MPA NEWS IN ENGLISH (26/04/1996)

From: Macedonian Press Agency <mpa@philippos.mpa.gr>

Macedonian Press Agency News in English Directory

MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS BULLETIN IN ENGLISH

Thessaloniki Friday April 26, 1996

TITLES

NEWS IN DETAIL

[01] TURKEY WILL HAVE TO MAKE THE FIRST STEP, STATED THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER

Turkey will have to make the first step and abandon its claims over Imia, reiterated greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos speaking about tomorrow's meeting with his turkish counterpart Emre Gionensai in Bucharest.

He stressed that it would have been enough if Turkey had stated that it will appeal to the International Court of Justice in The Hague but at the same time he made it clear that if Turkey does not abandon its intransigence any discussion between the party that makes the threats and the one that is being threatened will be unthinkable.

If the turkish side abandons its territorial claims, stated mr.Pangalos, then, as the greek side has stated, the March 6th, 1995 agreement on Turkey's customs union with the EU will be implemented and thus things will return to their previous state.

He reiterated that Greece does not want to negotiate the problems as a whole, clarifying that only two are the issues of common interest that can be resolved to the benefit of both countries. First, is the issue of the continental shelf for which an agreement to refer the dispute to arbitrators should be drawn up by both sides and second, the normalization of bilateral relations especially on issues concerning the borders.

The greek Foreign Minister also pointed out that for as long as the Cyprus problem remains unresolved there can be no mutual trust between the two countries. In the existing situation, as he said, a smooth co-existence and the averting of war are possible.

To the question on whether he has any positive indications concerning tomorrow's meeting with his turkish counterpart after yesterday's talks with US Assistant Secretary of State mr.Kornblum, the greek Foreign Minister responded negatively.

Finally, when he was asked regarding his expected meeting with his skopjan counterpart and if a specific date has been set, mr.Pangalos responded that this has not happened yet due to the heavy schedule.

Meanwhile, a day before the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Turkey in Bucharest, Ankara announced that it wants unconditional dialogue with Athens on all the aspects of the greek-turkish dispute in the Aegean.

In statements he made to the French News Agency, turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Nuretin Nurkan stated that Turkey hopes this meeting will allow the start of a dialogue on all the aspects of the greek-turkish dispute in the Aegean.

According to mr.Nurkan, the air-space over the Aegean, the continental shelf, the territorial waters and the demilitarization of the greek islands along the turkish coasts constitute the main differences between the two countries regarding the Aegean.

The turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman stated that all those problems are linked to each other and must be discussed in a constructive way within the framework of an unconditional dialogue for the maintenance of the status quo and the defusing of the tension between the two countries regarding the Aegean

[02] STATEMENTS BY THE GREEK ALTERNATE FOREIGN MINISTER ON THE DISCUSSION IN THE US CONGRESS REGARDING THE MUSLIMS IN THRACE

The greek government is not participating but it is represented by academic experts as it had no other choice after the decision for a discussion in a US Congress Committee on the human rights of the muslim minority in Thrace. The above were stated by alternate Foreign Minister Giorgos Romeos responding to a question posed in the greek Parliament by Political Spring deputy Andreas Lentakis.

Mr.Romeos stated that this is an informal Committee that deals with human rights which is made up of about 15 US House Representatives and Senators.

Meanwhile, responding to another question posed in Parliament by a Greek Communist Party deputy, mr.Romeos stated that the issue of the war reparations from Germany is being examined by the greek and the german Foreign Ministries after an agreement between Prime Minister Simitis and Chancellor Kohl during their latest meeting.

Mr.Romeos stated that if the contacts with the german government do not bring results then the greek government will use all the legal means.

[03] THE US ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE MET WITH THE CYPRIOT PRESIDENT

US Assistant Secretary of State, John Kornblum met today with cypriot President Glafkos Kliridis to whom he conveyed his impressions from the recent contacts he had in Ankara and Athens. Mr.Kornblum said after the meeting, that they had a very detailed and positive exchange of views while they also reviewed different issues concerning the political situation and the state of the negotiations.

Cypriot government spokesman Yiannakis Kasoulidis, who was also present in the meeting, said that there was an exchange of views, as it appears that mr.Kornblum will be involved in the US initiative for the solution of the Cyprus problem.

Mr.Kasoulidis avoided to mention the issues that were discussed but he added that the US Assistant Secretary of State made certain questions to which the Cypriot President responded.

[04] GREECE WANTS THE KOZLODUI NUCLEAR PLANT CLOSED

Greece has presented its position to the European Union according to which the Kozlodui nuclear plant must be closed, stated greek Undersecretary of Environment, Town Planning and Public Works, ms.Elisavet Papazoi, but she also stressed that everybody should know that Kozlodui covers 40% of Bulgaria's energy needs.

Ms.Papazoi agreed that the Kozlodui nuclear plant should close after the country receives international economic assistance, and she concluded that the dangers from the use of nuclear energy are considerable, adding that Greece is heading the region's "anti-nuclear lobby".

