Macedonian Press Agency: News In English, 96-11-11

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

Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory

MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Thessaloniki, November 11, 1996

NEWS IN ENGLISH

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

TITLES

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

NEWS IN DETAIL

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[01] GOVERNMENT TO SOON DRAW FINAL DECISIONS ON BUDGET

The Government is expected to draw its final decisions on the upcoming year's budget and the state's economic policy, in order to submit the draft plan to the ruling PASOK party's officials by the end of the week.

The Governmental Committee will convene tomorrow, while on Thursday the Ministerial Council will convene with the Prime Minister and PASOK President Kostas Simitis.

On Friday and Saturday, the Parliamentary Group and the PASOK Central Committee will confer jointly.

[02] INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE ON SUNK WARSHIP, SEARCH FOR DETACHED MISSILE

The search continues in the sea region of the Samos island in the Aegean, in order to discover the "Penguin" type missile that got detached from the warship "Kostakos".

The Greek Navy warship sank in the area one week ago when a ferry boat rammed into it.

[03] GREEK PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION ON VISIT TO MELBOURNE

A five-member cross-parliamentary delegation from Greece is visiting Australia, for the "Demetria '96" festivities held in Melbourne.

The delegation is headed by PASOK deputy Ioannis Tsaklides who, in his address to the Panmacedonian Union of Melbourne and Victoria, stated that when it comes to national issues, "all Greeks, the government, the parties and the people in and outside of Greece are united like a fist."

Mr. Tsaklides also referred to the name issue between Greece and FYROM and, after he commended the interim agreement, stated that, on this matter, "Greece will remain unyielding to the end."

Australia's Immigration Minister Mr. Cadman thanked the Greek community which, he said, "even though it is subject to so many challenges, it reacts in a very civilized manner and sets a good example."

During their stay in Melbourne, the Greek parliamentarians will meet with members of the Greek-Australian community and Australian officials. Participating are New Democracy deputy Helias Vezdrevanis, Communist Party of Greece's deputy Stavros Panayiotou, Coalition of the Left and Progress deputy Stella Alfieri and Democratic and Social Movement George Rokos.

[04] CENTRAL MACEDONIA TECHNICAL CHAMBER ON MISSION TO ROMANIA

In an effort to develop cooperation between Greek and Romanian engineering and technical companies, the Greek Technical Chamber's Department of Central Macedonia will embark on a visit to Bucharest on November 19.

The Greek delegation's six-day visit is within the framework of the cooperation agreement signed between the Greek Technical Chamber and Romania's General Association of Engineers.

[05] FRIENDSHIP AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT WAS SIGNED BY THE GREEK PRIME MINISTER AND THE VISITING UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT

A friendship and cooperation agreement was signed by greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis and Ukrainian President Leonid Kutzma.

In statements he made afterwards, the Ukrainian President pointed out that Greece offered its full support to his country's positions on issues concerning regional problems, the relations between Russia and the Ukraine, the European Union and NATO's enlargement.

He also stressed that during his meetings with greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos and Prime Minister Simitis a special emphasis was given on issues concerning the development of economic cooperation, which he characterized as necessary.

From his side, mr.Simitis described the character of the greek foreign policy as multi-dimensional, while he mentioned that Greece develops many-faceted relations with the Eastern European countries.

Also, the greek Prime Minister gave assurances that Greece will offer its support to the efforts made by the Ukraine to find its place in the new world that is being formed. He also reminded the friendship ties existing between the two peoples and referred to the strong and long standing presence of hellenism in the region of the Caucasus.

Finally, mr.Simitis underlined that were discussed issues concerning the greek-turkish relations and the Cyprus problem, adding that it was agreed that disputes between states must be resolved based on the principles of International Law.

[06] OPINION POLL ON THE SITUATION IN THE MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY OF NEW DEMOCRACY WAS PUBLISHED IN AN ATHENS NEWSPAPER

The Athens newspaper "TA NEA" published the results of an opinion poll on the situation in the main opposition party of New Democracy.

Responding to the question on who is the most suitable for the party Presidency, most of the New Democracy supporters preferred mr.Giorgos Souflias, giving him 21,1%. He was followed by Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos with 18,4%, ND honorary President Konstantinos Mitsotakis with 10,7%, ND current President Miltiadis Evert with 10,3%, Dora Bakoyianni with 5,9%, Kostas Karamanlis with 4,5% and Yiannis Varvitsiotis with 3,6%.

When voters supporting different political parties were asked to choose between mr.Souflias and mr.Evert they chose mr.Souflias giving him 56,1% compared to mr.Evert's 31,9%, while when the same question was directed to New Democracy supporters the difference between them became even greater as mr.Souflias got 61,1% and mr.Evert 22,6%.

