Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-02-22
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, February 22, 2000
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] NATO CHIEF IN GREECE ON THURSDAY
[02] NATURAL DISASTERS CONFERENCE IN ATHENS
[03] GREEK-CZECH COUNCIL IN THESSALONIKI TOMORROW
[04] EU PEOPLE'S PARTY CONFERENCE IN THESSALONIKI
[05] US-GREEK COUNCIL ON BALKANS IN THESSALONIKI
[06] GREEK ON LINE BY THESSALONIKI'S LANGUAGE CENTER
[07] GREEK BUSINESSMEN'S FEDERATION IN UKRAINE
[08] SIX-YEAR-OLD ACCIDENTALLY SHOOTS HIS MOTHER
[09] OIL PRICES EXPECTED TO RISE THIS WEEK
[10] STATE COMMENDS GREEK AIDS RESEARCHERS
[11] INVESTIGATION ORDERED OVER GREEK HACKERS
[12] RUSSIAN DEPUTY PM IN ATHENS FOR STATE VISIT
[13] KAKLAMANAKIS WINS GOLD IN CHAMPIONSHIP
[14] MUSIC OF THEODORAKIS HEARD THE WORLD ROUND
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] GREEK ECONOMY MINISTER IN LONDON
[16] GREEK AMBASSADOR ON VOICE OF AMERICA
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] NATO CHIEF IN GREECE ON THURSDAY
NATO secretary-general George Robertson will visit Greece on
Thursday, February 24, bringing a recommencement of NATO
initiatives for the creation of Confidence Building Measures
(CBMs) between Greece and Turkey, as well as talks on the latest
developments in the Balkans.
In his meeting with Mr. Robertson, Defense Minister Akis
Tsochatzopoulos will stress the need to implement the Papoulias-
Yilmaz agreement of 1988 on CBMs between Athens and Ankara,
which he has characterized as "an excellent basis
for discussion."
The developments in Kosovo and Montenegro are also expected
to come high on the agenda of Robertson's meeting with Greek
officials. Officials will examine the work of the KFOR
multinational force and its prospects, as well as the rising
tensions in Montenegro.
[02] NATURAL DISASTERS CONFERENCE IN ATHENS
Interior Minister Vasso Papandreou opened a Europa network
international conference concerning natural and technological
disasters in Athens yesterday, which features the participation
of representatives of the Council of Europe's 24 member-states.
The two-day conference is focusing on promoting measures
aimed at coordinating actions and mutual assistance and the
development of new initiatives to protect citizens from major
natural and technological disasters.
Bilateral cooperation agreements will be signed during the
conference between Greece and Russia and Ukraine. The countries
participating in the conference are Russia, Armenia, Algeria,
Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, FYROM, Spain,
Italy, Malta, Morocco, Monaco, Ukraine, Portugal, Moldova, San
Marino, Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Cyprus.
Cyprus is represented by its Minister of the Interior
Christodoulos Christodoulou.
[03] GREEK-CZECH COUNCIL IN THESSALONIKI TOMORROW
The formal opening of the Greek-Czech Council will take place
in Thessaloniki tomorrow, February 23, in the presence of Greek
foreign minister George Papandreou and his Czech counterpart Gan
Kavan, as well as minister of Macedonia-Thrace Yiannis Magriotis.
A protocol of cooperation will be signed by the Inter-Balkan
and Black Sea Business Center and the Czech-Greek Chamber of
Commerce in the presence of the responsible government ministers
and businessmen from both countries.
[04] EU PEOPLE'S PARTY CONFERENCE IN THESSALONIKI
In cooperation with the European People's Party and the
European Democratic Union, Greece main opposition New Democracy
is to hold a conference in Thessaloniki this weekend over matters
pertaining to democracy, stability and cooperation in Southeastern
Europe.
The two-day event, to be held on February 25-26, will be
addressed by N.D. leader and vice-president of the European
People's Party Costas Karamanlis who will speak on "A New Strategy
of Cooperation and Development in the Balkans".
The participating parties are from Albania, Bosnia, Croatia,
FYROM, Romania, Serbia and Turkey.
[05] US-GREEK COUNCIL ON BALKANS IN THESSALONIKI
The initial meeting of the Initiative for Technological
Cooperation in the Balkans (ITCB) joint United States-Greek
Council was held in Thessaloniki yesterday, in an effort to
promote U.S.-Greek joint business ventures in the Balkans, as
well as the transfer of technology and private sector expertise to
the region's countries.
The two governments were represented by U.S. Ambassador
Nicholas Burns, Development Minister Evangelos Venizelos and
Macedonia-Thrace Minister Yiannis Magriotis.
