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The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 01-05-24
From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <www.ert.gr/>
CONTENTS
[01] The Greek President visits officially Croatia
[02] Greek foreign minister's talks in the US focus on the Balkans
[03] The GCGW face to the social security issue
[04] Turkish aircraft violate Greek airspace
[05] Resolutions on Turkey's Human Rights violations
[06] GDP growth rate will go up in 2001
[07] Athens bourse
NEWS IN ENGLISH ERA 5. THE VOICE OF GREECE
24/5/2001 2:24:00 μμ
[01] The Greek President visits officially Croatia
The President of the Republic Konstantinos Stefanopoulos is presently
on an official three-day visit to Croatia, at the invitation of his
Croatian counterpart Stipe Mesic. During his stay in Zagreb, President
Stephanopoulos will hold separate meetings with Mr. Mesic and Croatian
Prime Minister Ivica Racan and will discuss the entire range of
bilateral relations, with emphasis on the economic sector, as well as
on the situation in the region of the Balkans. The Greek President is
escorted by the undersecretary of National Economy Yannis Zafiropoulos,
responsible for international economic affairs, and a delegation of
Greek businessmen who are to are to hold meetings with Croatian
entrepreneurs and state officials. Other contacts will include
representatives of the political parties of the country, while the
President will also visit the university of Zagreb and the Croatian
parliament. Prior to his return to Athens on Friday, Mr.
Stephanopoulos will be given a tour of the city of Dubrovnik.
[02] Greek foreign minister's talks in the US focus on the Balkans
Emphasis was clearly given on the Balkan region during talks in
Washington between Greece's visiting Foreign Minister George
Papandreou, his US counterpart Colin Powell, Vice President Dick Cheney
and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. According to Mr.
Papandreou, democratic institutions should be developed and Balkan
countries should be given economic backing in order to enable the U.S.'
gradual withdrawal, with Greece willing to carry out a leading role in
such a development. Moreover, Mr. Papandreou requested Washington's
support in averting the further dismembering of Balkan states, while
the need to avoid any change in the region's borders was also
discussed. The talks ascertained the coincidence of views shared by
Greece and the US on a variety of issues concerning the Balkan region.
During a press briefing later, State Department spokesperson Richard
Boucher confirmed that Mr. Papandreou and Mr. Powell discussed the
situation in FYROM at length. Following his White House meeting with
the US Vice President, Mr. Papandreou stated that he and Mr. Cheney
discussed all individual issues in Yugoslavia, Kosovo, the action of
extremist groups in FYROM, as well as Cyprus' accession to Europe with
or without a prior solution to the political problem. "We all hope for
a solution before accession, but this does not constitute a
precondition for the accession of Cyprus to the EU. Steadfast
insistence on decisions taken at Helsinki is the main conception
governing the policy of all of us," the Greek foreign minister said.
Moreover, he stated that "we have requested the contribution of the
U.S. to the effort to have Turkey adopt European principles which will
contribute substantively to the country's stability and which have
particular importance for the Turkish society?s progress".
[03] The GCGW face to the social security issue
The General Confederation of Greek Workers (GCGW) has assessed that
conditions for the opening of a dialogue on the social security issue
are not ripe yet. Nevertheless, labour minister Tasos Yannitsis will
have a first meeting with trade unionists, as the the president of the
Confederation Christos Polyzogopoulos announced, following a relative
decision "by majority" of the GCGW executive committee. In this first
meeting, the Confederation will only bring up the workers' claims, Mr
Polyzogopoulos said. One trillion drachmas to cover fiscal needs Prime
minister Kostas Simitis met on Wednesday with national economy minister
Yannos Papantoniou and national defense minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos
in view of today's meeting of the Government foreign and defense
council. According to reports, it was agreed upon at the meeting to
raise one trillion drachmas to cover all the fiscal needs by putting
off certain armaments programs to the budgets of the years 2005, 2006
and 2007.
[04] Turkish aircraft violate Greek airspace
Greek jetfighters intercepted formations of turkish aircraft that were
violating the Greek air space over southeast Aegean last night.
[05] Resolutions on Turkey's Human Rights violations
The members of the Greek Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and
Defense call on the Council of Europe to demand from Turkey to
implement immediately the European Court for Human Rights decision that
found Ankara guilty of human rights violations in Cyprus, through a
unanimous resolution. It is also mentioned in the resolution that
Turkey should be informed on the sanctions that will suffer in case it
does not meet its obligations. Former government minister Theodoros
Pangalos speaking before the committee stated that in case Ankara does
not comply then based on international treaties it will cease to be a
Council of Europe member and a candidate for accession. In addition,
182 deputies from every political party represented in the Greek
parliament addressed a letter to Euro-parliament and the European state
parliaments calling for their immediate and decisive intervention in
the Turkish government to put an end to the inhumane behavior targeting
the political prisoners, who are on a hunger strike and their
relatives.
[06] GDP growth rate will go up in 2001
Breaking a 25-year record, Greece's GDP growth is to jump to 4.5 per
cent in 2001, while inflation is to stand at 2.7 per cent by the end of
the year, according to a report published by the ministry of national
economy. Entitled "Truths and Lies About the Greek Economy", the report
essentially presents the key points recently outlined in Parliament by
Minister of National Economy and Finance Yannos Papantoniou. According
to the report, the government's budget remains on target, thanks to a
10.7 per cent increase in revenue during the first four months of the
year, compared to the same period of 2000, thus surpassing the eight
percent increase forecast by the budget. The report also notes that
spending for the same four-month period was increased by 3.9 per cent,
while it stresses that the current budget contains no "black holes", as
claimed by the main opposition party of New Democracy.
[07] Athens bourse
On the Athens stock exchange on Thursday, the general share price index
rose to +0.58% at 3.165,52 points, while the volume of transactions was
relatively increased at 175.71 million Euro or 59.87 billion drachmas.
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