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Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 03-07-26Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>July26, 2003CONTENTS
[01] Euro-poll shows Europeans supportive but ill-informed on EU ConstitutionAthens 26/7/03(ANA)A recent Eurobarometer poll revealed strong support across the European Union for a European constitution but also considerable ignorance about the work of the Convention for the Future of Europe, which in June presented a first draft of the Constitution to the Thessaloniki EU Summit.The Eurobarometer survey was conducted in the 15 member-states and the 10 candidate countries immediately after the Thessaloniki Summit. At any rate, Greeks appear to be among the best informed European citizens, a fact surely associated with the mandate of the country at the EU presidency during the first semester of 2003. know anything about the issue. In Greece, among a sample of 1000 respondents, 69 per cent said they backed an EU Constitution, 25 per cent said they were against, and 6 per cent said they did not know the issue. Asked whether they had heard about the Convention for the future of Europe, 45 per cent of respondents said they had, while 55 per cent stated ignorance. Greeks appear to be clearly better informed with 81 per cent stating that they have heard something about the Convention and 18 per cent stating ignorance. Moreover, 30 per cent of European citizens said they were satisfied with the results of the Convention, 20 per cent said they were not satisfied, and 50 per cent said they ''did not know''. In Greece, 40 per cent of respondents appeared to be satisfied with the results, 49 per cent said they were not, while 21 per cent said they ''did not know''. [02] Greece 2nd least expensive country in EU, spokesman replies to ND leaderAthens 26/7/03(ANA)The OECD has listed Greece as the 2nd least expensive country in the 15-member European Union, Greek government spokes-man Christos Protopapas said Friday, responding to a statement by main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Costas Karamanlis that ''Greece is the champion in expensive prices''.Protopapas said that Karamanlis's claim was blatantly belied in a report released by the OECD that lists Greece as the second least expensive country in the 15-member EU, after Portugal. He also said that the ''lack of credibility of Karamanlis' statements is usual'', adding that it was ''particularly negative that someone attempt to defame his city in the midst of the tourist sea-son''. Protopapas conceded that there was a problem of excessive prices, but added that the government would continue to wage its ongoing battle against overpricing. [03] FM refers to 'globalization with human face' at youth festivalAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Foreign Minister George Papandreou, addressing the Socialist International's youth festival at Kamena Vourla on Friday, referred to his proposal for an Olympic Truce and to ''globalization with a human face.''''We are revolutionaries because we dare to have a vision, but we are not utopians. We make dreams a reality,'' Papandreou said. ''Just as social democracy succeeded in the past in providing socialism with a human face, so must we provide globalization with a human face. How? The key word is democracy. We need democratic, global institutions involving participation. We must see how we shall promote active participation and not exclusion. We must face the challenge of the democratic management of global resources,'' he added. ''And when we face the Middle East issue, we must support and strengthen the voices of peace and work for this,'' he said. The foreign minister also focused on the tradition of the Olympic Games being a sacred institution for defending peace and referred to Greece's proposal for an Olympic Truce. ''We need a vision: All of us to live under one roof and cooperate with common values and visions. If we can have peace over the 13 days the Olympic Games will be lasting, we might also have forever,'' he said. FM addresses PASOK party youth event: Foreign Minister George Papandreou on Friday addressed an event organized by the ruling PASOK party's youth organization, stressing that Prime Minister Costas Simitis ''undertook initiatives and changed the roles of some party officials''. ''The introversion should stop. We should understand that no one is superfluous. It is a battle we all must fight together,'' Papandreou said, underlining Greece's European image and the credibility it has gained. ''I hear people say that outside the country we are doing well and that we are not doing well inside the country. Something like that is not happening. The Greek presidency is recognized now by everyone as being successful,'' the foreign minister said. He stressed that PASOK has the ability to overturn the opinion polls, since it can offer solutions to problems, unlike main opposition New Democracy which only shows the problems but has no proposals for solutions. Simitis to visit IUSY festival in south central Greece :Prime Minister and PASOK President Costas Simitis on Monday afternoon will visit the International Union of Socialist Youths (IUSY) festival taking place in Kammena Vourla, Fthiotida prefecture, south central Greece. At the event, that is organized by PASOK's youth section, Simitis will participate in a discussion on ''Socialism Today'' along with former Spanish premier Philippe Gonzalez, Socialist Inter-national's General Secretary Luis Ayala, Italy's Democrats of the Left National Secretary Pierro Fasino and French parliament deputy Martine Aubry. Later in the day Simitis will meet with the IUSY presidium and return to Athens. [04] Greece denies working on alternatives to Annan plan for CyprusAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Government