Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-05-19
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 19/05/1998 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Pangalos reiterates Greek position on Turkey, Cyprus issue
- Albright tells Cem he's wrong to claim islands
- U.S. considers missile sale to Greece
- Family planning clinic plans anti-abortion campaign
- Greek, Italian ferries collide
- Croatian fisherman picked up by Greek ferry
- Fast catamarans on show at Posidonia
- Balkans on agenda of Swedish visit
- Weather
- Foreign Exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Pangalos reiterates Greek position on Turkey, Cyprus issue
Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said today that statements by US
President Bill Clinton linking the Cyprus issue, Greek-Turkish differences
in the Aegean and Turkey's European vocation contained certain contradictions.
Pangalos reiterated the Greek position that the Cyprus problem clearly
affects the climate of Greek-Turkish relations and that Turkey's aggressiveness
towards Greece affects the climate in Cyprus. He stressed however that
there could be no issue of a "package" solution. By their very nature,
Pangalos said, the Cyprus problem and Greek-Turkish disputes were
different.
Albright tells Cem he's wrong to claim islands
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has told Turkey that it is
mistaken over making an issue of the sovereignty of four inhabited small
islands in the Aegean and that the U.S. had documents proving the islands
were Greek, National Defence Undersecretary Dimitris Apostolakis revealed
today. Apostolakis, speaking after a meeting with U.S. ambassador Nicholas
Burns, told reporters that Albright had spoken by phone to Turkish Foreign
Minister Ismail Cem on Sunday. Ankara recently disputed Greek sovereignty
of four inhabited islands in the eastern Aegean - Fouroi, Agathonisi,
Farmakonisi and Pserimos.
U.S. considers missile sale to Greece
The US Pentagon announced yesterday evening the possible sale to Greece of
160 Hellfire II (AGM-114KBF) anti-tank missiles and 88 Hellfire II (AGM-
114K1) missiles, together with their support systems, for 24 million
dollars, an ANA dispatch from Washington said. The Pentagon also announced
the possible sale to Turkey of 30 sea-to-sea Harpoon missiles and necessary
spare parts for 43 million dollars.
Family planning clinic plans anti-abortion campaign
Greek hospitals perform 150,000 abortions a year and the Greek family
planning council said today it was launching a campaign to reduce that
number by a third by the end of the century and bolster Greece's falling
birthrate. In 1996, the mortality rate outpaced the birthrate with 100,740
deaths to 100,718 births, the head of the family planning council A.
Sotiraidou said. Greece's falling birthrate will be the major issue on the
agenda of this month's first national family planning conference in Athens
May 21-23.
Greek, Italian ferries collide
Patras Harbour Authority officials are investigating the circumstances of a
collision between two passenger ships in the Peloponnese port earlier
today. The Italian-flagged "Laurana" collided with the Greek ferry
"Eleftherios Venizelos" as it attempted to dock. None of the 201 passengers
on board the vessels were injured in the incident, although both ships
suffered minor damage.
Croatian fishermen picked up by Greek ferry
Four Croatian fishermen were rescued by the Greek ferry "Erotokritos",
belonging to Minoan Lines, earlier today after the Croatians' boat began
taking on water as it was sailing 40 miles off the Italian port of Ancona.
The Merchant Marine Ministry said the four fishermen would be taken to the
Croatian island of Korknla on Thursday.
Fast catamarans on show at Posidonia
The latest designs of fast catamaran ferries from British designer/builder
FBM Marine Group will be on display at the Posidonia international shipping
exhibition to take place June 1-5 in Piraeus. The 10th "Tricat" in the
world, flagship of the range, is to enter service in Greece on June 3, in
the middle of Posidonia week. The 45-metre, 50-knot Tricat is a futuristic-
looking, fast, luxury vessel able to carry up to 400 passengers. There are
currently eight such catamarans operating in the Far East and one in the
US.
Balkans on agenda of Swedish visit
The situation in the Balkans, Turkish intransigence and the act that
neighbouring countries are neither members of NATO nor the EU make it
necessary for Athens to study the formation of "collective security
institutions" on Europe's perimetre, Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos
said in Stockholm yesterday. Mr. Tsohatzopoulos arrived in Sweden late on
Sunday night for a two-day official visit and talks with his Swedish
counterpart Bjorn von Sydow and Foreign Minister Lena Hjelm-Wallen.
WEATHER
Unstable weather continues throughout Greece today with local showers and
possible storms. Winds variable, moderate to strong. Possibility of showers
in Athens with temperatures between 15-23C. Rain in Thessaloniki with
temperartures from 14-19C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Monday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 306.826
British pound 498.163 Japanese yen(100) 226.097
French franc 51.173 German mark 171.646
Italian lira (100) 17.404 Irish Punt 432.373
Belgian franc 8.317 Finnish mark 56.477
Dutch guilder 152.287 Danish kr. 45.055
Austrian sch. 24.387 Spanish peseta 2.020
Swedish kr. 39.442 Norwegian kr. 40.839
Swiss franc 205.647 Port. Escudo 1.674
Aus. dollar 190.801 Can. dollar 210.840
Cyprus pound 582.324
(M.P.)
|
