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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 99-08-03
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, August 3, 1999
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] FORMER LOCAL OFFICIALS TO BE TRIED FOR EMBEZZLEMENT
[02] ALTERNATE FM EMBARKS ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO ISRAEL
TOMORROW
[03] BANK OF GREECE GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO LATSIS BID FOR
ERGOBANK
[04] SPEAKER OF CYPRIOT PARLIAMENT COMMENTS ON G/T TALKS
[05] GREEK POLITICAL LEADERS BEGIN THEIR SUMMER HOLIDAYS
[06] MINIMUM GRADES TO BE ANNOUNCED IN SEPTEMBER
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[07] CYPRUS TO ENTER THE EU IN THE YEAR 2003
[08] UN NEW SECRETARY-GENERAL TO BE ANNOUNCED TOMORROW
[09] DEMONSTRATIONS FOR MILOSEVIC'S RESIGNATION MOUNT IN
SERBIA
[10] NATO MULTINATIONAL WAR GAMES STAGED IN UKRAINE
[11] EU FIXES BALKANS STABILITY PACT MEETING FOR SEPTEMBER
13
[12] HELLENIC-SOUTH AFRICAN TRADE EXPOSITION IN JOHANNESBURG
[13] MONTENEGRO PRESIDENT:MILOSEVIC OUT IN ONLY A MATTER OF
TIME
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] FORMER LOCAL OFFICIALS TO BE TRIED FOR EMBEZZLEMENT
Seven persons, most of whom are former officials of the
Thessaloniki Municipality, are to be tried on charges of
embezzlement, an affair stemming from the European mayors
conference held in May of 1996.
The charges constitute part of the "Thessaloniki,
Cultural Capital of Europe" file presently being
investigated by the Thessaloniki's prosecutor's office.
[02] ALTERNATE FM EMBARKS ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO ISRAEL
TOMORROW
Greece's alternate Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis
is to embark on an official visit to Israel tomorrow, the
first conducted by a Greek government official since the
new Israeli government assumed power.
Mr. Kranidiotis is scheduled to meet with Israeli
Foreign Minister David Levy and the minister to the
premier's office, Chaim Ramon, for talks on bilateral
relations, conditions in the region and an upcoming Israeli-
Palestinian meeting in Athens.
The Greek minister will also meet with Jerusalem
Patriarch Diodoros for discussions on issues related to the
Patriarchate. Mr. Kranidiotis is expected to also meet with
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
[03] BANK OF GREECE GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO LATSIS BID FOR
ERGOBANK
The Bank of Greece has endorsed a bid offered by the
Latsis Group for the acquisition of a 50.1 percent stake in
Ergobank.
The banking and credit committee said that the
acquisition would not jeopardize the bidder's solvency and
capital adequacy, and was therefore acceptable.
At the same time, it ruled that another bid for a
controlling stake in Ergobank submitted by Bank of Piraeus
was not eligible for study.
The bid by the Latsis Group was made through
Consolidated Eurofinance Holdings, the parent company of EFG
Eurobank, with which Ergobank is eventually destined to
merge.
[04] SPEAKER OF CYPRIOT PARLIAMENT COMMENTS ON G/T TALKS
The Speaker of the Cyprus House of Representatives,
Spyros Kyprianou, who was in Crete recently for the events
marking the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, referred to
the process of talks between Greece and Turkey by stating
that while has nothing against such a rapprochement, he does
offer word of caution:
"The Turks know how to work systematically in order to
get rather than give," he said.
"For Turkey to change its stand, it must feel the
pressure of the international community, mainly of Europe,
but even more by the United States," Mr. Kyprianou he added.
[05] GREEK POLITICAL LEADERS BEGIN THEIR SUMMER HOLIDAYS
As it is customary, Greek political leaders are
embarking on their summer holidays, a customary fifteen-day
period in the first half of August.
Prime Minister Costas Simitis, accompanied by his wife
Daphne, will holiday in the island of Sifnos, while the
leader of the main opposition party, New Democracy's Costas
Karamanlis, will travel in the Aegean. The president of
minor opposition party Coalition of the Left and Progress
Nikos Constantopoulos is traveling in the Peloponnese, while
the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Greece Aleka
Paparega will take her vacation at the island of
Cephallonia.
The Premier will conduct an official visit to Tirana on
August 24.
[06] MINIMUM GRADES TO BE ANNOUNCED IN SEPTEMBER
As high school grade lists have been posted in the
country's schools as of yesterday, the graduating seniors
already know if they've earned a coveted place in the
country's universities.