Mr. Venizelos stated that the most fertile areas for
bilateral cooperation are the sectors of energy,
telecommunications and information systems.
The Development Minister stated that ITCB will be given 70
million drachmas in funds from the National Economy Ministry,
while additional monies will be sought from private enterprises
and the Third Community Support Framework.
Minister of Macedonia and Thrace Yiannis Magriotis stated
that the danger of new conflict erupting in Southeastern
Europe can be eradicated only through cooperation and the region's
reconstruction.
Ambassador Burns hailed 2000 as "the year of Greek-American
business cooperation" and stated that ITCB constitutes one of the
most ambitious endeavors.
The creation for ITCB was originally proposed by U.S.
President Bill Clinton and Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis
and was formalized in 1998, with the signing of a relevant
agreement by U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley and Greek
National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou.
[06] GREEK ON LINE BY THESSALONIKI'S LANGUAGE CENTER
A website (http://www.greeklanguage.gr) created by the
Thessaloniki-based Greek Language Center is providing academic
information as well as assistance for anyone who wishes to learn
Greek or read up on the Greek language in general.
Offering information for teachers and students, the site also
includes an encyclopedic guide, lexicography tools and on-line
chat rooms for teachers and scholars.
The Center for the Greek Language acts as a co-ordinating,
advisory and strategic organ of the Ministry of Education on
matters of language education and policy. It operates under the
auspices of the Ministry of Education and the shared
responsibility of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture.
[07] GREEK BUSINESSMEN'S FEDERATION IN UKRAINE
The Federation of Greek Businessmen (FGB) is to become active
by the end of next month, establishing its headquarters in
Mariupol, Ukraine and thus entering a vast, yet risky, market.
The federation is to include businessmen of Greek descent
from 15 Ukrainian cities. Its mission will be to provide venture
information to Greek businessmen who are interested in entering
the Ukrainian market, but are also weary of the said country's
unstable legislation and extensive red-tape.
The trade attache of the Greek embassy in Kiev Pericles
Davanelos outlined the factors that render the Ukrainian market a
risky one, referring to the structure of state agencies and the
muddy institutional framework, as well as the country's legal
system.
As such, Mr. Davanelos advises Greece's would-be investors to
conduct a detailed mapping of the region and to plan their
activities for at least a five-year range.
Nevertheless, in spite of the given hurdles, trade between
Greece and Ukraine moved at a satisfactory level between 1992-96,
skyrocketing to USD243.3 million, from the previous level of a
mere three million dollars.
However, a significant drop (44%) was noted in the two-year
period of 1997-98, when bilateral trade amounted to USD147.3
million.
[08] SIX-YEAR-OLD ACCIDENTALLY SHOOTS HIS MOTHER
A six-year-old boy shot his mother dead yesterday while
playing with a pistol he found in the back seat of a neighbor's
car at Nea Karvali, near Kavala in northern Greece.
Xenia Dermindzoglou, who was sitting in the driver's seat and
was just about to start the car, was shot in the neck and died on
her way to the hospital.
Police are interrogating the car's owner and victim's friend,
Regina Nasivalieva, 40, who was been charged with homicide from
negligence.
The pistol, bearing a silencer, was hidden beneath a pillow
in the back seat of Nasivalieva's car.
[09] OIL PRICES EXPECTED TO RISE THIS WEEK
Oil group Hellenic Petroleum is expected to announce a sharp
rise in prices, for the third week in a row, as of tomorrow.
As of Wednesday midnight, gasoline is to sell at five
drachmas higher per liter, with diesel bearing an increase of
more than three drachmas.
The prices are expected to drop as of next week, as
international prices in slow oil are on a downward course.
[10] STATE COMMENDS GREEK AIDS RESEARCHERS
Deputy Welfare Minister Theodoros Kotsonis congratulated the
team of Greek AIDS researchers who have developed a new technique
that may lead to better diagnostic procedures and therapies for
HIV-infected individuals.
The Greek team's study, titled "Effect of recent
thymicomigrants on progression of HIV-1 disease" was published
recently in the British medical journal The Lancet and focuses on
the thymus, a small gland close to the heart responsible for
producing "T-cells", which are involved in the immune function.
The study was conducted by researchers Angelos Hadzakis,
Yiota Touloumi, Roza Karanikola, Anastasia Karafyllidou, Titika
Mandalaki and Cleo Anastasopoulou.
According to Dr. Hatzakis, of the Athens University Medical
School, T-cells are central to the direct immune system and to
healing virally infected cells.
