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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2002-05-23

Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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


MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY Thessaloniki, May 23, 2002

SECTIONS

  • [A] NATIONAL NEWS
  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

  • NEWS HEADLINES

    [A] NATIONAL NEWS

  • [01] F. MINISTRY:ND PRESIDENT UNDERMINED GREEK EFFORTS IN THE BALKANS
  • [02] MILLER: US WILL SUPPORT GREECE IN 2007-8 EXPO
  • [03] 5.4 BILLION EURO FOR BALKAN DEVELOPMENT
  • [04] OPPOSITION: THE FOREIGN MINISTRY CONTRADICTS ITSELF
  • [05] G. PAPADNREOU IN US TODAY
  • [06] G. PAPANTONIOU IN SKOPJE
  • [07] D.A. WANTS 50 ACCOUNTS OPENED ON THE "MAYO" CASE
  • [08] CLERIDIS MEETINGS WITH POLITICAL LEADERS
  • [09] TURKISH BUSINESSMEN IN RHODES
  • [10] ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR THE GREEK-BULGARIAN INTER-BORDER COOPERATION
  • [11] PAPAZACHOS: EARTHQUAKE PREDICTION IS NOT FEASIBLE
  • [12] THE ASE CONTINUES ITS DOWNWARD COURSE
  • [13] MITSOTAKIS TO THE US FOR HEALTH REASONS
  • [14] BEGLITIS: NO SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENTS ON THE FYROM NAME ISSUE
  • [15] PROTOPAPAS: PASOK HAS NOTHING TO FEAR OR HIDE
  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

  • [16] EXHIBITION ON THE PARTHENON MARBLES IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT NEWS IN DETAILS

    [A] NATIONAL NEWS

  • [01] F. MINISTRY:ND PRESIDENT UNDERMINED GREEK EFFORTS IN THE BALKANS "The Head of the Opposition, attending an international forum in the presence of delegates from Balkan countries, openly undermined Greece's efforts, which are supported by the money of the Greek taxpayers, and which aim at consolidating peace, stability , development and prosperity in the region", pointed out the Foreign Ministry in an announcement it made yesterday. The announcement came in response to the speech made yesterday by ND President Kostas Karamanlis in Thessaloniki, in the framework of the 9 th Thessaloniki Forum.

    The announcement stressed that the facts refute what Mr. Karamanlis said yesterday, regarding the agreements on the Greek Plan for Balkan Reconstruction not being signed by June, since the Foreign Ministry has already submitted the plan drafts to the Par liament.

    At the same time it was pointed out that in June and July bilateral agreements will be signed with Balkan countries, while the programme of private productive investments from Greece towards the Balkans will commence on July 1 2002.

    "We thus expect New Democracy to repeat its views 'correctly'", ended the Foreign Ministry.

  • [02] MILLER: US WILL SUPPORT GREECE IN 2007-8 EXPO US Ambassador Thomas Miller had a one-hour meeting with Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Giorgos Paschalidis yesterday, in the margin of the convention on assymetrical threats and stability in Southeastern Europe.

    The US Ambassador gave a positive answer to the Minister's request of support in contending to hold the 2007-8 World EXPO Fair in Thessaloniki.

  • [03] 5.4 BILLION EURO FOR BALKAN DEVELOPMENT The amount of 5.4 billion euro will be provided for the development of infrastructure in Balkan countries, underlined Special Coordinator for the Stability Pact Erhard Busek, during his speech at the convention on "Assymetrical Threats and Stability in S outheastern Europe".

    He said there was a lack of regional control in the Stability Pact, and that the Thessaloniki Office is not being utilized to the degree it could be. He was in favor of developing regional cooperation and asked for special attention to be paid to culture

    and education, because "if we do not change anything in the new generations, we will achieve nothing".

    He noted that the road the Balkans have to walk is long, and what the Stability Pact has achieved is to give a European perspective to countries of Southeastern Europe.

