Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 99-04-27
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, April 27, 1999
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] SWEDEN'S ROYAL COUPLE IN ATHENS ON OFFICIAL VISIT
[02] MIKIS THEODORAKIS DENOUNCES NATO, CALLS ON PUBLIC TO "RESIST"
[03] TWELVE GREEK SHARES AMONG EUROPE'S HIGHEST YIELDING
[04] GREECE'S AGRICULTURE MINISTRY VIES FOR FOUR TRILLION FROM CSF
[05] HOWITZERS ARRIVE AT SKOPJE AFTER LONG STAY IN THESSALONIKI
[06] IMPRESSIVE RISE IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[07] 36 HOWITZERS THAT HAD BEEN HELD AT THE PORT OF THESSALONIKI
HAVE ARRIVED IN SKOPJE
[08] PAPANDREOU WILL BE IN MOSCOW TOMORROW
[09] 115 GREEK AMERICANS CALL ON MR. CLINTON TO PUT AND END TO THE
OCCUPATION OF CYPRUS
[10] MEETING ON THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE BALKANS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[11] NATO MISSILES FINISH OFF TV TRANSMITTERS IN BELGRADE
[12] CHERNOMYRDIN MEETS WITH TALBOT IN MOSCOW TODAY
[13] OIL EMBARGO TO BE IMPOSED ON YUGOSLAVIA BY END OF THE WEEK
[14] GREEK-AMERICANS CALL FOR SAME STANDARDS IN CYPRUS
[15] APACHE HELICOPTER CRASHES IN TIRANA DURING TRAINING FLIGHT
[16] GREEK FM: GREECE EXTENDS FRIENDSHIP TO TURKEY
[17] F.R.Y.'S FM ACCUSES UN OF INACTIVITY IN HIS LETTER TO ANNAN
[18] UCK CONDEMNS MODERATE LEADER RUGOVA TO DEATH
[19] TALBOTT MEETS WITH IVANOV, TALKS WERE "CONSTRUCTIVE"
[20] FYROM'S MINISTER OF ECONOMY RESIGNS
[21] MILOSEVIC: RED CROSS WILL ASSIST KOSOVO REFUGEES
[22] CHERNOMIRDIN - TALBOTT MEETING
[23] DRASKOVIC STATED THAT HIS STATEMENTS WERE MISINTERPRETED
[24] THE SAFETY OF CIVIL AVIATION FLIGHTS OVER EUROPE IS LIMITED
[25] THE YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC THANKS THE GREEKS LIVING IN SIDNEY,
AUSTRALIA
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] SWEDEN'S ROYAL COUPLE IN ATHENS ON OFFICIAL VISIT
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Sylvia of Sweden embarked on a
three-day visit to Greece yesterday, the first-ever official visit
by a Swedish head of state to this country, at the invitation of
the President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos.
The royal couple was received by Parliament President
Apostolos Kaklamanis yesterday afternoon and attended a banquet
held in their honor by President Stephanopoulos.
Today, the King and Queen of Sweden will lay a wreath at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and will meet with the Prime Minister
Kostas Simitis, as well as with political party leaders and Athens
Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos. They will also attend a business
seminar at the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Tonight, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Sylvia will hold a
reception.
[02] MIKIS THEODORAKIS DENOUNCES NATO, CALLS ON PUBLIC TO "RESIST"
Greece's renowned composer Mikis Theodorakis took center
stage in last night's highly successful concert held in downtown
Athens in support of the Yugoslav people, denouncing NATO's raids
against their country.
Facing a cheering crowd, Mr. Theodorakis stated:
"The leaders of the NATO member-states yesterday (Sunday)
signed a death sentence for the United Nations. The United States
can now, with the connivance of the European countries, judge,
sentence and punish anyone whom they view as objecting to their
designs. I do not think it an exaggeration to say that we are
about to enter another Middle Age era. So, get a hold of warm,
wool clothing, mufflers, gloves, bitter cold lies ahead.
