Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-04-05
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, April 5, 2000
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GERMAN PRESIDENT IN THESSALONIKI TODAY
[02] PASOK LEADER "GIVES IT ALL" AT THESSALONIKI RALLY
[03] MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER OUTLINES PARTY'S POLICY
[04] PASOK COUNTERS MUDSLINGING CHARGES WITH ROSES
[05] BOMB EXPLODES AT MIELE STORE IN THESSALONIKI
[06] COLLAPSED BUILDING OWNER'S PROPERTY SEALED
[07] OECD CLASSIFIED REPORT ON GREEK ECONOMY OPENS
[08] CRIME IS ON THE DECLINE IN GREECE
[09] MARGINAL LOSSES OF 0.01% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[10] RAU: REPARATIONS ARE IMPOSSIBLE BUT A GOODWILL GESTURE IS
POSSIBLE
[11] CLOSE RACE FOR THE TWO MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES
[12] THE GOVERNMENT GUARANTEES THAT OTE WILL REMAIN UNDER STATE
CONTROL
[13] POLITICAL SPRING LEADING MEMBERS BACK PASOK
[14] RAU: TURKEY DOES NOT MEET THE PRECONDITIONS FOR EU ACCESSION
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] NATIONAL BANK BUYS STOPANSKA MAJORITY STAKE
[16] DESMOND TUTU AWARDED ATHENAGORAS PRIZE
[17] ENCOURAGING FIGURES ON UNEMPLOYMENT
[18] MOVING HUMANITARIAN INTEREST ON BEHALF OF THE GREEK EMBASSY
IN TIRANA
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GERMAN PRESIDENT IN THESSALONIKI TODAY
German President Johannes Rau is to arrive in Thessaloniki
today, the last stop of his official, three-day visit to Greece,
where he will hold talks with Macedonia-Thrace Minister Yiannis
Magriotis and visit the city's German School.
President Rau will visit the Archaeological Museum of
Thessaloniki and the local Protestant Church's Community Center
before flying to Ankara.
Visiting at the invitation of the President of the Hellenic
Republic Costis Stephanopoulos, the German yesterday paid homage
to the victims of the German occupation forces in Greece during
World War II, expressing his "grief and shame" over the Kalavryta
massacre.
As the highest-ranking German leader to ever officially visit
Kalavryta, Mr. Rau was accompanied by President Stephanopoulos to
the hill where the executions of Greeks took place · laying a
wreath during a brief ceremony followed by a memorial service.
"I came here to keep the memory of this event alive in
Germany. Here, at this place, I feel immense grief and shame. Only
one who knows and accepts his past can find the path to a better
future," he stated.
"A half century after the end of the war Greeks and Germans
are proceeding together towards a common European future. Together
we have the opportunity to shape a European future of peace,
democracy and respect for human rights. In such a Europe
atrocities and destruction have no place. Young people have a
particular interest in resisting all forms of hatred, intolerance,
violations of human rights, barbarity and war."
In his response, President Stephanopoulos called the visit
"emotionally charged".
Referring to recent demands that Germany pay war reparations
to the victims of the 1941-44 occupation, the Greek President
stated that Germany can do more to alleviate the consequences of
the occupation massacres, as part of efforts to "lessen the
repercussions as well as the feelings, which no amount of
compensation can assuage."
[02] PASOK LEADER "GIVES IT ALL" AT THESSALONIKI RALLY
Addressing a massive rally held in Thessaloniki last night, a
city which has traditionally thrown its support to the
conservative main opposition party of New Democracy, Prime
Minister and ruling PASOK party leader Costas Simitis expressed
his confidence that the present government will emerge victorious
in Sunday's parliamentary elections.
Deemed as the most significant stop of his campaign trail,
Mr. Simitis stressed that Thessaloniki is the capital city of the
Balkans, and can serve as a point of reference therein since
Greece is a force of peace, cooperation and development throughout
the region.
PASOK envisages the city as the hub of financial and economic
services in the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean, according to
Mr. Simitis, who also pledged that the city will soon be endowed
with a significant transportation system, including a subway in
four years, vast tourism and athletic facilities and a research
and technology center.
The Premier lashed against New Democracy leader Costas
Karamanlis, who had held his party's rally in Thessaloniki the
previous night, and stated that the main opposition's pledges for
"less state" would lead to chaos.
"What does New Democracy's 'less state' mean? It means that
in place of the social state we will find the merciless, iron hand
of the market. Whatever we built over four years can be overturned
in a few months with the liberal prescriptions of New Democracy's
apprentice-magicians." Mr. Simitis stated.