[07] U.S. OFFICIAL ON CYPRIOT ISSUE TO ARRIVE IN ATHENS TOMORROW

Carey Cavanaugh, Director of the Office of Southeastern European Affairs at the United States and special envoy for the cypriot issue will arrive in Athens tomorrow for contacts with the Greek government.

Mr. Cavanaugh is expected to conduct successive visits in Athens, Ankara and Nicosia in order to hold talks on the Cyprus problem.

According to reports, the American official will meet with the Greek Ministry's director of the greek-turkish relations department, Elias Klis.

[08] GREECE'S JUSTICE MINISTER TO VISIT CYPRUS

Greek Minister of Justice Evangelos Yiannopoulos will travel to Cyprus tomorrow in order to attend Wednesday's anti-occupation events denouncing the illegal regime of Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash on the island's northern territory.

Mr. Yiannopoulos will be the featured speaker in the commemmorative event which this year is dedicated to the memories of Tasos Isaak and Solomos Solomou, the two Greek-Cypriot civilians who were murdered in cold blood this summer by turkish forces.

During his stay, the Justice Minister is expected to meet with the President of the Republic of Cyprus Glafkos Clerides and other party officials.

[09] UPHEAVAL IN MAIN OPPOSITION, POLITICAL COUNCIL TO CONFER TOMORROW

In-party critics of the main opposition party New Democracy President Miltiades Evert have once again asked for his resignation, while he has already called an emergency meeting of the N.D. Political Council tomorrow.

Party deputy Dora Bacoyianni, the daughter of ex-premier and N.D. honorary president Konstantinos Mitsotakis, said yesterday that Mr. Evert's resignation is a precondition to get the party out of its current deadlock.

Meanwhile, former government spokesperson Byron Polydoras has announced his intention to run for party president, while Mr. Mitsotakis has already stated that he does not intend to attend tomorrow's meeting, claiming that his presence would not contribute to solving the problems noted in the party's leadership.

[10] EURODEPUTY FEARS DOWNGRADING OF GREEK LANGUAGE IN EUROPEAN UNION

The eurodeputy of the Coalition of Left and Progress Party (Synaspismos) Alekos Alavanos has expressed his concern stemming from the cancellation of the greek edition of the CEDEFOP magazine "Professional Direction".

CEDEFOP, the only organization of the European Union which is wholly based in Greece, Thessaloniki, recently decided to eliminate seven of the 11 languages it was printed in, Greek being among them, limiting its publication to English, French, German and Spanish.

Mr. Alavanos today stated that CEDEFOP's main mission is to "disseminate the relevant documents and information among the EU's appropriate offices" and, as such, the printing in all of the 11 languages is necessary.

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

[11] THE US AMBASSADOR TO NICOSIA STATED THAT IN 1997 A SERIOUS WORK WILL BE DONE FOR THE SOLUTION OF THE CYPRUS PROBLEM

The US ambassador to Nicosia stated after the meeting he had with cypriot President Glafkos Kliridis that in 1997 a very serious work will be done for the solution of the Cyprus problem.

Also, he pointed out that the United States are continuously forming ideas on how they will move the peace process for Cyprus forward, while he stressed that the US government and himself are always ready to be involved in this process.

Finally, commenting on Turkey's negative human rights record he stressed that the US maintain a long-lasting dialogue with Turkey on that issue and expressed the belief that it will be continued, adding that it is an issue that is included in their daily agenda.

[12] THE CYPRIOT FOREIGN MINISTER STATED THAT THE EU WILL OFFER A SUBSTANTIAL ASSISTANCE TO CYPRUS WHEN THE CYPRUS PROBLEM ENTERS THE FINAL PHASE BEFORE ITS SOLUTION

Cypriot Foreign Minister Alekos Michailidis stated before leaving today for Cairo, where he will attend the 3rd Economic Conference on the Middle East and North Africa, that when Cyprus enters the final phase for the solution of the cypriot problem the European Union will be the one that will offer a substantial assistance toward this end.

In the conference that will open in Cairo tomorrow, the cypriot Foreign Minister will give a speech on "Peace and Economic Development" and on Wednesday he will leave for Athens where he will attend the meeting of the heads of the greek and cypriot press offices abroad.

In that meeting there will be an exchange of views on ways for the better promotion of national issues through the mass media. Mr.Michailidis will also have contacts with his greek counterpart Theodoros Pangalos and alternate Foreign Affairs Minister Giorgos Papandreou.