spokesman Christos Protopapas on Friday denied press reports that the government was working on alternatives to the peace plan for Cyprus presented by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.''The Greek government is moving steadily within the frame-work of the Annan plan,'' the spokesman underlined. Asked whether a European Court of Human Rights ruling that gave Greek-Cypriots the option to have recourse to 'special courts' within occupied Cyprus constituted indirect recognition of the illegal regime in the north of the island, Protopapas said that this was a far-fetched interpretation and that the Greek government was currently in the process of studying the ruling. Protopapas also announced that he had contacted his Cypriot counterpart over the phone on Thursday and that the Greek go-vernment would be informed of the results of an investigation into how a set of classified documents had found their way into ordinary garbage as soon as this was completed. [05] US Secretary of State Powell discusses Cyprus problem with Turkish counterpartWASHINGTON 26/7/03 (ANA-T.Ellis/CNA)The Cyprus problem was among the issues US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul discussed here on Thursday.Invited to say whether the Cyprus problem was discussed at the meeting, Powell said ''we kind of reviewed the state of play of the discussions'' noting that ''we discussed the need not to lose the opportunity that is before us.'' ''And I commented favorably on the proposal that has been left on the table by the Secretary General, and encouraged my Turkish friend to work with Mr. (Rauf) Denktash, and we would work with both sides to see if we can get some movement quickly,'' Powell added. ''We see a lot of things happening on the ground as the people themselves are now moving back and forth. We want to convert that into a substantive agreement in the political world and come up with a comprehensive settlement,'' Powell noted and said he knew his Turkish counterpart had that same goal. ''We're working hard. But there were no new initiatives,'' the Secretary of State concluded. Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots started crossing to and from Cyprus' occupied areas after the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime eased restrictions on free movement, which it had imposed 29 years ago, when Turkish troops invaded Cyprus. [06] PM briefed on state health system's problemsAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Friday met Health Minister Costas Stefanis for an across-the-board briefing on all health is-sues, with special emphasis on staff shortages in state hospitals.Emerging from the meeting, Stefanis said that shortages of nursing staff, in particular, where one of the greatest problems assai-ling public health and a major cause of poor or inadequate ser-vice. He said the problems were particularly acute in Athens and Thessaloniki but less so in regional areas, especially those served by large university hospitals. Also present at the meeting were deputy health ministers Ektoras Nasiokas, Vassilis Kontoyannopoulos and Elpida Tour. [07] Deputy defense minister represents Greece at SEEBRIG ceremonyAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Deputy Defense Minister Theodoros Kotsonis on Friday represented Greek National Defense Minister Yiannos Papantoniou at a double official ceremony at the new headquarters of the South-Eastern Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG) in Romanian port-city of Constanza.The ceremony, which was also attended by Romanian President Ion Iliescu, concerned the handover of SEEBRIG's command from Greek Major General Andreas Kouzelis to Italian Brigadier General Giovanni Sulis and the handover of the chairmanship of the Political-Military Standing Committee (PMSC) and the Southeast Europe Defense Ministerial Coordinating Committee (SEDM-CC) from Romania to Turkey. It was also attended by the defense ministers of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Romania, the deputy defense ministers of Italy, Bulgarian and Slovenia and high-ranking officials from the other countries participating in SEEBRIG and international organizations. [08] Gov't dismisses opposition criticism over ''pre-election expediencies''Athens 26/7/03(ANA)The government on Friday dismissed criticism voiced by main opposition New Democracy regarding the state's focus on completing ongoing projects in the northern port-city of Thessaloniki and the port of Piraeus, which ND party spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos earlier said were associated with pre-election government expediencies.''Should the government stop concerning itself with the projects in Thessaloniki and Piraeus because ND made the mistake of asking for early elections?...The country cannot grind to a halt just because ND has committed itself to an erroneous policy,''government spokesman Christos Protopapas said at his regular press briefing. [09] Government under fire by ND for recent judiciary promotionsAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Main opposition New Democracy (ND) on Friday criticized re-cent cabinet-approved judiciary promotions and said they confirmed ''the government's dangerous establishment mentality and its constant efforts to downgrade the credibility of Justice and its functionaries''.ND spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said that ''once again, accomplished judges of great integrity were passed over so that promotions could go to others who were much younger and, in point of fact, had previous lengthy service in administrative positions within the offices of government ministers or even the prime minister.'' ''It seems that the partisan test was the 'qualification' that mostly counted at the promotions, since