Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-06-17
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, June 17, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREECE IS SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS OF THE EU SUMMIT MEETING
IN CARDIFF
[02] THE UNIVERSITY ADMISSION EXAMS START ON FRIDAY
[03] PAPANTONIOU MET WITH THE MANAGEMENT OF THE IONIAN AND
COMMERCIAL BANK
[04] NEW RECORD FOR MPA'S SITE ON THE INTERNET
[05] REPPAS: THERE IS NO RISK OF A HOT INCIDENT IN THE REGION
[06] THE GREEK GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN CONDEMNED THE PERSECUTIONS OF
JOURNALISTS IN TURKEY
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[07] WASHINGTON IS NOT SATISFIED WITH MILOSEVIC
[08] THE LEADERS OF THE ETHNIC ALBANIANS IN KOSSOVO ARE DISPLEASED
[09] ALBRIGHT: THE US CONSIDER A PLAN FOR THE SOLUTION OF THE
CYPRUS PROBLEM
[10] THE US PENTAGON SPOKESMAN ON THE TSOCHATZOPOULOS - COHEN
TALKS
[11] BLOODY INCIDENT AT THE CROAT - YUGOSLAV BORDERS
[12] KARAMANLIS: IMMEDIATE SOLUTION FOR CYPRUS NOT LINKED WITH ITS
EU ACCESSION COURSE
[13] INTERNATIONAL COMMENTS ON THE YELTSIN-MILOSEVIC MEETING
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREECE IS SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS OF THE EU SUMMIT MEETING
IN CARDIFF
The Greek side is satisfied with the results of the EU Summit
meeting that was concluded in Cardiff yesterday.
The relations between Turkey and the EU remain frozen after
the objections raised by Greece, while the phrase promoted by the
British EU presidency to be included in the text of conclusions
calling Turkey the 12th in line candidate state for EU accession,
was removed.
In a surprise move, US president Bill Clinton intervened by
telephone and requested from prime minister Kostas Simitis to
change the stance of the Greek government toward Turkey.
[02] THE UNIVERSITY ADMISSION EXAMS START ON FRIDAY
The university admission exams start on Friday and students
will be tested in composition.
The exams will be completed on June 27 and all those seeking
a place in higher education institutions will be tested in
physics, ancient Greek, political economy, math, biology, history,
chemistry and Latin.
[03] PAPANTONIOU MET WITH THE MANAGEMENT OF THE IONIAN AND
COMMERCIAL BANK
An Athens court ruled in favor of the Ionian Bank employees,
who are also Commercial Bank shareholders.
The court rejected the restraining measures application
filled by the Commercial Bank which called for the participation
of a limited number of shareholders in the general assembly
meeting that will decide on the sale of the Ionian Bank. The
excuse used was that there is not enough space available for all
the shareholders to be present in the meeting.
Meanwhile, minister of national economy and finance Yiannos
Papantoniou and the governors of the Ionian and the Commercial
Bank are considering the text announcing the sale of the bank.
[04] NEW RECORD FOR MPA'S SITE ON THE INTERNET
Over 1 million requests are received each month by MPA's site
on the Internet setting a new record, while by the end of the year
the number of requests is expected to be 1 million a week.
According to MPA's president professor Pavlos Petridis, the
news agency continues its upward course with the many different
activities it undertakes.
MPA's general director Spyros Kouzinopoulos referred to the
operation of the agency's new data base, the Balkan News Bank that
was recently put in operation, the successful international
conferences that were organized by the agency and the newly
installed site on local administration. He also referred to the
agency's contribution to the development of the relations with
mass media in the rest of the Balkans and the Black Sea.
[05] REPPAS: THERE IS NO RISK OF A HOT INCIDENT IN THE REGION
There is no risk of a hot incident in the region, stated
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas adding that the
telephone conversation between US president Bill Clinton and Greek
prime minister Kostas Simitis does not constitute pressure or
intervention. The Greek government spokesman stated that it was a
friendly consultation that displays Washington's interest in the
developments taking place in the region as well as, the good level
of relations between the two leaders.
Commenting on the telephone conversation, Mr. Reppas stated
that it was a natural move and mentioned that other leaders too
had undertaken such initiatives in the past.
Responding to a question made by a reporter, Mr. Reppas
stated that Greece's veto on Turkey's funding by the EU still
stands, adding that the Greek-Turkish relations are not the kind
of relations Greece would have preferred and stressed that
responsible for this is Ankara because it maintains a climate of
tension in the relations of the two countries.
