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Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 98-11-10Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY THE MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCYThessaloniki, November 10, 1998TITLES
NEWS IN DETAIL[01] NEW CAR PRICES TO BE LOWERED BY 5.5% AS OF MONDAYAthens, November 10 (MPA)New car prices are to be lowered by 5.5% as of Monday, according to the Undersecretary of Finance George Drys.Meanwhile, IRS inspectors have embarked on on-the-spot reviews at car dealerships in order to ascertain whether or not the prices are being lowered. Meanwhile, the cabinet is expected to approve the new budget tomorrow, which will be tabled in Parliament by the end of the week. Following his meeting with the General Confederation of Greek Laborers, the Minister of National Economy and Finance Yiannos Papantoniou stated that the inflation rate could drop as low as two percent by mid-1999. [02] FOUR EU MEMBERS WANT CYPRUS ISSUE RESOLVED BEFORE ACCESSION TALKSBrussels, November 10 (MPA)A political solution to the division and partial occupation of Cyprus must be found as a matter of urgency as the only way which would resolve problems that will arise in the country's accession course, according to a statement issued by France, Germany and the Netherlands at a meeting of the European Union General Affairs Council.The statement, which was backed by Italy, was given one day prior to the start of negotiations between the EU and six candidate countries, including Cyprus. Greece's alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou has reacted strongly to the statement, while Prime Minister Kostas Simitis stressed that Greece definitely wants Cyprus' accession to the EU. [03] TENSION MOUNTS AGAIN IN KOSOVOPrishtina, November 10 (MPA)The Serb police has announced its intent to intensify patrols in Kosovo following the murders of two policemen, which are suspected to have been committed by Albanian-speaking guerrillas. However, the Kosovo Liberation Army claims that it was the Serb side which first opened fire.Meanwhile, international community observers are worried that the truce is being violated, while A Serb leader stated that the tension has mounted after the policemen's murders. [04] ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE TO PROTEST WITH EU OVER CHALKIThessaloniki, November 10 (MPA)The Greek government is standing by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, stated the alternate Foreign Minister of Greece George Papandreou, who yesterday tabled with the European Union's General Affairs Council the demarche of Patriarch Vartholomeos over Ankara's move to abolish the supervisory committee of the Chalki Theological School.Mr. Papandreou said that the act is unacceptable and associated it with the EU-Turkey funding protocol, by stating that while EU is proceeding with granting funds to Turkey,. This country is violating human rights and religious freedoms. Recently, the Turkish government decided to dismiss the School's supervisory committee members, claiming financial mismanagement and anti-Turkish propaganda. Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos yesterday stressed that the dismissal of the supervising board aims at transferring the school's property to the Turkish state. [05] PREMIER TO CHAIR CABINET MEETING ON BUDGET TOMORROWAthens, November 10 (MPA)Prime Minister Kostas Simitis will chair a Cabinet meeting tomorrow, in order to discuss the 1999 state budget. The budget is expected to be submitted to Parliament shortly and before the constitutional deadline of November 30.[06] US SENATOR ESTABLISHES GREEK-AMERICAN COALITION FOR LOBBYINGWashington, November 10 (MPA)United States Senator Leonidas Raptakis is the founder of the "Greek - American Coalition of New England", a coalition created to lobby Congress on issues of concern to Greece and Cyprus.Among the issues which will interest the coalition are supporting accession of Cyprus to the European Union, promoting the demilitarization of Cyprus and human rights issues. Featured among its members are former Massachusetts Governor and Presidential candidate, Mike Dukakis, as well as Connecticut State Representative, Dimitrios Giannaros, New Hampshire State Representative, William Tsiros, Rhode Island State Representative, Myrna George, Massachusetts State Senator, Steven Panagiotakas, Representatives Ted Speliotis and Paul Demakis, Connecticut State Representatives Dimitrios Giannaros, Kostas Diamantis, John Geragosian and Susan Bysiewicz, Connecticut's Secretary of State- elect. [07] HOLBROOKE PLANS A VISIT TO ATHENS, ACCORDING TO US AMBASSADORAthens, November 10 (MPA)The United States Ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns has announced that Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy, is expected to visit Athens and Ankara soon.Mr. Burns pointed out that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright had also expressed a desire to visit the region and that efforts