Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-01-29

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

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

CONTENTS

[01] HUMANITARIAN AID TO KORITSA FROM THE MUNICIPALITY OF KALAMARIA

[02] IN ISTANBUL THE 2ND MEETING OF THE BALKAN MINISTERS OF AGRICULTURE

[03] SIMITIS: CITIES WITH A HUMAN FACE IS THE INTENTION OF THE SOCIALIST

[04] MEETING OF THE BALKAN MINISTERS OF AGRICULTURE

[05] Á MILLION PEOPLE VISITED THE ATHENS METRO BY NOON

[06] THE PRIME MINISTER OF SWEDEN IS VISITING ATHENS

[07] GREEK-TURKISH PROTOCOL ON AGRICULTURE

[08] THE GREEK ECONOMY WILL BE TESTED ON MONDAY

[09] LEONIDAS ZISIADIS' FUNERAL WILL BE HELD TODAY

[10] GREEK INTEREST IN THE TURKISH TEXTILES

[11] CLERIDES IS IN GENEVA FOR THE 2ND ROUND OF PROXIMITY TALKS

[12] ALBRIGHT MET WITH PAPANDREOU AND CEM

[13] US PRESIDENT REFERRED TO GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS

[01] HUMANITARIAN AID TO KORITSA FROM THE MUNICIPALITY OF KALAMARIA

A delegation from the municipality of Kalamaria in Thessaloniki will be in Koritsa, Albania on February 4.

The delegation members will visit the city Orphanage and will deliver humanitarian aid made up of food and clothing for the children and fan heaters for their rooms. The decision to send the humanitarian aid was made after a communication between mayor of Kalamaria Christodoulos Economides and Greek consul general in Koritsa Nikolaos Gevriilidis.

The Greek mission will meet in Koritsa with members of the Greek minority organization Omonia as well as with the city's local authorities.

[02] IN ISTANBUL THE 2ND MEETING OF THE BALKAN MINISTERS OF AGRICULTURE

The 2nd meeting of the Balkan ministers of agriculture on issues of rural development will take place in Istanbul.

The ministers of agriculture from Balkan countries, except Romania, decided in the first meeting they had in Thessaloniki today at the initiative of their Greek counterpart Giorgos Anomeritis to hold annual meetings each time at a different country.

The ministers accepted the proposal made by Turkish agriculture minister Husnu Yussef Giokalp and decided that their next meeting will be held in Istanbul on a date to be announced.

In the final statement signed by the agriculture ministers it is mentioned that special sub-committees will meet twice a year and will deal with issues such as forestry, environment protection, veterinary medicine etc. The ministers of agriculture gave special attention to environmental issues and in their joint statement pointed out that their main goal is the protection of the environment. Also, they decided to establish a secretariat and executive committee to back and coordinate action on issues of cooperation and rural development.

[03] SIMITIS: CITIES WITH A HUMAN FACE IS THE INTENTION OF THE SOCIALIST PARTIES

Cities with a human face and a humane society should be the intention of socialist parties, stressed Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis speaking in the presence of his Swedish counterpart Goran Perrson in an event that was held in Athens at the initiative of the Greek governing socialist party of PASOK.

The prime minister referred to the Athens metro that was inaugurated yesterday, stating that it is not just a quicker way of transportation but an integral part of everyday life and a symbol of the new culture that is being sought after.

The Swedish prime minister in his speech underlined that Greece now competes with the rest European Union states on equal terms and praised Mr. Simitis for the policy he has followed in all sectors.

[04] MEETING OF THE BALKAN MINISTERS OF AGRICULTURE

The belief that the solution of the problems in the sector of agriculture will be to the benefit of farmers was expressed by Greek minister of agriculture Giorgos Anomeritis speaking in the conference on rural development and cooperation in the Balkans held within the framework of the farm exhibition Agrotica taking place in Thessaloniki.

Albanian minister of agriculture Lefter Xuveli pointed out that Greece is the main partner of Albania in the sector of agriculture, stressing that 36% of his country's farm exports go to Greece while the Greek farm exports to Albania are 39%. He pointed out the importance of the Greek investments in Albania and concluded by pointing out the need for cooperation in the sectors of veterinary medicine and the protection of forests.

Bosnia-Herzegovina-Serbia minister of agriculture Milenko Savic referred to the damages caused to agriculture as a result of the civil war and stressed that his country recovers thanks to the reconstruction programs by the international community.

Bulgarian minister of agriculture Vetseslav Verbanov pointed out that 25% of Bulgaria's active population works in farms and fish-farming, stressing that the foreign investments in the sector of agriculture amounts only to 0.3%.

Yugoslavia's undersecretary of agriculture Mr. Milanovic pointed out that his country suffered huge destruction last year as a result of the NATO bombings cutting social income by 19.3% compared to the previous year. He stressed that in spite of the fact that many areas had been abandoned steps have been made for the reform of the farm production sector, adding that a special agency has been set up for the promotion and development of farm production. Finally, Mr. Milanovic issued an invitation to all the participating ministers to attend the farm exhibition that will be held in Novisad in March.

FYROM minister of agriculture Marian Kretsev expressed the belief that his country together with other Balkan countries will lead in the efforts for the development of the region, while at the same time he stressed that the investments made by Greece in his country in the sector of energy are on the right track and underlined that he believes that in the future there will be positive developments in the pending political issues.

Turkish agriculture minister Husnu Yussef Giokalt pointed out the need for cooperation among the Balkan states for the increase of the farm production and the development of the farm sector. He underlined that Greece is the only EU member-state in the region and the rest countries which are candidates for EU membership could take advantage of Greece's experience in their accession course.