justices with more time in service and impeccable performance was passed over'', Roussopoulos said. [10] DHKKI to adopt official position in dialogue on election lawAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI) leader Dimitris Tsovolas on Friday said his party intended to adopt an official position during the dialogue on reforming the election system, following a meeting with Interior Minister Costas Skandalidis regarding the government's proposals for a new electoral law.He stressed, however, that DHKKI was steadfast in demanding the introduction of simple proportional representation as the standing election system. Skandalidis announced that the government's official proposals for changing election law will be sent out to the parties accompanied by invitations to begin dialogue on August 20, so that a cross-party committee could commence in September. DHKKI is not represented in Parliament, failing to reach the 3 per cent minimum required for a seat in the House. [11] Kastanidis to visit Eastern Macedonia-Thrace regionAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Macedonia-Thrace Minister Charis Kastanidis on Saturday is be-ginning his first tour of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace since he took the post less than a month ago.He will meet with regional, local and business leaders of the region and will visit the high-school in Komotini, Rodopi prefecture. [12] Credit expansion shows slight accelerationAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Credit expansion showed a slight acceleration in May to 18.6 percent from 17.9 percent in the previous month, the Bank of Greece said on Friday.Private sector borrowing totalled 92.497 billion euros, of which 58.049 billion euros was corporate, the central bank said in a monthly report. Almost half of consumer borrowing was in the form of credit cards, which rose by 31.7 percent in May to total 5.488 billion euros. Loans to industrial units rose by 15.1 percent from 13.8 percent in April, the report said. [13] Gov't mulls creating consumer ombudsmanAthens 26/7/03(ANA)The government is considering establishing a consumer ombudsman, Development Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said on Fri-day.The minister was addressing a meeting of the National Consumer Council. [14] EU Commission to take Greece to court over maritime directivesBRUSSELS 26/7/03 (ANA - A. Simatos)The European Commission announced on Friday its intention to take Greece and another nine European Union member-states to the European Court over the non-incorporation of EU directives concerning maritime shipping in their national legislation.The deadline for the 10 states to incorporate the directives in their legislation expired on July 22 and the issue became urgent as initially the directives were put in place after the maritime disaster of the ship ''Erika'' which led to the drafting of the directives in December 2001. [15] Minister sees deal on Thessaloniki metro funding within AugustAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Macedonia-Thrace Minister Haris Kastanidis on Friday said that the contractor in charge of building a metro for the northern port city of Thessaloniki was expected to conclude negotiations with the banks providing loans and the European Investment Bank within August.He said that the project had been stalled by a lengthy legal dispute between the various consortiums interested in the contract. Now that the battle in court was over, however, the contractor could proceed with negotiations to secure a funding scheme and begin work, he added. The minister said the city had to shake off a belief that no public works were carried out in Thessaloniki, noting that there were currently projects budgeted at 4.5 million euros underway in the port city, such as the Western Entrance due to be delivered in 2004 and various junctions on the city bypass. [16] Finance minister says ND violating open doors in stock exchange proposalAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Economy and Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis, addressing the members of the Parliamentary Institutions and Transparency Committee on Friday, said the main opposition New Democracy party is "violating open doors" with its legislative proposal on the lifting of stock exchange confidentiality for public functionaries (bank governors, public utilities, etc).The above persons are subject to the law on sources of income, just as Parliamentary deputies are, while in the framework of the probe of their declared data ''clauses on stock exchange, tax and banking confidentiality are not applied.'' He added, however, that this data is confidential and is only communicated in the event prosecution is launched against such persons. ND's Parliamentary representative Prokopis Pavlopoulos said that with his party's arrangement ''the obligation of communicating all data is established, regardless of a penal offense.'' [17] Stocks slump on profit takingAthens 26/7/03(ANA)The Athens bourse finished lower on Friday with profit takers in medium and small capitalization stocks dominating the market and gains in high cap paper curbing losses, traders said.The general share index shed 0.72 percent to end at 2,064.52 points. Turnover was 136.9 million euros. The FTSE/ASE-20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks ended 0.72 percent down; the FTSE/ASE-40 for medium capitalization paper 1.50 percent lower and the FTSE/ASE-80 for small cap equities finished with losses of 2.81 percent. Of stocks traded, declines led advances at 308 to 42 with 16 issues remaining unchanged. The general index lost 1.0 percent on the week. Bond Market Close: Sellers match buyers on Friday Greek Benchmark 10-Year Bond Derivatives Market Close: Turnover at 62.5 mln euros Friday Equity Index