were under way to scheduled her trip. [08] TRADE BETWEEN GREECE, CHINA RISES 26.7 PCT IN JANUARY-AUGUSTAthens, November 10 (MPA)The value of trade between Greece and China increased by 26.7 percent to 248 million US dollars in January-August compared with the corresponding period last year, the ambassador of the People's Republic of China, Jiang Quonsen, has announced.According to news reports, the Chinese diplomat spoke in fluent Greek during a seminar on Greek- Chinese relations, titled "The financial crisis in Asia and China, and growth prospects for Chinese-Greek relations". He said China's average economic growth neared 10 percent in the last two decades, while trade totaled 325 billion US dollars in 1997, sharply up from 20.6 billion in 1978. The ambassador said that the Chinese currency will remain stable and will not be devalued in the aftermath of a financial crisis in Asia. T. Vlassopoulos, director of the national economy ministry's secretariat of international economic relations, told the seminar that bilateral trade relations could further improve. "The institutional framework exists, but the availability of information is lacking," Mr. Vlassopoulos said. The seminar was held by the Institute of International Economic Relations. [09] ALTERNATE FM: GREECE WILL EXERCISE VETO IF CYPRUS IS LEFT OUT OF EUThessaloniki, November 10 (MPA)Greece's alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou has stated that Greece will exercise its veto power if after the accession negotiations the European Union refuses to accept Cyprus as a full member, on the sole reason of the island's political problem.Speaking to a radio station in Athens, Mr. Papandreou stated that the fact that the EU accession negotiations for Cyprus officially begin today, is a victory in itself. While he stressed that Greece holds rights within the EU and intends to exercise them, he added that it is premature to speculate on what the Greek government's next move would be since there a lot of time ahead until the negotiations come to a close and developments could arise in the Cyprus issue in the interim. When asked to comment on Turkey's funding from the EU, Mr. Papandreou characterized it as "illegal" and stressed that Greece will insist on its points of view. He further added that in spite of the millions of ECU Turkey will derive from the funding, it will be unable to enter the EU unless it undergoes radical changes in significant matters, such as its foreign policy and human rights issues. [10] GREECE'S COHESION FUND ABSORPTION RATE UP BY SEVEN PER CENTThessaloniki, November 10 (MPA)Greece's Cohesion Fund absorption rate has risen by seven per cent during the recent months, reaching 51% in March of 1998, according to data released by the Ministry of National Economy.Specifically, 51% of the approved credits in the environment sector have been approved, thereby marking a significant improvement in relation to March's 46%. The overall course of the Cohesion Fund's projects is to be presented today at a conference to be held in Athens. [11] COUNTRY'S LARGEST LABOR FEDERATION TO STRIKE OVER BUDGETAthens, November 11 (MPA)The country's largest labor federation, the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) is to conduct a 24-hour strike when the 1999 budget will be discussed in Parliament.GSEE's representatives, following their meeting with the Minister of National Economy and Finance Yiannos Papantoniou yesterday, stated that the burden allocation that arises from the convergence policy is unfair. Mr. Papantoniou stated that changes in the tax system will be feasible after the year 2000. He vowed to meet with GSEE's representatives once again in order to attempt an agreement over the processes that could lead to tax reforms. [12] GREEK PREMIER AND JACQUES DELORS TO SPEAK AT ATHENS SEMINARAthens, November 10 (MPA)Greece's Prime Minister Kostas Simitis and the European Commission's former president Jacques Delors are to address a seminar titled "Searching for the European Identity", to be held in Athens on November 13-14.The event is being jointly organized by the "Greek Center of European Studies" and the "Notre Europe", the chairman of which is Mr. Delors. A number of academics and political figures from the European Union's member-states are to address the event. [13] MOODY'S GIVES HIGH MARKS TO GREEK BANKSThessaloniki, November 10 (MPA)Moody's has granted high marks to Greece's banks, thereby certifying that the country's financial institutions continue to be on a strong development course, in spite of the global economic crisis.Having reviewed ten banks, nine of which are commercial, Moody's granted the highest mark -in regards to economic health- to the Alpha Credit and Labor Bank. Immediately following are Commercial Bank and Eurobank, receiving a grade of D+, followed by National, Ionian Bank of Piraeus and Chiosbank, all of which received a grade of D. Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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