  • [04] OPPOSITION: THE FOREIGN MINISTRY CONTRADICTS ITSELF "Everyone knows what the Foreign Ministry is trying to hide, with a lot of nerve, in its announcement regarding the application of the Greek Plan for Balkan Reconstruction", stated New Democracy spokesperson Thodoris Roussopoulos.

    "For years essential decisions have been put off. Months are necessary for a simple delegation of responsibilities. And most importantly, no practical aid has been saved to be given to Balkan countries."

    "Besides, with its announcement, the Foreign Ministry contradicts itself, since it postpones the signing of bilateral agreements till July. And of course there has been no specification on when the funds promised to the Balkan countries will have been sa ved, a fact the President of New Democracy referred to".

    "In any case, and with the high political, diplomatic and entrepreneurial cost and loss of credibility Greece is suffering from the government's consecutive delays, New Democracy hopes that this is the last postponement, and that the financial aid will h ave indeed been saved up by July, so that Greece's role in the region may finally be reinforced", he ended.

  • [05] G. PAPADNREOU IN US TODAY Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Papandreou is leaving for the US today. His first stop will be in Washington and the main topics to be discussed are the Cyprus issue, the Euroarmy, and the situation in the Balkans.

    The Greek Minister will meet with US Deputy National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, while he will also visit the Pentagon where he will meet with Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. Tomorrow, Mr. Papandreou will also meet with US Deputy Secretary of St ate Richard Armitage.

    During the weekend, the Minister will travel to Amherst, Massachusetts, where he will be appointed an honorary Doctor of the college he graduated from.

  • [06] G. PAPANTONIOU IN SKOPJE Minister of National Defense Giannos Papantoniou and a delegation of the General National Defense Staff are in Skopje today, where they will sign a programme of military cooperation with FYROM's General National Defense Staff, for the year 2002.

    Mr. Papantoniou will have discussions with his FYROM counterpart, Vlado Popovsky, and immediately after that, the two Ministers will hold a press conference. He will then meet with Prime Minister Ljupco Georgievski, President of the Parliament Stoyan An tof, and the President of the Republic, Boris Trajkovski as well as leaders of political parties. He will also meet with a three-member delegation of Greek officers serving in the unified NATO Headquarters in Skopje. He will return to Athens late that eve ning.

  • [07] D.A. WANTS 50 ACCOUNTS OPENED ON THE "MAYO" CASE District Attorney Dimitris Papaggelopoulos, asked for the emergency opening of 50 accounts in branches of Greek and foreign banks, in an urgent document - published by the "Pontiki" and "Ta Nea" newspapers - concerning Greek businessmen moving money thro ugh the Liberian MAYO company to New Democracy.

    The request is urgent, since according to the development of the preliminary investigation it is possible, as the District Attorney's document states, that these accounts are related to the legalization of profits from criminal activities, and the reques t wants the information transferred to judicial authorities within 5 days.

    In fact, according to the publications of the two newspapers, the preliminary investigation has led to the tracking of $1 million being moved, and the total amount of money transferred from the Liberian company to New Democracy since 1987, is estimated a t $2.5 million.

  • [08] CLERIDIS MEETINGS WITH POLITICAL LEADERS Cypriot President Glafkos Cleridis met with political leaders today. He informed them on developments on the Cyprus issue and regarding his meeting with the Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan.

    Following his meeting with the Cypriot President, honorary President of New Democracy Konstantinos Mitsotakis stated that the course of Cyprus' accession is guaranteed, Europe will not back down and Turkey will need to show some common sense on the issue .

    Following their meeting, the President of New Democracy Kostas Karamanlis stressed that Cyprus can and must be incorporated to the European Union during the Greek Presidency of the EU, and that resolving the Cyprus issue cannot be a prerequisite for acce ssion.

    The Coalition's position on Cyprus' accession to the EU, is that it must be unhindered, stated the President of the Coalition of the Left, Nikos Konstantopoulos, after his meeting with Mr. Cleridis.

  • [09] TURKISH BUSINESSMEN IN RHODES Businessmen from Turkey are on a visit to the southeastern Aegean island of Rhodes to examine with their local colleagues the cooperation potential between them.