The minimum grade necessary in order for a student to
be admitted in a higher education institution will be
announced in early September, while the education ministry
leadership stated that for the time being it cannot
speculate how low the minimum grade will be. Those
interested can find the grade lists in the ministry of
education site on the Internet.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[07] CYPRUS TO ENTER THE EU IN THE YEAR 2003
Cyprus expects to enter the European Union in the year
2003, a date targeted by the island's officials who are
working feverishly towards this direction.
According to the chief of the island's EU's accession
negotiating team George Vasiliou, 2003 will be a key year
for the accession negotiations and all agencies of the
Republic of Cyprus are working to attain this goal.
[08] UN NEW SECRETARY-GENERAL TO BE ANNOUNCED TOMORROW
The official who will succeed Javier Solana as the
United Nations' secretary general will be announced tomorrow
by the Alliance's permanent representatives who will convene
in Brussels.
According to persistent reports, Mr. Solana is to be
succeeded by the British Defense Secretary George Robertson.
[09] DEMONSTRATIONS FOR MILOSEVIC'S RESIGNATION MOUNT IN
SERBIA
More than 5,000 people demonstrated in the city of
Valjevo, southwest of Belgrade, yesterday, calling on
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to resign.
According to the French news agency AFP, the rally was
organized by the Alliance for Change, a coalition which
groups opposition parties including the Democratic Party of
Zoran Djindjic, the Civic Alliance, and the Christian
Democrats.
In addition to banners calling for Milosevic to step
down, the demonstrators mocked General Nebojsa Pavkovic,
commander of the 3rd Yugoslav Army, who said on July 23 that
he will support Milosevic "without reservation."
Mr. Djindjic said the movement did not fear Pavkovic,
declaring: "The army is nobody's bodyguard."
The army should replace Milosevic, the opposition
leader added, because he
"is no longer president," given that he "can no longer
represent us throughout
the world."
The city of 60,000 inhabitants which is controlled by
President Milosevic's Socialist Party, was placarded with
alliance posters and pictures of the Yugoslav president with
targets superimposed on them.
About 40 riot police were deployed Monday to protect
Valjevo's city hall,
on the square where the protest took place.
[10] NATO MULTINATIONAL WAR GAMES STAGED IN UKRAINE
The NATO multinational computer war games "Peace Shield-
99" are presently underway at the Yavorovsky proving ground
near Lvov, where they will be held until August 15.
According to Russian news agency Itar-Tass, 21 states
agreed to participate in the war games at the level of
headquarters, brigades or military observers, including
Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece,
Georgia, Denmark, Italy, Moldavia, Poland, Romania, the
United States and Turkey.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexander Kuzmuk is expected
to come to the proving ground which is regarded by the
leadership of the North Atlantic alliance as a training base
to prepare peacekeepers. As was the case last year,
computers to be supplied by the American side will be used
instead of combat material at the war games. A scenario of
the exercise was taken from real life: the latest events in
the Balkans, including Kosovo.
[11] EU FIXES BALKANS STABILITY PACT MEETING FOR SEPTEMBER
13
The first roundtable meeting for implementing the
Balkans Stability Pact will be held on September 13,
European Union (EU) regional coordinator Bodo Hombach
announced Sunday in the German newspaper Die Welt.
As the French news agency AFP reported, Mr. Hombach
stated that "I am organizing the first regional roundtable
for southeastern Europe on September 13," albeit not
stating where the meeting would take place.
In response to a question on how long it would take for
his efforts to bear
fruit, Mr. Hombach asked for patience, saying "there will
not be any miracles, just hard work."
"With the Stability Pact, we are trying for the first
time to use preventive diplomacy to attack structural
deficits in the policies and economies of countries in the
region," Mr. Hombach said.
Stability is "more than a policy of conventional
security," he stressed, explaining that it must be based on
a combination of "peace, democracy, economic well-being, and
interior and exterior security."
[12] HELLENIC-SOUTH AFRICAN TRADE EXPOSITION IN JOHANNESBURG
Investors in the sectors of trade and industry are
invited to attend the Hellenic-South African Exposition '99
which will be held at Johannesburg in October 28-31, 1999.
The event, organized by the Hellenic Trade and Industry
Chamber of South Africa and the Greek trade attache, is part
of an effort to promote the development of trade relations
between Greece, Cyprus, and South African countries.
It will feature the participation of the food and
beverage industries, and firms from the trade, construction,
banking and shipping sectors.
[13] MONTENEGRO PRESIDENT:MILOSEVIC OUT IN ONLY A MATTER OF
TIME
The President of Montenegro Milo Jukanovic told a
Russian daily that the fall of Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic is only a matter of time.
The Montenegro leader said that Yugoslavia can survive
only if it adopts democratic institutions and characterized
the Yugoslav president as being incapable of establishing
democracy.
Mr. Jukanovic called on Russia to exercise pressure for
Milosevic's resignation.
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