Antenna: News in English (AM), 97-06-06

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From: Antenna Radio <http://www.antenna.gr> - email: antenna@compulink.gr

News in English, 06/06/97

TITLES

• The prime minister meeting with Euroepan socialists in Sweden.
• An Athens stadium lights up for the environment.
• And, coming your way: eggs without the cholesterol.

SIMITIS

As the leaders of the EU's socialist parties meet in Sweden, Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis says the socialist wave should soon be reflected in EU policy.

With the EU in the midst of negotiations that will shape the future of the organisation on everything from economic, to social, to foreign policy, Simitis said the feeling among EU socialists is that their views should make an impact.

The EU must have socialist values and prospects, he added.

Simitis said unemployment, equality, and development are issues which must be confronted in unity by the socialists.

The Greek leader also called for the EU to formulate a unitary policy on the Balkans.

After 20 years of Turkish military occupation of northern Cyprus, state department spokesman Nicholas Burns says the US hopes Richard Holbrooke will be able to help find a solution to the problem of a divided Cyprus.

"The president and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright have repeatedly stressed ...led by secretary general Koffi Anan".

Burns adds that direct talks between Cypriot president Glafcos Cliridis and Turkish-Cypriot leader Raouf Denktash are set to begin in July in New York.

According to the New York Times, Holbrooke isn't planning a trip to Cyprus until after those talks start.

The American diplomat says that the after the the war in Bosnia, the end to which he was instrumental in negotiating, the Cyprus issue remains Europe's great unsolved problem.

The Holbrooke appointment is being welcomed by both sides in Cyprus. Cypriot government spokesman Manolis Christofides said he's looking forward to a solution to the island's problem. And he reminded the world once again that Turkey has been insulting the international community for 22 years, by keeping northern Cyprus under its military thumb.

Turkish-Cypriot leader Raouf Denktash also called the appointment positive.

Holbrooke is also reported as saying that it's important for the US, Europe, and the UN, that the tensions between Nato members Greece and Turkey are lessened. Sources say that in addition to dealing with Cyprus, he will make a series of proposals designed to lessen tensions between Greece and Turkey.

HOLBROOKE

Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, and remains in occupation of the northern part of the island today. It has never shown any intention of budging, and has ignored UN calls to get out.

But as we hear in this report, the United States is assigning one of its most seasoned diplomats to work out what has been an intractable problem.

GREECE ON HOLBROOKE

As we hear in this report, Greece views the Holbrooke appointment in a positive light.

Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas welcomed the Holbrooke appointment, calling him an able negotiator with a proven track record.

Holbrooke believes Cyprus and Greek-Turkish tensions are inseparable, but Reppas repeated Greece's view, that Cyprus does NOT have anything to do with Greek-Turkish issues.

Greek foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos commented on the Turkish president's recent offer to sign a no-attack agreement with Greece.

Pangalos said that would be fine, IF Turkey stopped threatening Greece with war if Greece exercises its international right to extend its maritime borders in the Aegean. Greece has not yet expressed any desire to extend its borders.

But Turkey repeatedly threatens war over the issue, claiming that if Greece went from 6 to 12miles, then Turkish ships would need Greek approval to sail that sea.

Not true, responds Pangalos. According to the international convention, only Turkish military vessels would need an OK to enter Greek waters. Other ships could come and go as they pleased.

Even without Greece extending its maritime borders, Turkish aircraft and naval vessels frequently violate Greek sea and air space. On Thursday, it made 27 incursions.

KARAMANLIS

Those criteria include low inflation and budget deficits.

Kostas Karamanlis addressed a conference of members of the EU's parliamentary Popular Party in Brussels.

The Greek opposition leader also met with Hill Robles Hill Delgado, president of the European parliament.

Hill Robles expressed his satisfaction over the fact that Karamanlis is so strongly committed to European unification. He was also pleased that Karamanlis shared his concerns and ideas concerning the EU's future and the situation in Greece.

In Brussels, the New Democracy leader reiterated Greece's long-standing view that the EU should treat the borders of its member states as its OWN borders. He wants political solidarity over the defense of every member state's borders to be put in writing.

Karamanlis also told his colleagues that unemployment is a serious threat to social cohesion in Europe.

The economic choices of the past, he said, promised economic development, but didn't achieve it.

ACROPOLIS

Kar rebukes Tony Blair for his decision NOT to return the Elgin, or Parthenon, Marbles to Greece.

In opposition, the British Labour party favoured the return of the classical treasures, which have been sitting in the British Museum for nearly two centuries.

When Labour won the British elections several weeks ago, Greece was optimistic that at last, the Marbles would be sent home.