Futures: Stock Futures: FOREIGN EXCHANGE Closing rates of July 25 2003 Parities in euro Banknotes For. Exchange Buying Selling US Dollar 1,156 1,130 [18] Xiros asks court to disregard his pre-trial confessions as forcedAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Friday's session of the ongoing ''November 17'' trial before the Three-Member Criminal Appeals Court, where 19 people are facing charges as members of the terrorist organization, was entirely taken up with the discussion of a motion by the defendant Savvas Xiros objecting to the use of his confessions and statements during the preliminary inquiry.He said that these were a product of coercion and psychotropic drugs administered to him while in hospital. Though he was present at the start of the proceedings after several days absence by order of presiding judge Mihalis Margaritis, Xiros walked out halfway through Friday's session, incensed by the arguments put forward by civil suit lawyers that the court deny his request. Xiros, who was interrogated by police while he was in hospital recovering from severe injuries suffered in the premature bomb blast that led to his arrest, claims that he suffered from ''sensory isolation, obsessive thoughts and phobias'' during that time. He also accused special public prosecutor Ioannis Diotis of misleading him regarding the clemency measures in the new anti-terrorism law and of ''guiding'' his statements about specific people, such as Thomas Serifis and Vassilis Tzortzatos. According to the defendant, the first time he ever heard the name Alexandros Giotopoulos - the man currently on trial as the alleged leader of the terror band - was in Evangelismos Hospital from the Anti-terrorist Squad. At another point, he said that the organization had always kept a spare set of keys at the Damareos Street safehouse for emergencies and that these were not mentioned in the police report. This claim was intensely questioned by the bench as an attempt to cast doubt on the evidence against Giotopoulos, specifically the two keys to the Damareos safehouse found by police in Giotopoulos' home. Both prosecutors and lawyers representing civil suits in the case urged the judge not to accept Xiros' objection to the use of his pre-trial confessions and denied his claims that these were forced. They said Xiros had made the confessions while in hospital because he was afraid N17 might hurt him and also because he was in a critical condition and wanted to clear his conscience. He now wanted to retract those statements because he faced a moral dilemma, since his confessions had led to the capture of his comrades, they said. The trial ended with the arguments of the defense on the issue, while the court's decision on this will be announced when it resumes on Monday. [19] ABTA, Club 18-30 apologies for raunchy 'sex-show' reps in KavosAthens 26/7/03(ANA)The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) on Friday apologized for the lewd behavior of five Club 18-30 reps who outraged the local community in Kavos, Corfu last Wednesday by staging an oral sex show on a public beach.Hundreds of tourists looked on as two female reps gave oral sex to two male colleagues on a 18-30s stage and were later joined by a third rep and a man believed to be a holiday-maker. The incident was caught on video by a local businessman who handed the tape over to the police. In a letter to the head of the Greek National Tourism Organization Yiannis Patellis, ABTA chairman John Harding assured him that every effort would be made to avoid any repetition of such incidents in the future. Patellis had written to Harding immediately after the event to complain, noting that this sort of behavior was defamatory for Greece and asking that Club 18-30, the tour operator involved, take a stand. In a separate announcement, Club 18-30 apologized for the ''un-acceptable behavior of five of its staff, who with their irresponsible acts offended the local community'' and announced that those involved had already resigned from the company. The tour operator stressed that it would clamp down on similar incidents in the future in order to preserve the close ties with local authorities that it had cultivated over 25 years in Kavos. Club 18-30s trips are notorious for their rowdiness, promiscuity and heavy drinking, while the company brings about 10,000 Britons to Corfu every year. [20] OlymPeace International Festival begins in AthensAthens 26/7/03(ANA)The ''OlymPeace-Truce'' 2nd International Youth Festival began on Friday in Athens, which is under the auspices of the foreign ministry, the defense ministry and the culture ministry and is taking place in Greece once every two years.The festival began this year with the participation of 300 children between the ages of 11 and 12 years old from places such as Cyprus, Pristina, Belgrade, Ireland, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Natal and others. Officials of the Athens Municipality and the Church of Greece addressed the event. [21] President Stephanopoulos awards 'Pythia' prizesAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Eleven European high-school students who excelled in the ''Pythia 2003'' European School Student Competition received the 'Pythia' awards from President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos this week.The awards were handed out at a ceremony held at the Old Parliament building in Athens on Wednesday, which was also attended by Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos and addressed by Education Minister Petros Efthymiou. The 'Pythia' awards program is organized by the Delphi European Cultural Centre and is aimed at young people in the last year of school that are taught ancient Greek and the classics. A total of 800 students took part in the competition, in which they were asked to translate