As I have stated since the start of the raids, all that is
being said about ethnic cleansing is merely pretext. I have said
that they don't care about dialogue and agreements, their sole aim
is to transform the heretic Yugoslavia into burnt land and they
intend to do just that, they want to transform Serbia into a
desert.
"A desert made up of dust and blood, displaying it to the
next victims, warning them ‘look, this is what lies ahead if you
don't succumb.'
"We, the Greeks, should be proud since we were the only ones
who all together and in unison said ‘NO' to barbarity. We shall
stand by the victims, by the Serbs and we want our signing today
to cover the siren screams and the missile blasts.
"Belgrade, today we sing for you. We are on your side. Be
courageous, justice is on your side, and justice always triumphs."
[03] TWELVE GREEK SHARES AMONG EUROPE'S HIGHEST YIELDING
Greece's Commercial and Ionian banks hold first and second
place, respectively, in the "Wall Street Journal"'s list of the 20
highest yielding European shares, for the 1998-99 fiscal year.
Specifically, the two banks' share returns stand at 365.1%
for Commercial Bank and 242.9% for Ionian Bank, while the list
also contains ten more Greek ventures, with National Bank ranking
among the top five with returns of 197.1%.
[04] GREECE'S AGRICULTURE MINISTRY VIES FOR FOUR TRILLION FROM CSF
Greece's Ministry of Agriculture is vying for four trillion
drachmas from the Third Community Support Framework, according to
its 2000-06 Regional Development Plan (RDP) submitted to the
Ministry of National Economy.
The RDP allocates expenditures of 3.8 billion drachmas for
agriculture and an additional 200 billion for fishery. The "lion's
share" of the funds would be absorbed by infrastructure works in
the sector of agriculture.
[05] HOWITZERS ARRIVE AT SKOPJE AFTER LONG STAY IN THESSALONIKI
Thirty-six U.S.-made howitzer weapons arrived at their
destination in Skopje yesterday, after having been kept at the
port of Thessaloniki for two months.
The weapons had been kept at the port due to red-tape tangles
at customs and the fact that the necessary permit had not been
requested from Greece's military and political authorities. Their
release was made feasible after a judicial order.
Meanwhile, according to Skopje's state-owned radio station,
the number of NATO troops in FYROM is expected to reach the 15,000-
figure within the next ten days.
Quoting NATO officials in Skopje, the radio program reported
that presently there are approximately 13,000 NATO troops in
FYROM, while, taking into account the imminent arrival of an
additional 1,800 British soldiers, the number will increase to
15,000.
One hundred and sixty-eight German troops crossed the Greece-
FYROM border yesterday, with 103 vehicles, along with 100 French
and 40 British soldiers.
[06] IMPRESSIVE RISE IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
A climate of euphoria prevailed in the Athens Stock Exchange
today. The general price index closed at 3.431,31 showing an
impressive increase of 5,51%.
The transactions exceeded 111 billion drachmas. The shares
that had the biggest increase were the bank and construction
shares.
[07] 36 HOWITZERS THAT HAD BEEN HELD AT THE PORT OF THESSALONIKI
HAVE ARRIVED IN SKOPJE
Thirty six US made 105 millimeter howitzers arrived in Skopje
yesterday after being blocked at the port of Thessaloniki for over
two months because they were not accompanied by the necessary
documents and there was no request made to the Greek military and
political authorities for their release. The howitzers were
released after a court order.
Meanwhile, according to the state radio and television of
Skopje the number of NATO soldiers in FYROM will reach 15.000 men.
[08] PAPANDREOU WILL BE IN MOSCOW TOMORROW
Foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou will meet in Moscow
tomorrow with UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and with Russian
foreign minister Igor Ivanov.
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas stated that the
Greek government has an open channel of communication with Moscow
and pointed out that in the meetings efforts will be made to find
a diplomatic solution for Kosovo.
[09] 115 GREEK AMERICANS CALL ON MR. CLINTON TO PUT AND END TO THE
OCCUPATION OF CYPRUS
Distinguished personalities of the Greek-American community
with a letter to US president Bill Clinton call on him to convey
an important message to Ankara concerning the issue of Cyprus.