[06] THE GREEK GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN CONDEMNED THE PERSECUTIONS OF
JOURNALISTS IN TURKEY
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas condemned the
persecutions of journalists in Turkey and stressed that this
practice proves that there is a lack of democracy in the country.
The comment on the persecution phenomena targeting
journalists in Turkey was made by Mr. Reppas in response to a
question by a reporter.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[07] WASHINGTON IS NOT SATISFIED WITH MILOSEVIC
US president Bill Clinton is not satisfied with the agreement
reached yesterday by Russian president Boris Yeltsin and his
Yugoslav counterpart Slobodan Milosevic on the issue of Kossovo.
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stated that there
was some progress but she criticized Milosevic because he did not
do what was demanded by the contact group.
[08] THE LEADERS OF THE ETHNIC ALBANIANS IN KOSSOVO ARE DISPLEASED
The leaders of the ethnic Albanians in Kossovo are displeased
with the results of the talks held between Russian president Boris
Yeltsin and his Yugoslav counterpart Slobodan Milosevic in Moscow.
According to the Serb opposition B-92 radio station, Fehmi
Agani, a member of the Albanian negotiating team, has
characterized as meaningless the results of the talks held by
Yeltsin and Milosevic.
[09] ALBRIGHT: THE US CONSIDER A PLAN FOR THE SOLUTION OF THE
CYPRUS PROBLEM
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stated before a US
Senate sub-committee that the United States consider a plan for
the solution of the Cyprus problem that will respect the rights
and the needs of the two communities on the island.
According to the Turkish news agency "Anadolu", Ms. Albright
did not give more details on the specific plan but added that
Washington backs the expansion of the EU toward the central and
eastern Europe and especially, Turkey's wish to become a member of
the European Union.
[10] THE US PENTAGON SPOKESMAN ON THE TSOCHATZOPOULOS - COHEN
TALKS
US Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon referred to the content of
the talks that will be held between Greek minister of defense Akis
Tsochatzopoulos and US Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
Mr. Tsochatzopoulos will be in Washington on July 7 and 8 and
according to Mr. Bacon, he will discuss with his US counterpart
issues concerning the Greek-US relations, the Cyprus problem, the
Greek-Turkish relations, the changes in the NATO structure and the
proposals on the confidence-building-measures in the Aegean.
[11] BLOODY INCIDENT AT THE CROAT - YUGOSLAV BORDERS
Two Croat police officers and four Yugoslav nationals were
killed in a bloody incident that occurred on Monday night at the
Croat-Yugoslav borders when a Croat border police patrol located a
group of Yugoslavs trying to cross over to Croat territory.
According to the Croat state radio station, the incident
occurred at the north-western region of the Serb province of
Voivodina near the town of Apatin. The Yugoslav nationals finally
returned to Serb territory.
[12] KARAMANLIS: IMMEDIATE SOLUTION FOR CYPRUS NOT LINKED WITH ITS
EU ACCESSION COURSE
Greek right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy
leader Kostas Karamanlis responding to questions by Euro-deputies
of the European Popular Party stated that Cyprus is an independent
and democratic state, with a quality government and strong economy
that deserves to have the help of the international community. He
also stressed that a solution must be found immediately for Cyprus
that will not be linked with its accession into the EU.
Mr.Karamanlis, who is on a visit to Strasbourg, underlined
the continuous efforts made by Greece for a political solution
acceptable by all sides and praised the proposal made by Cypriot
president Glafkos Clerides for the participation of the Turkish
Cypriots in the committee that has undertaken to make the
accession negotiations.
Referring to Cyprus's defense and the installation of the
Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles on the island, Mr. Karamanlis
stated that the Cypriot government has accepted the postponement
or the cancellation of the arrival of the missiles provided that
Ankara will accept at least a gradual demilitarization.
[13] INTERNATIONAL COMMENTS ON THE YELTSIN-MILOSEVIC MEETING
The recent meeting between the president of the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic and the Russian
president Boris Yeltsin received a diversity of reactions by
foreign leaders.
The Albanian government, through a statement it issued,
expressed its discontent over the results of the two leaders'
meeting and described the concessions made by mr Milosevic as a
Sjoke and demagogy".
However, the Bulgarian Foreign ministry spokesman Radko
Vlaikov expressed Sofia's satisfaction about the talks.
The French president Jacques Chirac called on mr Milosevic to
stop all operations of the Yugoslav Federal Army in Kosovo, while
Great Britain hailed the decision by the Yugoslav president to
accept the majority of the international demands.
Complete archives of the Macedonian Press Agency bulletins are available
on the MPA Home Page at http://www.mpa.gr/ and on the U.S. mirror at
http://www.hri.org/MPA/
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