Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 05-09-27

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

CONTENTS

[01] THE CHAMPIONS VISIT THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC PRESIDENT

[02] WORLD TOURISM DAY

[03] GREECE'S TRADE DEFICIT DROPPED BY 500 MILLION EUROS IN THE FIRST HALF

[04] CHARTER FLIGHTS FROM "ELEFTHERIOS VENIZELOS" DOUBLED COMPARED TO LAST

[05] FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT

[06] HONOR TO THE CHAMPIONS

[07] NEW PROPOSAL ON LOCAL ADMINISTRATION

[01] THE CHAMPIONS VISIT THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC PRESIDENT

Hellenic Republic President Karolos Papoulias met today with the players, the technical staff and officials of the Greek national basketball team that won the European Championship. Afterwards, the champions will also meet with Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

Yesterday, they were warmly received at Athens' Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport upon their arrival from Belgrade.

Two fire engines created a water arch through which the airplane carrying the twelve champions, coach Panagiotis Giannakis, the technical staff, the rest members of the Greek mission and, of course, the priceless cup, passed.

Hellenic Republic President Karolos Papoulias stated that the European Championship won by the Greek team made the country very happy and proud, while the Prime Minister underlined that Sports once again is proved to be a great national asset that should be further protected and reinforced.

[02] WORLD TOURISM DAY

Minister of Tourist Development Dimitris Avramopoulos opened the meeting of the National Council of Tourism today held in an Athens hotel on the occasion of the World Tourism Day set to be celebrated each year on September 27.

In his message, Mr. Avramopoulos pointed out the great contribution of tourism to national economy while within the framework of the festivities there will be no entry fee today for the public wishing to visit the country's museums, archaeological sites and monuments.

[03] GREECE'S TRADE DEFICIT DROPPED BY 500 MILLION EUROS IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2005

Greece's trade deficit recorded a decline of 500 million euros in the first half of 2005 compared to last year, and dropped to 14.7 billion euros, according to figures provided by the European statistics agency, Eurostat.

According to Eurostat figures given to publicity in Brussels today, the largest trade surplus among the 25 belongs to Germany with 83.5 billion euros followed by Holland (19.5 billion euros) and Ireland (17 billion euros).

The largest trade deficit is Great Britain's (47.5 billion euros) followed by Spain (34.7 billion euros), Greece (14.7 billion euros) and France (13.9 billion euros).

In Euro-zone, a trade surplus of 7.2 billion euros with the rest of the world was recorded in the first half of 2005, while the 25 have a trade deficit of 3.2 billion euros.

[04] CHARTER FLIGHTS FROM "ELEFTHERIOS VENIZELOS" DOUBLED COMPARED TO LAST YEAR

The number of tourists visiting Greece is on the rise, according to figures presented by Minister of Tourist Development Dimitris Avramopoulos in the meeting of the 3rd National Council on Tourism taking place in an Athens hotel today.

Based on figures concerning Athens' Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, foreign visitors rose by 12%, while charter flights doubled compared to the same period in 2004.

He stressed that tourism in the month of September follows an upward course as well as in the month of October especially for quality tourist accommodations.

Mr. Avramopoulos also announced that the annual forum on World Tourism to take place on February 18, 2006 will be held in Greece. The forum is expected to decide on a permanent observatory of the World Travel and Tourism Council to be established in Greece to cover the region of south and southeast Europe and the Mediterranean.

[05] FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT

Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis announced that the government will ask to bring up for discussion in Parliament foreign policy issues not included in the daily agenda. Mr. Molyviatis made the statement after the governmental committee meeting presided over by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

Mr. Molyviatis briefed the governmental committee on all foreign policy aspects and stressed that the National Council on Foreign Policy will convene in the following days.

The Foreign Minister stated that if things move as scheduled Turkey's EU accession negotiations will get underway on October 3. He pointed out that the positions and objectives of Greece and Cyprus are fully guaranteed in the two texts, the negotiating framework and the EU response.

[06] HONOR TO THE CHAMPIONS

Hellenic Republic President Karolos Papoulias received the national basketball team at the presidential building at noon today.

Mr. Papoulias congratulated the players and the technical staff for their great success in Belgrade where they won the European Championship and thanked them for making the Greek people happy and proud.

Later, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis received the Greek mission at Maximos Mansion and congratulated its members for their success, stressing that everything is feasible with team work and guidance.

[07] NEW PROPOSAL ON LOCAL ADMINISTRATION

Main opposition Socialist Party PASOK leader Giorgos Papandreou referred to his party's new proposal on local administration in statements he made before the opening of the Election Procedures Committee meeting.

The goal is to open a new path for local administration and present a new proposal based on radical reform that will respect the people and value the citizens, he stressed characteristically.

Referring to the individual candidates to be supported by PASOK in the next municipal and prefectural elections, he pointed out that they will be people with abilities, potential and value, representing a new sense of ethical principles.

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