According to the message, which is signed by 115 Greek Americans,
in the light of the NATO response to the policy of ethnic
cleansing in Kosovo, the north Atlantic alliance can not tolerate
the use of force on behalf of Turkey and the threat for the use of
force aimed at preventing the 200.000 Greek Cypriot refugees, who
are the victims of a policy of ethnic cleansing themselves, from
returning to their homes.
They stress that NATO's ability to persuade and its good
image will be affected negatively if the military occupation of
Cyprus does not end immediately.
In the message it is also stressed that the time has come for
Turkey to replace the ethnic cleansing in Cyprus with a fair and
permanent settlement of the problem to the interest of peace and
security.
[10] MEETING ON THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE BALKANS
The issue of the reconstruction of the Balkans after the war
in Yugoslavia will be examined in a meeting that will be held in
Athens on Monday and will be presided over by minister of national
economy and finance Yiannos Papantoniou. In the meeting will take
part many businessmen.
Meanwhile, minister of transportation Tasos Mandelis and
Greek Telecommunications Organization, OTE, president Vasilis
Rapanos announced in parliament today that they intend to claim
compensation for the damages that are likely to be suffered by the
organization's investments in Yugoslavia.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[11] NATO MISSILES FINISH OFF TV TRANSMITTERS IN BELGRADE
A NATO laser-targeted bomb hit the Uste Building in the
center of a densely populated district of Belgrade last night,
completely destroying the city's only remaining TV and radio
broadcasting station. The building, which housed the headquarters
of the ruling Social Party of Serbia, was bombed for the first
time a week ago.
The Alliance continued to pound other areas of Yugoslavia as
well, firing missiles against the cities of Kraljevo, Tecak and
hitting a television transmitter on Mount Zladibor.
[12] CHERNOMYRDIN MEETS WITH TALBOT IN MOSCOW TODAY
United States deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott is
presently in Moscow where he will be received by the Russian
President's special envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin in order to discuss
the Yugoslavia crisis. According to reports, the meeting will be
held "in a narrow format and partially tete-a-tete."
Earlier today, Mr. Chernomyrdin spoke on the telephone with
the U. S. Vice-President Al Gore. Meanwhile, the United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to arrive at the Russian
capital today, as well as Greece's Foreign Minister George
Papandreou.
[13] OIL EMBARGO TO BE IMPOSED ON YUGOSLAVIA BY END OF THE WEEK
An embargo on oil deliveries to Yugoslavia is expected to be
imposed by the end of this week, as has been decided by the
European Union's foreign ministers, although Russia has stated
that it will not abide by the embargo.
Concurrently, the "15" have decided to expand the economic
sanctions against Yugoslavia and to prohibit the issuance of EU
visas to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, his family, his
government's ministers and to Yugoslav businessmen.
[14] GREEK-AMERICANS CALL FOR SAME STANDARDS IN CYPRUS
Over one hundred prominent members of the Greek community in
the United States have sent President Bill Clinton a letter
wherein they ask NATO to invoke its new standards for ethnic
cleansing and intervene in Cyprus, as it does in Kosovo.
The World President of the Council of Greeks Abroad ( SAE)
Andrew Athens and the President of SAE of North and South America
Chris Tomaras were among the letter's signatories.
"Now that this new NATO standard has been established for
responding to
the maintenance of ethnic cleansing policies, it will be far more
difficult for NATO to tolerate any longer Turkey's continuous use
of deadly force (most recently in 1996) and the very active threat
of deadly force (everyday) to prevent 200,000 ethnically cleansed
Cypriots from returning to their homes," the letter to President
Clinton says.
"NATO's credibility and moral authority for its mission in
Kosovo and
NATO's image will be seriously undercut if Turkey's military
occupation of Cyprus is not put to an immediate end and the
Cypriots who were ethnically cleansed by Turkey are not allowed to
return to their homes in safety."
