 1942 the Nazi German occupation forces gathered the male Jews and forced them to work in fortification works and other projects elsewhere in Greece.

A second event will be held by the Jewish Community in cooperation with the American College in Thessaloniki at the Aristotle University Hall of Ceremonies on Sunday evening. The event will be dedicated to the 1.5 million children, among them 10,000 Jewish children from Thessaloniki, who perished in the holocaust.

The Jewish Community announced that among those expected to send messages to be read in the event will be French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy who had expressed interest in attending the events in person but had to cancel due to many engagements.

Sarkozy is a likely candidate for the French Presidency in the next elections and his roots can be traced to Thessaloniki. His maternal grandfather Benedict Mallah was a Sephardic Jew from Thessaloniki, who immigrated to France in the early 20th century.

The events will attend foreign ambassadors and the government will be represented by Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Nikos Tsiartsionis.

[04] THE FOREIGN MINISTRY GENERAL SECRETARY MET WITH THE TURKISH AMBASSADOR

Foreign Ministry General Secretary Charalambos Rokanas met with Turkish ambassador to Athens Tahsin Burcuoglu earlier today.

Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos stated that Mr. Burcuoglu requested the meeting with Mr. Rokanas to officially present the Turkish thoughts concerning the Cyprus issue.

Referring to these thoughts, Mr. Koumoutsakos stated that they will be studied but it appears that they are not different from similar older Turkish proposals.

[05] THE BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY VISITS CYPRUS

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is on a visit to Cyprus and is scheduled to meet with his Cypriot counterpart Giorgos Iakovou and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.

Commenting on the Turkish proposal for a solution to the Cyprus issue, government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos stated that the important thing is to find a solution to the Cyprus issue as described by the Greek Prime Minister and the Cyprus Republic President and any moves made to be moves of substance. Mr. Iakovou spoke about reheated food.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will comment on the issue after meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Davos. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis will receive Mr. Straw tomorrow.

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