[05] STRONG EARTHQUAKE MEASURING 5,8 ON THE RICHTER SCALE SHOOK THE ISLAND OF RHODES IN SOUTH-EASTERN AEGEAN

Strong earthquake measuring 5,8 on the Richter scale shook the sea region south of the south-eastern Aegean island of Rhodes at 10:01'am this morning.

The earthquake was also felt in the southern Aegean island of Crete and in many other islands in the Dodecanesse. Until now there was no information on the extent of the damages.

[06] THE TECHNICAL DIRECTORS OF THE BALKAN NEWS AGENCIES WILL MEET IN THESSALONIKI

The Technical Directors of the Balkan national news agencies will meet in Thessaloniki on April 29 and 30 in order to discuss two very important programmes which will be materialized by Macedonian Press Agency, MPA, after an agreement with the other Balkan news agencies. Specifically, will be discussed the establishment of a Balkan News Bank which has already started to materialize by MPA and is financed by the INTERREG-II community programme. Also, will be discussed the Diavlos programme that has already been submitted to the EU for approval which provides for the link up, via satellite, of all the Balkan news agencies with MPA's Balkan News Bank in Thessaloniki.

The meeting will be officially opened on Monday by Minister of Transportations and Communications mr.Kastanidis and will be attended by Euro-Deputy mr.Papakyriazis who will convey the EU's support to the important initiatives undertaken by Macedonian Press Agency.

In the meeting will participate the Technical Directors of the following Balkan national news agencies: ATA from Albania, BTA and BIP from Bulgaria, TANJUG from Yugoslavia, ANA and MPA from Greece, MPB from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, ROMPRES from Romania and ANADOLU from Turkey. The news agencies of Slovenia and Bosnia will participate in the meeting as observers. Also, present in the meeting will be the General Directors of the bulgarian BIP and FYROM's MPB news agencies.

[07] A EUROPEAN POPULAR PARTY DELEGATION WILL MEET WITH THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH IN CONSTANTINOPLE

A European Popular Party delegation will arrive in Constantinople today and will meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos.

The party's delegation visits the Ecumenical Patriarch for the first time and is expected to have a discussion on a wide range of issues, such as, the role of the Orthodox Church in Europe, environmental issues and other issues of general interest.

This will be the first meeting of a European Parliament political group with the Ecumenical Patriarch. The European Popular Party delegation will be made up of its president mr.Martens, and 6 greek Euro-Deputies from the main greek opposition party of New Democracy.

[08] GREEK BIOLOGY PROFESSOR MR.KAFATOS WAS HONOURED FOR HIS WORK BY THE CZECH REPUBLIC'S ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

The Czech Academy of Sciences in the Prague awarded the highest medal of honour to greek biology professor Fotis Kafatos for his scientific work.

Mr.Kafatos is a professor in Athens University since 1972, while he has also taught and in Harvard University. He is a member of the University of Crete Administration Committee and founder of the university's Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Institute.

Since 1993 he is the director of the Molecular Biology European Laboratory based in Heidelberg.

[09] CYPRIOT SOCIALIST PARTY LEADER RETURNS FROM US SATISFIED

The president of Cyprus' Socialist Party Vassos Lyssarides has returned from his visit to the United States and has characterized his contacts with US officials as satisfactory. According to an announcement issued by the Cypriot socialist Party (EDEK), Mr.Lyssarides briefed White House officials on the cypriot issue and held talks with US Congress and State Department representatives where it was made clear that any intitiative proposed must be accepted by the cypriot people. In other words, to insure the unity of land and state, to secure the one and only sovereignty and international entity and to guarantee the basic freedoms of establishment, property and free communication.

[10] BALKAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY INSIST ON FREE MOVEMENT

In order to give life to trade and economic cooperation in the region, a joint address to the Balkan governments containing concrete proposals has been signed by the leaders of each delegation participating in the Fourth General Meeting in Sofia of the Association of the Balkan Chambers (ABC). The participants from Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Turkey, FYROM, Romania, RF Yugoslavia and Cyprus concluded that the existing customs and visa barriers, high transport fares and the inadequate infrastructure in the border regions were the main obstacles to the promotion of the economic and trade cooperation in the Balkans. They also agreed to increase information exchange on a bilateral basis and lobby in their countries to set up correspondent lines and later credit lines among the commercial banks. The international Bank for Investments and Development expressed its readiness to join the initiative.

The ABC proposals will be included in the agenda of the Balkan foreign ministers meeting due to take place in Sofia in late May, Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister Konstantin Glavanakov said.

[11] OTHER BALKAN COUNTRIES TO BE INCLUDED IN INTERREG BULGARIAN-GREEK PROJECT

"Other Balkan countries may join the Interreg Bulgarian-Greek project on transborder cooperation, under the PHARE program, given its so far succesful implementation," EU representative Vincent Piket said. He made this proposition during a round-table talks on the prospects to liberalize trade in the Balkans held in Sofia under the auspices of the fourth meeting of the Asoociation of the Balkan Chambers.

