Cyber Thesis - On line daily journal

News on Monday, March 26, 2001
Politics | Economy | World | Local

Politics

  • Simitis expresses confidence that the FYROM crisis can be resolved soon
  • Greek Deputy Foreign Minister celebrates Greek Independence Day with Greek expatriates in New York
    Simitis expresses confidence that the FYROM crisis can be resolved soon
    The fighting between Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) forces and ethnic Albanian rebels in the hills around the northern FYROM city of Tetovo was at the top of the agenda at the European Union summit meeting in Stockholm over the weekend.

    Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, confident that the crisis will soon abate due to the “determined stance” of the EU and the United States, stated that the reaction of the international community to the outbreak of violence in Tetovo “leaves no room for anyone to promote unilateral changes,” stressing that NATO has already taken the decision to increase its KFOR peacekeeping presence in Kosovo.

    Simitis met with FYROM President Boris Trajkovski on the sidelines of the summit, reassuring him of Greece’s support for the maintenance of FYROM’s territorial integrity, and condemning all armed activity by ethnic Albanian rebels.

    Simitis also praised the “moderation and realism” of ethnic Albanian political leaders in FYROM, stressing that the EU-FYROM Stability Pact to be signed on April 9 will “send a clear message to all concerned.”
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    Greek Deputy Foreign Minister celebrates Greek Independence Day with Greek expatriates in New York
    Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Grigoris Niotis, on an official visit to the United States, represented the Greek government at the annual Greek Independence Day parade on Fifth Avenue yesterday.

    Niotis, in charge of the Greek Expatriate portfolio, was also the guest speaker at a meeting of the Federation of Greek Associations of Greater New York, met with Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America Dimitrios, and attended a reception given by the Greek Consulate General.
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    World

  • Red Cross say 14,000 have abandoned their homes in FYROM
  • Arab nations will sever ties with nations recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel
  • FYROM forces take key villages, Trajkovski under pressure to negotiate with ethnic Albanian leaders
  • Two more Picasso paintings recovered by Turkish police
    Red Cross say 14,000 have abandoned their homes in FYROM
    According to official figures released by the International Red Cross, some 14,000 citizens of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) have abandoned their homes since fighting broke out between ethnic Albanian Rebels and FYROM forces almost two weeks ago.

    9,197 internal refugees have taken refuge in the FYROM capital, Skopje, while Kumanovo and Prilep have become host to 712 and 700 refugees respectively. Hundreds of others have moved away from the fighting to cities in southeast FYROM.

    The FYROM-Albania border has been crossed by some 6,500 refugees, with 850 travelling through to Kosovo and another 400 moving into Croatia.
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    Arab nations will sever ties with nations recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel

    The foreign ministers of Arab League nations, who met over the weekend in Jordan, adopted a decision to sever diplomatic ties with any nation that moves its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, thereby recognizing it as Israel’s capital.
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    FYROM forces take key villages, Trajkovski under pressure to negotiate with ethnic Albanian leaders
    Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) forces, in an offensive that began at dawn on Sunday, took control of several strategic villages in the hills surrounding Tetovo, northern FYROM. FYROM forces bombed ethnic Albanian rebel positions, pushing the rebels out without any apparent loss of life.

    Fighting stopped Sunday night, and Western powers are putting pressure on FYROM President Boris Tajdovski to begin negotiations with ethnic Albanian political leaders in FYROM today. If FYROM operations continue to go well today, Trajkovski is expected to call for all-party talks aimed at designing changes to FYROM’s constitution that would improve the lot of FYROM’s ethnic Albanian population.
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    Two more Picasso paintings recovered by Turkish police
    Four men, including the nephew of a Turkish legislator, were detained by Turkish police after they allegedly attempted to sell two stolen Picasso paintings to undercover police officers.

    The two paintings, believed to have been stolen from a Kuwaiti palace during the 1991 Gulf War, bring to eight the number of Picasso paintings recovered in Turkey in the last year.
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