To date, there has been no way of measuring the thymus which
many scientists believed stopped functioning after the age of
30. However, newer studies showed this not to be the case and in
fact, indicated that the thymus may be active after the age of
30, although its function is quite reduced, Dr. Hatzakis said.
[11] INVESTIGATION ORDERED OVER GREEK HACKERS
The Athens prosecutors office has ordered an investigation in
locating three Greek computer hackers who are believed to have
sneaked into top-secret military archives in Arizona.
The investigation is taking place after a request filed by
the U.S. Embassy in Athens, which demanded that Greek judicial
authorities should place the hackers - if apprehended - at the
disposal of American FBI experts.
The successful incursions into the U.S. military site were
made from three computers belonging to the state universities of
Athens, Thessaloniki and Hania.
According to university officials, anyone can have access to
campus computers in order to access the Internet.
[12] RUSSIAN DEPUTY PM IN ATHENS FOR STATE VISIT
Russia's deputy Prime Minister responsible for emergencies
Sergei Shoigu embarked on a state visit in Athens today, where he
was received by Greece's Foreign Minster George Papandreou.
Mr. Shoigu relayed an invitation by Vladimir Putin to Greek
Prime Minister Costas Simitis for a visit to Russia.
Mr. Papandreou also met today with his Czech counterpart Jan
Kavan. The two men will be in Thessaloniki tomorrow to sign a
memorandum of cooperation for the reconstruction of the Balkans
within the framework of the Stability Pact in the region.
Messrs. Papandreou and Kavan, along with the Minister of
Macedonia and Thrace Yiannis Magriotis, are to inaugurate the
city's Greek-Czech Council.
[13] KAKLAMANAKIS WINS GOLD IN CHAMPIONSHIP
Greek champion in sailing Nikos Kaklamanakis won the gold
medal in the World Sailing Championship which took place in
Argentina.
The 2001 World championships will be held in Athens.
[14] MUSIC OF THEODORAKIS HEARD THE WORLD ROUND
Greece's renowned Mikis Theodorakis can at last feel
justified, as he now becomes the first Greek modern composer to
see his complete works published worldwide.
In a deal signed on Sunday, the parent company of Germany's
Intuition Records, will distribute Mr. Thedoroakis' works world-
wide, starting with an eight-cd selection of operas such as
"Medea", "Electra" and "Antigone".
The cd collection will be officially presented when the opera
"Electra" will open in New York.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] GREEK ECONOMY MINISTER IN LONDON
Greece's Minister of National Economy and Finance Yiannos
Papantoniou outlined the strong points of the country's economy,
during an international conference held in London yesterday.
Mr. Papantoniou was a keynote speaker at the conference
titled "Developments and Prospects of the Greek Capital Market"
organized by the "Economist" and the Athens Stock Exchange".
Namely, the Minister spoke on 1) the vast structural changes
being promoted in Greece; 2) Greek investments in the Balkans; 3)
the 2000-02 privatization program; 4) support measures for small-
to-medium enterprises; 5) incentives for the development and
application of new technologies; 6) the framework for developing
the information society and 7) the international role to be
carried out by Greece in the region of Southeastern Europe as the
twelfth member of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).
The Minister met earlier with his British counterpart Gordon
Brown, with whom he discussed the course of the European economy
and Greece's participation in the euro-zone with the submission of
the country's application in early March and the prospect of a
decision at an EU summit in Portugal, on June 20.
Mr. Papantoniou told Mr. Brown that Greece has fulfilled all
five convergence criteria necessary in order to become the 12th
European Monetary Union (EMU) member this June.
He was accompanied by the governor of the National Bank of
Greece Athanasios Karatzas and the president of the Alpha Credit
Bank Group Ioannis Kostopoulos.
[16] GREEK AMBASSADOR ON VOICE OF AMERICA
Greece's Ambassador to the United States Alexander Philon,
developed the Greek plan for the reconstruction of the Balkans,
during a lengthy interview with the Voice of America's television
network Worldnet.
Mr. Philon stated that Greece, through a $330-million-
program, is a significant contributor to the institutional
reconstruction of the Balkan region, as well as to its economic
development and restored security. The Ambassador pointed out that
the program could be augmented by an additional 200 million
dollars when Yugoslavia enters the plan.
In regards to the name issue pending between FYROM and
Greecee, Mr. Philon stated that it is still the subject of
bilateral discussions held under the auspices of the United
Nations. He further added that trade and economic relations
between the two countries have become exemplary, with Greece
being one FYROM's key investors.
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