Cypriot agriculture minister Mr. Themistokleous expressed the belief that the peaceful cooperation in the farm sector will distance any political danger and wished for the further development of relations between Greece and Turkey. Referring to the new circle of talks on Cyprus that start in Geneva on Monday expressed the belief that they can open the way for the solution of the Cyprus problem. He also stated that Greece as the only EU member-state can play a leading role in the efforts for cooperation in the region.

[05] Á MILLION PEOPLE VISITED THE ATHENS METRO BY NOON

One million people visited the Athens metro by noon today and the metro employees were forced for safety reasons to close the doors for half an hour because of the large crowd that had gathered.

Today and tomorrow passengers of mass transportation in Athens will travel free of charge with the metro, buses and the electric railway.

[06] THE PRIME MINISTER OF SWEDEN IS VISITING ATHENS

Swedish prime minister Goran Perrson is on a visit to Athens. The Swedish prime minister and his Greek counterpart Kostas Simitis spoke in an event on security in the cities organized by the governing socialist party of PASOK.

[07] GREEK-TURKISH PROTOCOL ON AGRICULTURE

A protocol of cooperation in the sector of agriculture will be signed in Turkey by Greek agriculture minister Giorgos Anomeritis and his Turkish counterpart Husnu Yussef Giokalp.

The two ministers met in Thessaloniki last night and discussed issues concerning the cooperation of Greece and Turkey in the area of their responsibility.

Mr. Giokalp delivered a draft protocol of cooperation on the sector of agriculture to Mr. Anomeritis and invited him to visit Turkey. The two ministers agreed to sign the protocol as soon as possible during Mr. Anomeritis' visit to Turkey after it is examined by the responsible ministry committees.

Also, they agreed that measures must be taken to counter the diseases that hit the live stock on both sides of the borders of Greece and Turkey. Mr. Anomeritis pointed out that a special attention must be given to the cooperation of the two countries on issues concerning the environment, the eco-system and the quality of farm products.

[08] THE GREEK ECONOMY WILL BE TESTED ON MONDAY

ECOFIN will discuss Greece's updated convergence program for the period 1999-2002 in the presence of minister of national economy Yiannos Papantoniou.

Mr. Papantoniou aspires to leave Brussels bringing with him the approval of ECOFIN given the fact that the Monetary Committee has already issued a positive opinion on the Greek convergence program.

Meanwhile, the consultations of OECD specialists on the current developments in the Greek economy will open in Athens on Monday. The consultations will focus on the preservation of the macro-economic balance through the promotion of structural changes in the public sector and the economy.

The OECD specialists will stay in Greece for three days and based on the data they will collect they will draw up the international organization's report on the state of the Greek economy.

[09] LEONIDAS ZISIADIS' FUNERAL WILL BE HELD TODAY

Distinguished architect, literary man and businessman Leonidas Zisiadis died yesterday from cancer at the age of 76 and his funeral will be held in Thessaloniki today.

Leonidas Zisiadis was from Istanbul and in 1922 after the disaster in Asia Minor came to Thessaloniki. His activities and contribution to the city were notable, while he was an active member in national resistance during WWII.

[10] GREEK INTEREST IN THE TURKISH TEXTILES

The Greek company Trans Mediterranean Textile requested permission from the foreign trade department of the responsible Turkish ministry to import synthetic fabrics used to make flags, according to the Turkish news agency Anadolu.

Specifically, the Greek company is interested in importing from Turkey hard felt and synthetic fabrics to make flags and clothing items.

According to the same information, there is Greek interest in different qualities of fabrics from Turkey and based on statements made by Istanbul's Association of Exports of Textile and Raw Materials chairman Oguz Satitzi the textile trade between Turkey and Greece has increased notably last year.

Mr. Satitzi stated that Greece is an exporter of textile itself, adding however that when the prices in his country are lower the Greek companies prefer fabrics from Turkey.

[11] CLERIDES IS IN GENEVA FOR THE 2ND ROUND OF PROXIMITY TALKS

Cypriot president Glafkos Clerides is in Geneva to take part in the 2nd round of the proximity talks on Cyprus.

On Monday, the first day of the talks, UN secretary-general Kofi Annan will have separate meetings with Cypriot republic president Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash in the presence of special adviser on Cyprus Alvaro de Soto, who will take over the supervision of the talks on Tuesday.

[12] ALBRIGHT MET WITH PAPANDREOU AND CEM

US secretary of state Madeleine Albright met in Davos, Switzerland late last night with Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou and his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum.

Ms. Albright encouraged the careful steps both NATO allies are making to overcome decades of mistrust.

Mr. Papandreou and Mr. Cem had a separate 15minute meeting on the imminent visit of the Turkish foreign minister to Athens for the signing of the rest Greek-Turkish low policy agreements.

[13] US PRESIDENT REFERRED TO GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS

US president Bill Clinton referred to Cyprus and the Greek-Turkish relations in his State of the Union address on Thursday delivered before the joint session of the US House of Representatives and the Senate in Washington.

The US president"s annual speech before the US Congress is an outline of the policy his administration will adopt.

In the part of the speech that referred to foreign policy, Mr. Clinton stated that Americans must be proud of the role the United States played in bringing peace closer to the Middle East than any other time, building peace in Northern Ireland, working for peace in East Timor and Africa and promoting reconciliation between Greece and Turkey and in Cyprus, as well as working to avert crisis between India and Pakistan and defending human rights and religious freedom.

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