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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 97-03-23Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.Last Update: 20:45 GMT+2SECTIONS
NEWS HEADLINES[A] GREECE[B] BALKANSNEWS IN DETAIL[A] GREECE[01] MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY'S NEW LEADER TO UTILIZE ALL ABLE MEMBERSWeb Posted: 20:45 GMT+2Athens, March 23 (MPA)Kostas Karamanlis, the newly-elected President of Greece's main opposition party New Democracy told the party's delegates today that his top priority is to invite all able members to work closely with him.In his first address as party leader, Mr. Karamanlis stated that the party is now on a new, upward course to a better future. The party's delegates are to conclude their convention today by electing the central committee members and by changing the party's articles of association and program. A.F. [02] GREEK ALTERNATE FM: "WE WILL SUPPORT ITALY'S INITIATIVE ON ALBANIAN CRISISWeb Posted: 20:45 GMT+2Athens, March 23 (MPA)Greece's alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou stated today that Greece will support the Italian proposal on alleviating the Albanian crisis, during tomorrow's relevant discussion at the Council of General Affairs, to be held in Brussels.Meanwhile, Mr. Papandreou expressed his chagrin over the postponement of the restructured dialogue between the European Union and Cyprus and said that the same criteria should be applied to all of the candidates for EU membership. Referrring to the EU-Turkey Association Council, Mr. Papandreou stressed that Greece is firm on its misgivings regarding Turkey's funding, for as long as Ankara does not respond to the common statement issued by the "15" on June 15, 1996. A.F. [03] GREECE AND ARMENIA SIGN AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION ACCORDWeb Posted: 20:45 GMT+2Athens, March 23 (MPA)An agreement for cooperation on the agricultural sector has been signed between Greece and Armenia during the visit to Armenia by Greek Undersecretary of Agriculture Vasilis Geranides.Officials from both countries' Agriculture Ministries discussed the plans of action to be taken during 1997-98 and agreed to organize seminars on processing, packaging and trade of agricultural products, as well as provide assistance to Armenia on fertilizers. While in Armenia, Mr. Geranides met with Armenian Agriculture Minister Mr. Movsisian, Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Mr. Manasarian, the Armenian Patriarch and leaders of the Greek community. A.F. [B] BALKANS[04] GREEK DEPUTY FM AND ALBANIAN SOCIALIST LEADER MEET IN THESSALONIKIWeb Posted: 20:45 GMT+2Thessaloniki, March 23 (MPA)Greece's Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Yiannos Kranidiotis and Albanian Socialist leader Fatos Nano met in Thessaloniki today where the two men discussed the various ways to end the crisis in the latter's country.Their meeting lasted about one hour and afterwards Mr. Kranidiotis stated that the talks were very interesting, although he refused to make further comment. Mr. Nano, who is in Thessaloniki with his wife on a private visit, told Mr. Kranidiotis that Albania's new Prime Minister Bashkim Fino needs everyone's support in his difficult task. The Socialist leader, who was recently released after having been incarcerated for three years, met yesterday with the Minister of Macedonia- Thrace Philippos Petsalnikos and the Minister of National Defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos. A.F. [05] FYROM'S NATIONALIST PARTY VMRO-DPMNE POSTPONES PROTEST RALLYWeb Posted: 20:45 GMT+2Skopje, March 23 (MPA)FYROM's nationalist party VMRO-DPMNE has postponed its vast protest rally which was scheduled to take place in Skopje on March 27.The Party's President Liupco Georgievski said that his party will give the government a 30-day deadline to wrap up its investigation on the illicit money-making institutions and to conduct a dialogue with the opposition. In a press conference today, the Liberal and Democratic parties, which have formed a coalition, also stated that the current government must resign and that a caretaker government must be formed in order to prepare early elections. The government is to ask for a confidence vote in Parliament on Tuesday, March 25. A.F. [06] ALBANIAN SECRET SERVICES ADOPT ANTI-GREEK POLICIES, ACCORIDNG TO REPORTWeb Posted: 20:45 GMT+2Athens, March 23 (MPA)A scenario woven by the Albanian secret services at Greece's expense was revealed today by a credible Greek daily, according to which Athens was to be framed as taking part in a supposed Greek-American conspiracy.Specifically, the leader of Albania's Secret Services, Mr. Kazidede is said to have tried to influence his country's newly elected Premier Bashkim Fino to adopt an anti-Greek policy. In a meeting of Albania's ministerial council, Kazidede reportedly presented a special document that mentioned a "Greek-American conspiracy" and claimed that there was an attempt to separate or "free" south Albania from the rest of the country. According to Kazidede's report, a leading part of this attempt was played by Gramos Pasko. In order to support his allegations, Kazidede stated that this was the reason behind the episodes in Sarande and Vlore. Albanian President Sali Berisha is said to have conveyed to his government these allegations. According to the Greek daily, Albania's embassy in Athens is also involved in this scenario. "The Albanian Ambassador asked Mr. Kranidiotis (Greece's Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs) to halt all humanitarian aid missions by claiming that since the Albanian state has collapsed in the country's southern region, any aid whatsoever is in essence an act of support to the rioters," the newspaper reported. A.F. [07] WORLD BANK TO GRANT $80 MILLION TO BULGARIA FOR SOCIAL INSURANCEWeb Posted: 20:45 GMT+2Sofia, March 23 (MPA)Eighty million dollars will be granted to Bulgaria, part of the World Bank's phase-one effort to assist the country's social insurance measues for its poor and indigent citizens.Following a meeting held between Bulgaria's Premier Stefan Sofianski and a World Bank official, another multimillion-dollar amount will be given to Bulgaria by the international financier by the end of the year, which amount will be allocated to Bulgarian enterprises. Although the World Bank has in the past appeared somewhat guarded in providing financial assistance to Sofia, it will now wait and see if the International Monetary Fund and the Bulgarian government reach a firm agreement and if as series of reforms materializes. If so, World Bank officials have said that additional aid will be granted to Bulgaria. A.F. Complete archives of the Macedonian Press Agency bulletins are available on the MPA Home Page at http://www.mpa.gr/ and on the U.S. mirror at http://www.hri.org/MPA/Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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