a short text from ancient Greek into their own language. Participants included children from Den-mark, Spain Austria, Belgium, Russia, Holland, Germany, Ire-land and France. [22] Police arrests four in alleged heroin ringAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Thessaloniki police on Friday said they had arrested four Albanian nationals, two men and two women, in what they said was a ''bust'' of an alleged heroin ring.Acting on a tip, police staked out the railroad station in Katerini, near Thessaloniki in northern Greece, where they saw the two women getting off a bus from Athens and meeting with the two men who had apparently followed the bus in a car. A travel bag containing 4,176 grams of what appeared to be heroin was confiscated along with four cell phones and 1,195 euro in cash, which police said came from drug sales. The authorities said that the four arrested intended to distribute the heroin to users in Thessaloniki and other northern Greece cities. A police investigation is underway to seek out more possible members of the drug ring. [23] Youths from 5 EU countries meet in SamothrakiAthens 26/7/03(ANA)Youths from England, Finland, Romania, Germany and Greece are meeting on Samothraki Island, northwestern Greece between July 19 and 29 as part of a program of the Center for the Solidarity to Children and the Family.The program focuses on exchanges of youths between the ages of 15 and 25 that do not have the financial means to travel on their own expense and aims at combating xenophobia and racism, while building an understanding for the common European culture and value system. The funding for the program stems from the "Youth" program of the Greek New Generation General Secretariat and is supported by the European Union. [24] UN Security Council reaffirms position on VaroshaUNITED NATIONS 26/7/03 (CNA/ANA)The UN Security Council has reiterated its position on Varosha, that any attempts to settle any part of the town by people other than its inhabitants is inadmissible and urged the parties on the island to resume talks on the basis of resolution 1475.The Council made this statement acting on demarches by Cypriot Charge D'Affaires George Kasoulides following threats by Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash that he will open Varosha for settlement by Turkish Cypriots if the Cypriot government did not agree with his proposal on the opening of the city. Security Council President, Ambassador Inocencio Arias of Spain, told CNA that he ''briefed the members of the Council on the concerns expressed by the Government of Cyprus about the latest developments, especially on the situation on Varosha''. ''The Council reiterated its well known position which remains unchanged on Varosha and which is Resolution 550. The Council urges the parties to resume the negotiations aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue on the basis of the Secretary General's plan as stated in Resolution 1475''. Kasoulides had urged council members to urgently address the matter and take all necessary measures to secure that no violation of the status quo takes place and to promote the implementation of resolution 550. UN Security Council resolution 1475 was adopted after the breakdown of the final round of UN-sponsored talks in The Hague last March due to Denktash's refusal to put the Annan plan to separate referenda in Cyprus. Security Council resolution 550 (11 May 1984) ''considers at-tempts to settle any part of Varosha (Famagusta) by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the United Nations.'' Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37 percent of the island's territory. [25] Government welcomes Denktash’s move on deminingNICOSIA 26/7/03 (CNA/ANA)The Cyprus government has welcomed Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash's move to clear the landmines around Nicosia, noting it has always considered the issue very significant.An official statement released Thursday night said that the go-vernment has repeatedly called on the Turkish side to accept the simultaneous demining of Turkish minefields and those of the National Guard in the buffer zone. The statement said "regarding Mr. Denktash's proposal to the UN Secretary-General to lift the mines from minefields of the Turkish occupation army, within and near Nicosia the government would like to say that it welcomes this move". Stressing that "the government considers the issue very important" it notes that for this reason it has "repeatedly called on the Turkish side to accept the simultaneous demining of Turkish minefields and those of the National Guard in the buffer zone". "Despite the Turkish side's refusal, the Cyprus government included in its package of measures to Turkish Cypriots, the one-sided lifting of the mines from all the National Guard minefields that are within the buffer zone, including those in the buffer zone in Nicosia", the statement said. "In implementing this measure the government intensified its contacts with the UN to make the necessary arrangements so that the demining work can begin without any delay", the statement noted. The government also appealed to the European Commission to "contribute in sponsoring this expensive project, even though it is determined to go ahead with the project", it added. "It reminds that the Turkish forces bear the responsibility of the Turkish minefields, a fact which is being noted by the UN Secretary-General in his reports on the situation in Cyprus", it said. "It also points out that Mr. Denktash's proposal concerns the lifting of mines not from all the Turkish minefields within the buffer zone but only those which are within or close to Nicosia", the statement concludes. Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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