The letter also makes reference to other conflicts heading
for a permanent resolution under West's willingness to mediate,
such as the Northern Ireland issue and the Middle East. It
stresses the Cypriot courageous efforts designed to reduce tension
and help the dialogue, such as the decision to cancel the order of
the surface-to air missiles, while it points out the negative
attitude of the Turkish occupational government that constantly
blocks diplomatic efforts with unacceptable preconditions.
The letter campaign has been an initiative of the National
Coordinated Effort of Hellenes, whose Chairman is the Greek-
American lobbyist Andrew A. Manatos.
[15] APACHE HELICOPTER CRASHES IN TIRANA DURING TRAINING FLIGHT
One of the 24 Apache helicopters, transferred to Albania from
the United States for taking part in the operation against
Yugoslavia, crashed in Tirana during a training flight last night,
the Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported.
According to a U.S. Pentagon spokesman, both of the
helicopter's crew members are now hospitalized in a satisfactory
condition. According to his information, the military command do
not believe that the helicopter was brought down by fire coming
from Yugoslavia.
[16] GREEK FM: GREECE EXTENDS FRIENDSHIP TO TURKEY
Greece will not participate in any potential ground
operations against Yugoslavia, Foreign Minister George Papandreou
reiterated during his address at the "NATO and Southeastern
Europe" conference organized by Tufts University's Foreign Policy
Institute in collaboration with the Socrates Kokkalis Foundation.
He further added that Greece extended its friendship to
Turkey in the belief that cooperation between the two neighboring
countries could only benefit them.
"Greece extends its friendship to Turkey not out of weakness,
but out of the strength of its (Greece's) positions and in its
belief that cooperation between the two
countries can prove only of benefit to both of them," he stated.
Speaking at the same conference, Greece's Minister of
Defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos stated that NATO needs to approach
the subject of security by taking into account the political,
economic, social and environmental factors.
"I would like to stress that NATO should act in accordance
with international law, and not in an attempt to substitute it,"
he said.
[17] F.R.Y.'S FM ACCUSES UN OF INACTIVITY IN HIS LETTER TO ANNAN
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's Foreign Minister Zivadin
Jovanovic has
forwarded a written appeal to United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, demanding that the UN immediately denounce the NATO
aggression against Yugoslavia.
According to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass, Mr.
Jovanovic accused the UN of inactivity in is letter and pointed
out that despite a request made by the Yugoslav government to call
an urgent session of the UN Security Council in connection with
the NATO criminal campaign against Yugoslavia, the UN had done
nothing yet to stop this barbarous aggression, put en end to
threats to international peace and security and ensure that the UN
Charter outrageously violated by NATO be observed.
"Kosovo and Metohia are multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and
multi-confessional territory of Serbia whose authorities equally
treat all citizens and do not conduct a campaign of intimidation
or expulsion of peaceful population," Mr. Jovanovic said in his
letter.
"Nothing except NATO bombs threatens peace in Kosovo and
Metohia, but mass NATO bombardments which are made every day is
the only obstacle impeding stabilization and return to the
groundwork of peaceful settlement," he added.
"Our forces in Kosovo and Metohia ensure defense against NATO
aggression and serve as a shield deterring NATO troops
concentrated in Albania and Macedonia," Mr. Jovanovic said.
As soon as the aggression is stopped and NATO troops are
withdrawn from the Yugoslav borders the number of the Armed Forces
and Security forces of Yugoslavia will be immediately cut to the
level of peace time, he said, underlining that the government of
Yugoslavia "guarantees security to all citizens of the country and
is also able to guarantee implementation of a future political
agreement."
According to Mr. Jovanovic, that is why there is no need to
deploy international military or police forces on the territory of
Yugoslavia, adding that "their presence in Yugoslavia is
unacceptable."
[18] UCK CONDEMNS MODERATE LEADER RUGOVA TO DEATH
The Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) has condemned the moderate
leader of the province's ethnic Albanians Ibrahim Rugova to death.
According to Tirana's state-owned television station, the UCK
is trying to remove Mr. Rugova from the political scene since it
does not agree with his efforts to reach a peaceful and political
resolution to Kosovo's issues.
