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Sunday, 22 December 2024
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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-03-28Macedonian 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: 15:47 GMT+2SECTIONS
NEWS HEADLINES[A] GREECE[B] BALKANS[C] EUROPE[D] WORLDNEWS IN DETAIL[A] GREECE[01] ACCELERATION OF PRIVATIZATIONS WAS DECIDED BY THE CABINETWeb Posted: 14:07 GMT+2Athens, 28/03/1998 (M.P.A.)The Greek cabinet decided public spending cuts of up to 320 billion drachmas as well as, the acceleration of privatizations.Minister of national economy and finance Yiannos Papantoniou stated yesterday that the Bank of Macedonia-Thrace, the Bank of Crete and the Bank of Central Greece will be sold by June. Meanwhile, the National Bank of Greece and the Ionian Bank will drop their interest rates. He also stressed that 51% of the companies of strategic nature will remain under the control of the state but smaller public service companies such as, the affiliates of Olympic Airways, the Corinth Canal and the duty free shops can be privatized completely. [02] PLAYWRIGHT AND SONG WRITER MIMIS TRAIFOROS DIED TODAYWeb Posted: 15:41 GMT+2Athens, 28/03/1998 (M.P.A.)Playwright and song writer Mimis Traiforos, the companion of national singer in WWII Sofia Vembo, died in the early morning hours today at the age of 86 in the intensive care unit of the Evangelismos Hospital where he was taken suffering from kidney and heart failure.He was born in Pireaus in 1912 and he was the 2nd born child among 14 brothers and sisters. He studied in the Royal Theater Drama School and his first appearance in theater was in 1934. During WWII he wrote the song "Pedia tis Ellados pedia" that was sung by Sofia Vembo and became a hymn to the heroism of the Greeks in the period of 1940-41. In the years that followed during the war, he lived in Egypt where he wrote and directed over 100 theater performances presented by the Vembo- Traiforos' theater company to all the Greek army units in the region. He also wrote many songs like "Kenourgia zoi" and "Randevou stin Athina". His funeral will be held in Athens on Tuesday afternoon [03] THE GREEK GOVERNMENT'S POSITION IS POSITIVE, STATED THE ALBANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMANWeb Posted: 15:41 GMT+2Tirana, 28/03/1998 (M.P.A.)The position of the Greek government on the issue of the Albanian illegal immigrants as well as, the statements made by Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas and minister of Macedonia-Thrace Filippos Petsalnikos were characterized as positive by Albanian foreign ministry spokesman Sokol Gioka.Pointing out that 2.500 Albanian illegal immigrants have been deported from Greece in the past few days, Mr. Gioka stressed that this reaction of the Greek government was the result of an incident that happened in Greece and which even though it was true it should not be used as a pretext for mass deportations of Albanians. He also said that among the illegal immigrants there are some who are criminals but this does not mean that everyone is a criminal, stressing that a part of the Greek press tries to create this impression. [B] BALKANS[04] MEIDANI: A SOLUTION UNDER SERBIA CAN NOT BE ACCEPTED BY KOSOVOWeb Posted: 14:07 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 28/03/1998 (M.P.A.)The prospects of further cooperation between Greece and Albania in all sectors were discussed by Albanian president Radjep Meidani and minister of Macedonia-Thrace Mr. Petsalnikos.The two men also discussed measures aimed at dealing with illegal immigration and organized crime. Mr. Meidani when asked about the developments in Kosovo underlined that a solution under Serbia can not be accepted. Just before leaving Thessaloniki the Albanian president gave an exclusive interview to MPA in which he stressed the need to respect the international maps and treaties on the issue of Kosovo. Mr. Meidani said that a state of law should be structured in FYROM where all ethnic groups will enjoy equal rights based on the existing international treaties, allowing for peaceful co-existence, in order to find a satisfactory solution to the problem of ethnic Albanians in FYROM. He also underlined the interest shown by the businessmen of northern Greece concerning the further expansion of the Greek-Albanian trade and economic cooperation. [C] EUROPE[05] THE CLOCKS WILL BE PUT ONE HOUR AHEAD ON SUNDAYWeb Posted: 15:41 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 28/03/1998 (M.P.A.)Official summer time will be in effect tomorrow and the clocks will be put one hour ahead. Therefore, at 3am on Sunday morning the clocks must be put forward to show 4am.The implementation of the summer time measure, which will last until October 25, will be mandatory until the year 2001 for all the European Union member-states. [D] WORLD[06] FOLEY MADE STATEMENTS ON THE SOLUTION OF THE CYPRUS PROBLEMWeb Posted: 14:10 GMT+2Washington , 28/03/1998 (M.P.A.)The position that Cyprus's EU accession can be a positive catalyst for the solution of the Cyprus issue was reiterated by US State Department spokesman Jim Foley.He characterized the intransigence of the Turkish side and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash as an "unfortunate event", after their rejection of Cypriot president Glafkos Clerides' proposal for the participation of the Turkish Cypriots in the negotiating team for Cyprus's accession into the European Union. The US State Department spokesman also mentioned that the US hope that a common effort will be displayed by all sides to cooperate in order to reach an agreement on a common delegation to take part in the EU negotiations. [07] THE 5TH INTERNATIONAL FORUM FOR THE EMERGING MARKETS OF SE EUROPE OPENS IN THESSALONIKI ON MONDAYWeb Posted: 15:47 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 28/03/1998 (M.P.A.)The 5th International Forum for the emerging markets in south-eastern Europe that opens in Thessaloniki on Monday will help in the development of collaborations and also in the signing of agreements by leading politicians and businessmen from 13 Balkan and Black Sea countries.The forum is organized by the Association of Industries in Northern Greece, the Bank of Macedonia-Thrace and the US-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce. The main target of the two-day conference is to inform the international investors on the fact that south-eastern Europe is now approachable by the international capital and that it has overcome the problems of the past to a large extend. Moreover, it is expected to function as a "bridge" between businessmen and politicians coming from the Balkans and western Europe. The strong US interest in the forum is underlined by the presence of US ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns, US State Department official responsible for European affairs Ms. Elaine Maloy and US Department of Commerce Technology Programs director Ms. Lucy Richards. 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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