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Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 98-12-02Macedonian 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, December 2, 1998TITLES
NEWS IN DETAIL[01] CUSTOMS WORKERS WILL DECIDE TODAY ON THE COURSE OF THEIR STRIKEAthens, December 2 (MPA)As fuel supply is getting scarce and mile-long lines of stalled cars can be seen for miles on at the country's borders, the federation of Greece's customs workers is to decide today on whether or not it will press on with its strike.The Athens First Circuit Court is to determine the strike's legality, as the Ministry of Economy has sought legal recourse by asking that the customs workers' action be declared illegal and abusive. A.F. [02] GREEK PM TO RECEIVE AUSTRIA'S CHANCELLOR VICTOR KLIMA IN ATHENS TODAYAthens, December 2 (MPA)Austrian Chancellor and European Union President Viktor Klima is to arrive in Athens today where he will be received by Greek Prime Minster Kostas Simitis in order to discuss the forthcoming Vienna European Council Summit Conference, to be held on December 11-12.As Mr, Simitis stated yesterday, the Summit will tackle issues such as developments regarding the EU funds, Agenda 2000, international economic matters and employment. A.F. [03] COUNCIL OF GREEKS ABROAD HOLDS BOARD MEETING IN THESSALONIKIThessaloniki, December 2 (MPA)The nine-member board of the Council of Greeks Abroad (SAE), headed by SAE President Andrew Athens, has embarked on its meeting today in Thessaloniki, in order to review the proceedings of the organization's regular assembly.The meeting, to be held until Saturday, will feature the participation of the secretary-general of Greeks Abroad Stavros Labrinides, the chairman of the permanent cross-party parliamentary committee for Greek Abroad Grigoris Niotis and other committee members. Among the issues to be discussed are the "Helleniad" and the 21 medical centers to be founded by SAE in 21 republics of the former Soviet Union. A.F. [04] ONLY ONE TRAIN PER ROUTE TO RUN TODAY AS STRIKE CONTINUESThessaloniki, December 2 (MPA)Only one train per route will run today throughout the country as the workers at the Greek Railways Organization, (OSE) have upped the ante in their mobilizations by embarking on 24-hour rotating strikes until Friday.The rail workers are protesting a bill tabled in Parliament which calls for reforms in their sector. From the past Sunday until yesterday, they held three-hour stoppages. The airborne sector is also taking part in the strike fever, with staff at the Civil Aviation Department conducting two work stoppages as of today. They are reacting to ordinances in the insurance bill that call for their sector's merger with other insurance funds. A.F. [05] PRIME MINISTER SIMITIS TRAVELS TO GERMANY THIS WEEKAthens, December 2 (MPA)Prime Minister Kostas Simitis will be received by the new German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on December 7, during a visit to Germany, according to government spokesman Dimitris Reppas. Mr. Simitis will also meet with the German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, on December 4.The Greek Premier and the German officials are expected to discuss issues concerning bilateral ties, Greece's course to the Economic and Monetary Union, Greek-Turkish relations, the Cyprus issue, international developments, and the Ocalan case. On Monday evening, Mr. Simitis will attend a Bonn-held party conference which will feature the participation of PASOK's four prefectural committees in Germany. [06] GREECE TO HAVE WORLD'S THIRD OLDEST POPULATION BY THE YEAR 2020Thessaloniki, December 2 (MPA)Greece will have the world's third oldest population by the year 2020 due to its declining birth rate and increasing life expectancy, according to the World Health Organization .The organization has reported that 22 years from now there will be over one billion people over the age of sixty in the world, nearly double the current number. The "oldest" countries that year will be Japan and Italy, each with 31 percent of their populations being at least 60, it said. They will be followed by Greece, Switzerland and Finland, each at 28 percent. [07] BELGRADE WARNS OSCE IT MAY ACT AGAINST KLA, NO MATTER WHAT THE PRICEBelgrade, December 2 (MPA)The government of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has forwarded a strongly-worded letter to the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, wherein it charges that Kossovo rebels endanger the area's fragile peace and warns that it won't tolerate continued attacks "no matter what the price."According to the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug, the statement blasted international efforts to include the rebels in the peace process as effectively "legalizing the terrorists." "Insolent, criminal activity and provocative actions by Albanian terrorists present an obstacle to the peace process ... in defiance of state bodies and international appeals," said the statement, which was issued yesterday, on the eve of an OSCE meeting on Kossovo in Oslo, Norway. United States envoy Christopher Hill is to arrive in Belgrade today where he is expected to present a revised version of his draft plan for Kossovo. A.F. [08] GREECE OBJECTS TO PROPOSALS OF TRIMMING EU EXPENDITURESBrussels, December 2 (MPA)Greece's Minister of National Economy and Finance Yiannos Papantoniou strongly objected to various proposals to contain EU expenditures for the period between 2000-20006, tabled at the European Union's Council of Finance and Monetary Affairs Ministers (ECOFIN) conference, held