Pointing out that the ruling party has achieved a great
number of national victories, Mr. Simitis underlined that the
following four-year term will be focused on employment, social
cohesion and welfare.
The Premier also referred to repatriated Greeks from Pontus,
stating that the state's policy is to provide them with dignified
conditions for assimilating into the motherland.
[03] MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER OUTLINES PARTY'S POLICY
Main opposition leader, New Democracy's Costas Karamanlis,
reiterated yesterday that his party's priorities for the state's
economic growth consist of forceful and expeditious economic and
social development measures.
In a press conference held in Athens yesterday, Mr.
Karamanlis kept to his theme, stating that boosting measures will
include a minimum monthly pension of 150,000 drachmas,
unemployment benefits amounting to 60 percent of the minimum wage
and measures in support of farmers and small and middle-sized
enterprises.
[04] PASOK COUNTERS MUDSLINGING CHARGES WITH ROSES
The head of ruling PASOK party's election campaign,
Environment Minister Costas Laliotis, responded to the main
opposition party's accusations of forthcoming mudslinging with a
bouquet of roses, opting for the high road instead.
In a press conference held in Athens yesterday, Mr. Laliotis
stated that the New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis should not
expect "backstabbing" from PASOK, but, rather, should look within
his own party for such acts.
Mr. Karamanlis stated that he was glad PASOK realized what
New Democracy had stated all along, that is, the two can hold a
serious dialogue without divisive lines.
[05] BOMB EXPLODES AT MIELE STORE IN THESSALONIKI
A makeshift bomb exploded at the German firm "Miele" store in
Thessaloniki, causing extensive material damages to the premises.
According to the police report, the unknown culprits placed
gas canisters at the store's entrance, destroying the facade.
Police speculate that the attack could be related to the
arrival of German President Johannes Rau in Thessaloniki.
[06] COLLAPSED BUILDING OWNER'S PROPERTY SEALED
A temporary seal has been placed by the courts on the
property of an owner and builder Athens, on whose land an
apartment building collapsed in the September 7 devastating
earthquake, killing 16 residents.
The seal follows a suit lodged by relatives of the deceased
which will be heard on May 22.
[07] OECD CLASSIFIED REPORT ON GREEK ECONOMY OPENS
A classified report of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) presents a package of measures
for the Greek economy, among them market liberalization and
competition development, incentives for new activities and jobs,
greater degree of decentralization, updating the public
administration sector and an expert committee to the premier.
According to the Athens daily "Imerisia", the report - to be
published at the end of the year - will include proposals to
strengthen the country's economic development and to establish
strong "management" at all levels, ranging from local
administration to the state government.
The report is said to emphasize structural reforms which need
to be "expedited" and deepen.
Following a series of contacts held by an OECD delegation
late last month in Athens with state officials and representatives
from the private sector, the Organization concluded that the
country lacks conditions of competitiveness.
[08] CRIME IS ON THE DECLINE IN GREECE
According to statistical data provided by the Greek ministry
of public order, which are published on the Athens newspaper "TO
VIMA", the crime linked to foreigners is on the decline since the
start of the year.
In the first two months of 2000, the involvement of
foreigners in crimes dropped by 5% compared to the same period in
1999 as from 37% it dropped to 32%.
Also, on the decline is the so-called small-medium crime and
this is attributed to the increase of the police foot patrols, the
mass deportations of illegal immigrants and the new measures
adopted by the ministry of public order for the more effective
control of illegal immigration.
However, Greek Police officers and ministry officials
continue to believe that the problem remains big as one out of
three perpetrators is a foreigner.
According to the figures provided, the foreigners arrested
for murders in 1999 were 92 and their number was increased by 20
compared to 1998, while the number of Greeks in this crime
category dropped from 203 to 184 in the same period of time.
[09] MARGINAL LOSSES OF 0.01% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
The Athens Stock Exchange had marginal losses today of 0.01%
at 4.813,02 points and the volume of transactions reached 147
billion drachmas.
According to stock market analysts, it is very impressive
that the general index had losses in spite of the fact that the
majority of the secondary indexes had gains or just marginal
losses.
[10] RAU: REPARATIONS ARE IMPOSSIBLE BUT A GOODWILL GESTURE IS
POSSIBLE
Germany is not willing to pay reparations to the Greek
relatives of Nazi victims during WWII but it can make a goodwill
gesture, according to German president Johannes Rau, who visited
Thessaloniki today. Mr. Rau also said that the war reparations
issue is complicated and he can not give a response himself as he
does not represent neither the government nor the opposition of
his country.