Very specific proposals, such as relaxing the Shengen restrictions and introducing eased visa regulations for businessmen, have been made by the President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The establishment of an European-Balkan association of the chambers of commerce and industry, aiming at the integration of the Balkan countries into the European structures and to make the goods produced in the region more competitive were the proposals made by the Director General of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce at ABC round-table talks in Sofia. "Above all this come the interests for expansion of cooperation with all countries with whom we have established active relations," Bulgarian Minister of Trade and Foreign Economic Cooperation Atanas Paparizov stated in an interview with the newspaper "Zemya" on the fourth general meeting of ABC.

"After meenings with the business sides, we shall propose to organize sector meetings where we shall be able to work for cooperation and joint production," Paparizov said.

[12] BULGARIAN EQUIPMENT PUT INTO ORBIT

Bulgarian equipment has been launched into orbit with the Priroda module for the Mir orbiting station, local media reported, quoting the Bulgarian Airspace Agency.

The Priroda module, made by the Russian Space Agency and NASA, docked with the Air orbiting station yesterday. It contains an on-board apparatus for medical and biological tests acd a radiometry system for distance Earth studies.

[13] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT MET TRANSDNESTER LEADER

A new round of negotiation between the president of the Republic of Moldavia Mircea Snegur and the leader of the self-proclaimed authorities in Transdnestrian region Igor Smirnov took place on April 24 in Chisinau, local and international media reported.

The meeting was also attended by Moldovan Premier Andrei Sangheli Parliament Chairman Petru Lucinschi, the Chairman of the Transdnester Supreme Soviet Grigorii Maracutsa, as well as by the OSCE, Russian and Ukrainian mediators in the Transdnester conflict.

The future special status of the Transdnester region was the main point of the agenda. The participants decided that experts groups draw, by May 8, a draft document on normalizing relations between the two sides in conflict, and on guarantees offered by mediating countries to observe the agreements. There has been no agrement on issues such as closer cooperation in the banking and financial sector. Russia made the proposal that the two sides should sign a constitutional act. Answering a related question, the presidential adviser Victor Josu told that the "Russian initiative is an attempt to legalize the self-proclaimed republic whithin the borders of the Republic of Moldavia, while we only agree the solution of the difference in using the example of autonomy of the Gagauz-Eri region," Rador reported.

The next round of talks has been scheduled for May 11 in Tiraspol.

[14] RUSSIA DOES NOT MAKE EFFORTS TO WITHDRAW ITS TROOPS FROM MOLDAVIA

Discontent for Russia's lack of willingness to withdraw its troops from the republic of Moldavia, contrary to its commitments, expressed in Strasburg Secretary General of the Council of Europe Daniel Tarschys, Rador reported.

"I am worried about the continued imprisonment of the Ilascu group, but I promise the Council of Europe will continue the consultations with Russia's representatives, on whom the freeing of the prisoners in Tiraspol depends, aiming to secure their release," Mr. Tarschys said.

[15] ITALY- THE MOST IMPORTANT FOREIGN INVESTOR IN ROMANIA

"New investment in the agricultural machinery and the creation of the New Holland-Romania S.A. joint venture, worth $50 million, has made Italy the most important investor in Romania, with a total of $198 million," Romanian Premier Nicolae Vacaroiu said.

He made this remark during a meeting he had with a delegation of Italian businessmen among whom was and the Chairman of New Holland Company Ricardo Ruggeri and the Vice-Chairman of Fiat Group Sergi de Pallen.

[16] ROMANIA AND RUSSIA MAY SIGN THE BASIC TREATY

The possibility that the basic treaty between Romania and Russia will be signed by the end of this week in Bucharest, during the meeting of the foreign ministers from countries of the Black Sea Cooperation Conference, has not been ruled by the Romanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Sorin Ducaru at the weekly press conference.

The Deputy Chief in the Information Department of the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry Mihai Demurin announced on April 9 that a compromise had been reached in the Russian-Romanian basic treaty, and that both sides would be searching for technical solutions to put into practice. Tomorrow, the Russian Foreign Minister Evgheni Primakov is expected in Bucharest for more talks on the subject.

On the other hand, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Serghei Krilov, in an interview with Ria-Novosti news agency's correspondent in Bucharest on April 11, ruled out that the bilateral basic treaty could be signed before the presidential election in Russia, scheduled to take place on June 16. He explained that President Yeltsin's visit to Romania was likely to take place by the end of the year. The main obstacle in the preparation of the treaty was Romania's wish to include into the text a mention on Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and its consequences. While Romania did not made public the solution that was reached, the Russian newspaper "Izvestia", quoting Mr. Demurin, announced on April 10 that "Romania accepted to drop any mention of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact from the basic treaty."

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