[19] TALBOTT MEETS WITH IVANOV, TALKS WERE "CONSTRUCTIVE"
The U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott had an one-
hour meeting
with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in Moscow today, which
he described as "very constructive."
According to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass, Mr. Talbott
stated that "consultations between Moscow and Washington on the
situation around Yugoslavia will be continued."
Responding to the question on whether the United States got a
more clear idea of Russia's stand with regard to the Kosovo
settlement, Talbott said that he had learned even more than he had
known before about Russia's attitude to the situation in the Serb
region of Kosovo.
He saw for himself that Russia and the U.S. continued to
cooperate on a number of issues in other countries of the Balkan
region, it was reported.
[20] FYROM'S MINISTER OF ECONOMY RESIGNS
FYROM's Minister of Economy Zago Cado, submitted his
resignation last night, stating that the proposals he submitted to
the government for economic recovery were not accepted.
Mr. Cado, who participates in the coalition government under
Vasil Tupurkovski's Democratic Alternative Solution party, also
stated that, during his term, it was impossible to coordinate his
ministry's activities with other ministries and added that
following the changes that took place in the public administration
section, his ministerial duties were significantly limited.
[21] MILOSEVIC: RED CROSS WILL ASSIST KOSOVO REFUGEES
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic stated that the return
of Red Cross officials to Kosovo will significantly contribute to
addressing the humanitarian problems in the region.
According to the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug, following his
meeting with the Red Cross chairman Cornelio Sobaruga, Mr.
Milosevic assured that all Red Cross members can perform their
duties in Yugoslavia.
[22] CHERNOMIRDIN - TALBOTT MEETING
US assistant Secretary of State Mr. Talbott met with Russian
mediator for the Yugoslav crisis Victor Chernomirdin at noon
today. After the meeting, Mr. Talbott spoke of mutual
understanding and added that bilateral cooperation continues on a
creative basis.
Earlier, Mr. Talbott had met with Russian foreign minister
Igor Ivanov and in statements he made he said that Russia and the
United States will work toward the direction of a peaceful
solution.
In the Russian capital are also expected Greek foreign
minister Giorgos Papandreou and UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.
[23] DRASKOVIC STATED THAT HIS STATEMENTS WERE MISINTERPRETED
Yugoslav government vice-president Vuk Draskovic stated in a
press conference that his statements were misinterpreted. Mr.
Draskovic had allegedly adopted different positions from those of
Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic for the solution of the
problem in Kosovo and had backed the deployment of an
international force in the Serb province.
Today, he stated that he never spoke of a NATO presence in
Kosovo and reiterated the positions of the Yugoslav federal
government that a peace-keeping presence in Kosovo will be
accepted if it is under the auspices of the United Nations.
[24] THE SAFETY OF CIVIL AVIATION FLIGHTS OVER EUROPE IS LIMITED
The safety of the passenger flights over Europe has been
reduced significantly according to the Yugoslav news agency
Tanjug, citing representatives of the European air traffic
controllers association, while at the same time it points out that
the NATO air attacks do not damage only Yugoslavia but hurt the
European civil aviation as well.
According to figures provided by the European Air Traffic
Controllers Association, since the start of the NATO attacks
against Yugoslavia the number of passenger flights has been
reduced by 30%, while 1/3 of the flights over Europe are exposed
to a number of risks.
In the association participate 28 European countries and it
is likely that they will ask for alternative corridors to limit
the number of flights that are being canceled because the
passengers fear of the NATO military activities.
[25] THE YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC THANKS THE GREEKS LIVING IN SIDNEY,
AUSTRALIA
Consul general of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Bradko
Radosevic sent a letter of thanks on behalf of the Yugoslav
Republic addressed to the Greek community in Sidney, Australia and
personally to its president Mr. Savvas Savvidis.
Mr. Radosevic thanked the Greek community for the 5.000
dollar cheque offered by the Greek community for his fellow
Yugoslavs, who suffer from the war. He said that the solidarity
and help offered by the Greek people will never be forgotten and
added that the genocide that is being committed by the NATO states
with the exception of Greece can not be forgotten also.
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