    A reception in honor of the Turkish businessmen will be given by the Turkish Consul in Rhodes today.

  • [10] ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR THE GREEK-BULGARIAN INTER-BORDER COOPERATION The inter-border cooperation between Greece and Bulgaria will receive the highest additional funding (18.1%) on an initial sum of 30 million Euro, based on a decision by the responsible European Committee. The committee also decided to include the specif ic inter-border cooperation in the European Union program INTERREG III.

    The funding is placed within the framework of the special support for the regions that border EU candidate states and will be given to 14 programs which are already in effect.

  • [11] PAPAZACHOS: EARTHQUAKE PREDICTION IS NOT FEASIBLE The leak of information to the press on imminent strong earthquakes in four regions in the next two years, was characterized by Thessaloniki Aristotle University Geophysics professor emeritus Vasilis Papazachos as an antisocial act of irresponsible and c onscienceless individuals.

    Mr. Papazachos stated that a precise earthquake prediction is not feasible for now and therefore, the people should not take such press reports seriously. However, Mr. Papazachos did not deny that he had forwarded the document to the responsible authorit ies.

    According to a newspaper report, Mr. Papazachos in a confidential document he forwarded to the responsible authorities calls on the state to take urgent measures for the protection of the people from imminent strong earthquakes. According to the report, Mr. Papazachos pinpoints the four regions where earthquakes measuring 7 on the Richter scale are expected to hit in the next 2 years.

    Those regions are the Peloponese in southern Greece, the region that includes the island of Crete and the Dodecanese Islands in southeastern Aegean, the region between Albania and FYROM and northwestern Turkey.

  • [12] THE ASE CONTINUES ITS DOWNWARD COURSE New losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -0.88% at 2.346,20 points, while the volume of transactions was at 97 million Euro or 33 billion drachmas.

    Of the stocks trading today, just 48 recorded gains and the overwhelming majority of 285 had losses, while the value of 40 stocks remained unchanged.

  • [13] MITSOTAKIS TO THE US FOR HEALTH REASONS Right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy honorary President Konstantinos Mitsotakis will visit the United States for health reasons.

    According to a statement issued by his office, Mr. Mitsotakis will depart for Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, May 25. He will undergo an operation to treat a ventricular aorta aneurism.

  • [14] BEGLITIS: NO SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENTS ON THE FYROM NAME ISSUE Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis categorically denied the statements made to the BBC by FYROM Foreign Minister Slobodan Casule. According to the statements made by Mr. Casule, the two countries are very close to a solution regarding the is sue of the FYROM name, stressing that if they fail to reach an agreement Greece's position will be very hard.

    Mr. Beglitis stated that the Greek side would like a mutually acceptable solution but for the moment there are no specific developments on the issue, adding that Athens cannot agree with the unilateral positions expressed by Skopje.

    Meanwhile, Greek Defense Minister Yiannos Papantoniou, who is on a one-day visit to Skopje, also referred to the FYROM name, stressing that Greece believes that if the issue is faced as soon as possible it will contribute to the consolidation of stabilit y in the region.

  • [15] PROTOPAPAS: PASOK HAS NOTHING TO FEAR OR HIDE Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas referred to the investigation on the activities of the Mayo offshore company and stated that a prosecutor has taken over the case, adding that the servants of the Greek Justice should be left alone to do the ir job and determine who is responsible.

    On the proposal made by right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy honorary President Konstantinos Mitsotakis, who called for the governing Socialist Party of PASOK bank accounts to be opened, Mr. Protopapas stated that PASOK has nothing to fear o r hide. He also called on anyone who might have evidence at their possession to bring them to Justice.

  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

  • [16] EXHIBITION ON THE PARTHENON MARBLES IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Minister of Culture Evangelos Venizelos and European Commissioner Viviane Rending, responsible for Education and Culture issues, will inaugurate the exhibition Marbles in Exile. The exhibition will open in the European Parliament on May 29 and it is orga nized by the Greek Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Melina Mercuri Institute and Euro-deputies.

    The exhibition is organized within the framework of a one-day conference on the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.


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