in Brussels yesterday.It is the view of the majority of the EU member-states, led by Germany, that EU expenditures be trimmed, a view characterized by Mr. Papantoniou, as "a map exercise lacking any documentation and without taking into consideration the consequences which a decrease in the EU's expenditures would bear." He stressed that, given that EU decisions are adopted on a consensus basis, the Greek government rejects the said proposals. According to the BBC, the discussion was marked by raised tones and ended in deadlock. A.F. [09] BALKAN FRIENDSHIP COMMITTEE TO VIST ROMANIA THIS MONTHAlexandroupolis, December 2 (MPA)The Balkan Friendship Committee is to conduct a visit to Romania on December 13, where its members will meet with government officials in order to develop multifaceted cooperation opportunities between the countries.Speaking to the Macedonian Press Agency, the Committee's chairman N. Zabounides stated that the group aspires to assist the state leaders in expounding cooperation opportunities between the countries, as well as promoting business collaboration for joint ventures. [10] GREEK BANKS ASSOCIATION HOLDS MILLENIUM BUG CONFERENCEAthens, December 2 (MPA)The Association of Greek Banks is organizing a conference concerning the various ways to address the computer millennium bug in the year 2000.The bug will cause many computers to fail by reading the date 2000 as 1900 because computer software programmers have abbreviated each year to the two final digits in order to save computer memory. Understandably, this is certain to wreck havoc on financial institutions, as it will affect their transactions as well as their archives. A member of the general secretariat of the Global 2000's coordinating group Matthew Fairless, will be the keynote speaker at the event which is held today at the Grand Bretagne Hotel in [11] GREEK FM TO SPEAK AT OSLO SUMMIT ON OSCE'S ROLEOslo, December 2 (MPA)Greece's Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos is to attend today's Foreign Ministers Summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, held in Oslo, Norway, where the participants will tackle issues such as Kossovo, the fragile system of balances in the Balkan region, as well as the OSCE's future course.The foreign ministers will be called on to decide on the formulation of the OSCE's principles, in other word a "Security Chart" which will strengthen the Organization and will delineate its ties with NATO and the United Nations in terms of undertaking initiatives for the prevention and direct address of regional conflict. Mr. Pangalos told the BBC that the Summit will feature a "lengthy and difficult discussion on Kossovo." He added that OSCE is a useful organization for solving problems and creating a peaceful atmosphere at a pan-European level. "It has carried out a role in Albania, (and) it now carries one in Kossovo. I think we need to continue with this role and fortify it," the Greek FM stated. [12] GREECE, BULGARIA, ROMANIA TRIPARTITE FORUM WRAPS UP TODAYSofia, December 2 (MPA)A tri-partite forum held between officials from the Ministries of City Planning, transportation and Environment of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania is to be wrapped up today in Sofia, where it was held under the initiative of Bulgaria's vice president Evgeni Bakargiev.The participants discussed infrastructure works that concern the three countries' interests and priorities and examined ways to promote their collaboration in creating the draft plans of motor routes in the region and the trans-European halls 4 and 9 which have proven to be the link between the three countries. The Greek delegation conveyed the Greek government unabridged support to Bulgaria's and Romania's aims for accession to the European Union. Moreover, it was stressed that the forum aimed at mapping out a common position for upgrading the Balkan transportation system, as well as its inclusion to the European routes. Bulgaria's Transportation Minister Wilhelm Kraus, told the Macedonian Press Agency that the construction of a second bridge over the Danube River is a matter that has already been dealt with and added that it will be built near the city Vidin, in northwestern Bulgaria. He did add that the actual construction of the project will depend on its financing. Greece and Bulgaria also stressed the need to construct a new Thessaloniki-Sofia motor route linking the two countries, and agreed that, with Greece being an EU member-state, the European Union will contribute to the funding of this project. [13] ALBANIA: TENSION MOUNTS AS DEMOCRATIC PARTY ANNIVERSARY NEARSTirana, December 2 (MPA)Successive terrorist acts in Albania, a mere days following the referendum for the constitution, have further burdened the already tense political climate in the country, augmenting the international community's fears for a repeat occurrence of last year's unrest.There was an electrical power failure late last night in southern Albania when a gateway was blown up near the city of Fieri. Other acts took place on Monday when unknown culprits threw a rocket at an imports pant in northern Albania, killing one person who was a member of the Democratic Party. Political analysts attribute the latest wave of violence to the fanaticism promoted by Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha and expect a resurgence of similar acts to take place in the following weeks as the eighth anniversary since the founding of the Democratic Party nears. Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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