[13] THE CYPRIOT PRESIDENT INTENDS TO MEET WITH THE TURKISH- CYPRIOT LEADER FOR THE DEFUSING OF THE SITUATION IN CYPRUS

Cypriot President Glafkos Kliridis in an interview to the turkish-cypriot newspaper "Yeni Duzen" expresses his intention to meet with turkish-cypriot leader Rauf Denktash in order to find common ground and to defuse the situation between the two sides in Cyprus which has deteriorated.

According to the newspaper, President Kliridis reiterated his proposal for demilitarization and suggested the creation of an international force in which will participate Greece and Turkey.

Referring to the causes that led to the escalation of the tension between the two sides in Cyprus, President Kliridis underlined that it was the result of Turkey's over-reaction to the march of motorcyclists held last summer, while it was also attributed to the effort made by the "Grey Wolves" to prove that the greek-cypriots and the turkish-cypriots can not co-exist.

Finally, the cypriot President condemned the killings of the four greek-cypriots and stated that those responsible should be brought to justice.

[14] A BALKAN SYMPOSIUM ON THE BALKAN COOPERATION WILL BE HELD IN THESSALONIKI ON DECEMBER 5-6 ORGANIZED BY MPA

A Balkan Symposium will be organized by Macedonian Press Agency in Thessaloniki on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the deaths of Eleftherios Venizelos and Alexandros Papanastasiou, two great greek politicians who played a leading role in the efforts for a better understanding among the Balkan states and the organizing of the first peace conferences that were held in different Balkan capitals in the period of 1927-1930.

The symposium under the title "The idea of Balkan cooperation and understanding, more timely today than ever before" will be held in the conference center on the grounds of Thessaloniki's International Trade Fair on December 5 and 6.

In the symposium will participate with their own presentations academics and distinguished professors from all the Balkan states, who are specializing in Balkan issues. Also, will participate the General Directors of all the Balkan national news agencies as well as, Directors of certain of the most important mass media in the neighbouring Balkan states.

[15] THE ASSOCIATION OF KNITWEAR MANUFACTURERS IS ORGANIZING A VISIT TO FYROM

The Association of Knitwear Manufacturers in Northern Greece in cooperation with Thessaloniki's Greek-German Chamber organizes a business mission to FYROM aimed at expanding the cooperation potential between the manufacturers of knitwear and ready-to-wear in Greece and FYROM.

In the mission that will be held on November 14-15, will participate about 40 businessmen representing 30 businesses from northern Greece.

[16] THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH VARTHOLOMEOS CONTINUES HIS TOUR TO AUSTRALIA

The city of Adelaide honoured Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos by awarding him its Golden Key, while Flinders University made him professor emeritus in Theology.

Later, the Ecumenical Patriarch attended a ceremony in memory of those who were killed in the 1st World War, while South Australia's state Prime Minister gave a formal dinner in his honour.

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos will visit Camberra tomorrow, where he will meet with Federal Prime Minister John Howard and also, with Australia's General Governor.

[17] FORMER U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE CALLS ON CLINTON TO KEEP PROMISES

United States former presidential nominee Michael Doukakis has stated that President-elect Bill Clinton must personally look into the Cyprus problem following the change of leadership in the State Department, as he had committed to do so during his pre- election campaign.

Mr. Doukakis, attending an event hosted in his honor by the Greek-Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Montreal, also emphasized the need to find a viable solution to the cypriot issue, perhaps in a manner similar to the Dayton Agreement.

[18] BULGARIA: PREMIER JEAN VIDENOV ASKS FOR VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

Bulgarian Prime Minister Jean Videnov tonight intends to request a vote of confidence from the Highest Council and Parliamentary Group of his Socialist Party which, behind closed doors, is examining the reasons that led to the party's defeat in the recent presidential elections.

The Bulgarian conservative opposition, President-elect Peter Stoyanov's United Democratic Forces (UDF), has already stated firmly that it does not intend to support any socialist government and will seek to drive the country to early parliamentary elections.

[19] ROMANIA: OPPOSITION LEADER CONSTANTINESCU WINS MAJORITY IN PARLIAMENT

The Democratic Convention of Romania (CDR) led by Emil Constantinescu, is the main party in both chambers of the country's Parliament, with approximately 30 per cent, while the Party of Social Democracy in Romania PDSR, a stronghold in Parliament ever since the overthrow of the communist regime in December 1989, garnered 23.1 per cent in the Senate and 21.6 in the House of Representatives.

The official results of the country's parliamentary elections of November 3 have been announced by Romania's Central Returning Board, according to which, CDR has the majority rule in both chambers, with 122 seats in the House and 143 in the Senate.

Incumbent President Ion Iliescu, supported by PDSR, has 91 seats in the House and 41 in the Senate.

The results secure the coalition to be formed between CDR and the Socialdemocratic Union headed by ex-premier P. Roman.

The CDR-USD coalition has a majority in both chambers.

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