Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 06-01-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] CONSENSUS ON THE CONSTITUTION

[02] BUSINESS IN THE BALKANS

[03] EDUCATION MINISTER GIANNAKOU TO VISIT TUNISIA

[04] HEALTH MINISTER KAKLAMANIS ON THE TRIPS TO TURKEY

[05] THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON THE TRANSIT FLIGHTS

[06] THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION

[07] EUROPEAN COMMISSION APPROVAL TO THE BUYOUT OF Q-TELECOM IN GREECE

[08] PARTHENON MARBLES EXHIBITION IN FRANKFURT

[09] TURKISH CYPRIOTS WITH BIRD FLU SYMPTOMS

[01] CONSENSUS ON THE CONSTITUTION

Consensus on constitutional revision issues can be achieved through dialogue, stated Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis welcoming main opposition Socialist Party PASOK President Giorgos Papandreou at Maximos Mansion in Athens to brief him on the government proposals regarding the Constitution revision.

In statements after the meeting, Mr. Papandreou stressed that PASOK will present complete and detailed proposals.

Ruling New Democracy party parliamentary group will meet tomorrow chaired by Prime Minister Karamanlis to decide on the New Democracy proposals.

Minister of Interior Prokopis Pavlopoulos stated that the three basic axes of the government proposal concerning constitutional revision are political party financing, election campaign spending and means of wealth statements by deputies.

[02] BUSINESS IN THE BALKANS

Athens' decision to finance the part of Axis 10 road network from Leskovac to the borders with FYROM, reiterated Minister of Development Dimitris Sioufas in an interview with Belgrade newspaper Politika.

Greek companies will launch major new business deals in the Balkans with Thessaloniki as their new base of operations while promoting long-term regional cooperation plans in the sectors of energy and transportation.

Mr. Sioufas stated that Greece being the only European family member from this part of the world sets as a priority the economic cooperation with SE European countries and specifically, Serbia-Montenegro.

[03] EDUCATION MINISTER GIANNAKOU TO VISIT TUNISIA

Minister of Education Marietta Giannakou will be on a formal visit to Tunisia tomorrow at the invitation of her counterpart Sadok Korbi.

They will discuss issues concerning higher education and sign the renewed bilateral education agreement.

Mrs. Giannakou will brief her counterpart on the soon to be established Thessaloniki-based International University given the fact that a significant number of Tunisians choose Greece for their graduate and post-graduate studies.

Also, Tunisian army officers are being trained in Greece within the framework of bilateral state agreements.

[04] HEALTH MINISTER KAKLAMANIS ON THE TRIPS TO TURKEY

There is no reason for the borders with Turkey to close for the protection of the Greek people from the bird flu virus, responded European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, ECDC, First Director Mrs. Zsuzsanna Jakab to Greek Center for Disease Chairman Angelos Hatzakis who requested her advice following an order of Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis.

In spite of the rather reassuring ECDC response, the Health Minister suggests to the Greek citizens to avoid unnecessary trips to the neighboring country and if they cannot be avoided to strictly follow the sanitary instructions on the leaflets distributed by the Greek authorities at the border entry and exit gates.

[05] THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON THE TRANSIT FLIGHTS

According to information coming from the responsible authorities, the flights in question are subject to international controls. Also, based on the IATA regulations there is no obligation to check passengers on transit flights through Greece.

Government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos made the statement in response to a question on an Avgi newspaper report according to which, CIA-operated flights carrying prisoners made stopovers in Greece in the period 2002-2005.

[06] THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION

The goal of the government is to achieve the broadest possible consensus about the revision of the Constitution, stated government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos referring to today's meeting of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis with main opposition Socialist Party PASOK leader Giorgos Papandreou.

Today's meeting was held within the framework of the search for common ground to achieve the broadest possible consensus about the most important issues of constitutional revision, stated the government spokesman, adding that the Prime Minister's positions will be presented in the party's parliamentary group meeting tomorrow.

[07] EUROPEAN COMMISSION APPROVAL TO THE BUYOUT OF Q-TELECOM IN GREECE

The European Commission based on the European legislation on company mergers approved the agreement proposal for the buyout of Q-Telecom, the smallest mobile phone company in Greece, by TPG Advisors IV and Apax Partners Holdings.

For the record, TPG Advisors IV and Apax Partners Holdings already control the TIM Hellas mobile phone company. The Q-Telecom alliance with TIM Hellas will create a third major company in the mobile phone market in Greece following the two leading mobile phone companies, Cosmote and Vodafone-Panafon.

The European Commission points out that the buyout of Q-Telecom will not constitute an obstacle to effective competitiveness in the European Economic Zone.

[08] PARTHENON MARBLES EXHIBITION IN FRANKFURT

An exhibition organized by the Greek Culture Ministry and the Melina Mercouri Foundation on the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece will take place in Frankfurt City Hall on January 19-February 5 at the initiative of the network of Greek expatriate elected officials to local government posts in Europe.

The exhibition organizers aspire to brief the European citizens on Greece's demand shared by hundreds of distinguished Europeans, Britons included, for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to their place of origin.

The exhibition has acquired special interest after the recent positive development on the Parthenon Marbles issue when the University of Heidelberg stated that it intends to return part of the Parthenon frieze to Greece by the end of the year.

Similar exhibitions were held successfully in the past at the Council of Europe in Strasburg, the Megaron Music Hall in Athens, the European Parliament and UNESCO.

[09] TURKISH CYPRIOTS WITH BIRD FLU SYMPTOMS

Strict inspections are being held at the Greek borders particularly at the borders with Turkey as the situation worsens in the neighboring country as a result of the bird flu cases.

A 12-year-old girl hospitalized together with her five-year-old brother in the Turkish city Van died after being diagnosed with bird flu-like symptoms.

According to a Turkish Cypriot newspaper, a young girl and a soldier have bird flu symptoms and are being hospitalized.

Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis contacted his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul to express his sympathy for the problem in Turkey.

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