But just days later, a Blair cabinet members said it would be impractical to return the Marbles, because it would set off an avalanche of demands that the British Museum return other treasures to other countries.

In his letter, Bob Kar appeals to Blair to reconsider the decision, and to stick to the earlier Labour Party position that the Marbles should be given back.

Kar says the year 2000 would be the ideal time for Britain to make what he calls a "big-hearted and civilised gesture".

KALLIMARMARO

Athens is bidding for the 2004 Olympics, and its Olympic Committee is also committed to protecting the environment.

At the behest of the Athens 2004 Committee, the government laid on what was literally a bright welcome for World Environmental day.

Athens Kallimarmaro stadium - site of the first modern Olympics - was lit up Wednesday night.

Environment minister Kostas Laliotis said the event is part of the government's six-million-dollar efforts to embellish old buildings and open spaces in the capital.

The cost of illuminating the stadium alone was put at 450 thousand dollars.

The nearby Zapion Gardens and Karaskaiki Square have also been lit up, and decked out with permanent exhibitions of the work of Greek sculptures.

BIRDS

Fourteen feathered friends were taken just outside Thessaloniki from Athens and freed.

The release was part of the events Thessaloniki is hosting during its stint as European cultural capital.

City councillor Dimitris Salpistis puts a premium on wildlife. Preservation of wildlife, he says, means protecting our own lives.

Veterinarian Natassa KomninOU has a message of her own: "We should respect nature, and whenever we see an injured animal, we should contact a shelter".

The Thessaloniki Wildlife Protection Center plans to set free one hundred rare birds in five locations in northern Greece.

HYDRA

After sixty years, a group of graduates from 1930 to 1935 had returned to their alma mater, reminiscing over old times and fraternizing with students.

The Merchant Marine Captain's School in Hydra is the oldest of its kind in the world. Founded in 1749, thousands of accomplished captains have passed through their gates.

The walls of the school are filled with rare archives and albums. Alumni recently spent the day leafing through the past, remembering fellow students. One of the students, Xenofon Kyriakou, father of Antenna president Minos Kyriakou, was remembered as "a fine captain and a loyal friend".

The day was filled with much emotion as past graduates sat in the same classrooms they had sixty years before.

Georgios PodiAdis fondly recalled,"Our school, the uniform, the discipline, they were all necessary for a seaman".

Another alumn, Alexios Louloudis spoke in a lighter tone: "I'm proud to be back here. I'm telling the young students to go to sea and not stay at home. Warning them not to rush into marriage, because their wives will take them away from their jobs!"

The wife of one captain jokingly recalled that if she would have known how much of a "bad boy" her husband was before she had married him, she would never have taken the plunge.

One student chipped in, "We enjoy conversing with the old captains, listening to their advice and hearing about the past.

Captain Panagiotis Galanis, the school director, said, "We're very moved that the captains came today. Their visit means a lot to us as well as to them".

In a fraternal gesture, the captains of tomorrow joined their seasoned elders taking in taking an oath to follow their own paths through the seas, vowing to honour the Greek flag wherever they may be.

EGGS

Scientists at the Veterinary School in Thessaloniki, working with researchers at the American School of Agriculture have come up with the lite egg, yoke and all.

They did it by feeding hens foods rich in fatty acids, things like lard and linseed oil and flour.

Dr Athanassios Yiannakopoulos has the good news people with heart cholesterol problems will be wanting to hear: "They can now eat eggs without worrying".

And the even better news is that the newfangled egg looks and tastes just like the ordinary egg. When the goverenment approves them for sale, as it's expected to do soon, they'll be only slightly more expensive than the cholesterol-rich variety.

DELIKOSTOPOULOS/BOOK

"The Birth of Law and Ancient Greek Poetry" is the title of the tome just launched with words from the justice minister.

"Poets made the law" is the subtitle of the book unveiled at the Athens Symphony Hall.

They author locates the beginnings of law in the works of ancient poets - Homer, Euripides, Aristophanes, Aeschylos, and Isiodos.

Justice minister Evangelos YiannOpoulos says the writer has succeeded in giving his readers a profound study which draws together two apparently unrelated fields of endeavor, poetry and law.

BITHIKOTSIS

Fifty years have passed since BithikOtsis embarked on his singing career.

Culture minister Evangelos Venizelos awarded BithikOtsis with a plaque. The 74-year-old singer told reporters he was greatly honoured by the gesture.

Concerts are scheduled for Thessaloniki, Tripoli and Karditsa through the end of June.

© ANT1 Radio 1997

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