Mr. Rau arrived at the Airport of Thessaloniki where he was
welcomed by minister of Macedonia-Thrace Yiannis Magriotis and
Thessaloniki's prefect Kostas Papadopoulos. The German president
visited the German School and responded to questions posed by its
students.
Responding to the question if Germany is willing to appeal to
the European Court in case the Greek courts rule that it must pay
reparations, Mr. Rau stated that the problem will be solved
through talks between Greece and his country. At the same time, he
reminded that the Greek side can not have claims anymore based on
the treaty it had signed with Germany in 1960. He said that the
reparation talks concern the forced labor and added that on that
issue there could be a goodwill gesture.
To the question on what will happen if the government that
will be elected on April 9 persists on the issue of reparations,
Mr. Rau responded that he believes that the Greek government with
Karamanlis or Simitis as the prime minister will not persist on
the issue and will accept a goodwill gesture.
To the question if there will be a problem in the European
Union in case there is a change in the Greek government, Mr. Rau
responded that the EU is strong to tolerate any change of
government.
In the German president's itinerary during his stay in
Thessaloniki was not included a visit to the Monument for the
city's 50.000 Jews or to the region of Hortiatis, outside
Thessaloniki, where over 200 Greeks were executed during WWII.
Thessaloniki's Jewish Community president Andreas Sefiha
commenting on this pointed out that the German president did not
have the courage to pay homage to the thousands of the city's Jews
who were the victims of the Nazis.
[11] CLOSE RACE FOR THE TWO MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES
The suspense for the leading members of the two main
political parties has reached its peak regarding the outcome of
the April 9 parliamentary elections as any prediction is ruled out
because the race is very close for the two main political parties
and the number of the undecided voters is still considerable.
ALKO opinion poll company director Kostas Panagopoulos stated
to the Athens radio station "Alpha News 98.7" that it is the most
uncertain election race experienced in Greece after the
restoration of democracy in the country in 1974.
Meanwhile, right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy
spokesman Aris Spiliotopoulos launched an attacked on the
government stating that it falsifies reality by using misleading
ads, while he maintained that the pensioners have suffered a
considerable cut in their purchase power in the period 1996-1999.
[12] THE GOVERNMENT GUARANTEES THAT OTE WILL REMAIN UNDER STATE
CONTROL
Minister of national economy Yiannos Papantoniou visited the
Greek Telecommunications Organization, OTE, building in Athens
today and characterized the organization as a model public
company.
The minister also announced that the government guarantees
that OTE will remain under state control, underlining that the
Greek character of the organization is secured, while he clarified
that the state will remain in control of the national health
system as well.
[13] POLITICAL SPRING LEADING MEMBERS BACK PASOK
Right-wing Political Spring party leading members from across
Greece announced that they back governing socialist party of PASOK
in the April 9 parliamentary elections.
In a meeting today that was held in the presence of Ms. Vaso
Papandreou, Political Spring former candidate Pantelis Maravelias
stated to the prime minister that after a mature thought the
leading members of the party decided to back PASOK and the prime
minister and expressed the hope that this fact will give a special
impetus to this crucial election race.
From his side, prime minister Kostas Simitis stated that the
presence of the leading members of Political Spring shows that
PASOK's intention for wider cooperation has become a reality.
[14] RAU: TURKEY DOES NOT MEET THE PRECONDITIONS FOR EU ACCESSION
Turkey can belong to Europe but at this moment it does not
meet the preconditions for EU accession, stated German president
Johannes Rau responding to questions posed by students of the
German School in Thessaloniki. The German president underlined
that in the Helsinki EU Summit meeting the European states
together with Greece recognized Turkey as a candidate state for EU
accession but there should be certain negotiations with the
country before it becomes a member of the European Union.
Mr. Rau pointed out that in Europe there is freedom of
expression, the human rights and international law are respected
and the death penalty has been abolished, meaning that the
situation in Turkey is different. He said that there has been
progress in Turkey but it is not enough and the necessary
preconditions still are not present for its accession into the
European Union, adding that it is up to Turkey itself to meet
those preconditions.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] NATIONAL BANK BUYS STOPANSKA MAJORITY STAKE
The National Bank of Greece bought a 65 percent stake of
FYROM's largest commercial bank Stopanska Banka yesterday,
earmarking the start of a wider reform of the banking sector.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) purchased a
further 10 percent each.
[16] DESMOND TUTU AWARDED ATHENAGORAS PRIZE
The President of the Council of Greeks Abroad (SAE) Andrew
Athens was the keynote speaker at a recent ceremony where this
year's Athenagoras Prize for Human Rights was bestowed upon the
Archbishop of South Africa Desmond Tutu.
Established in 1986, the Prize is named after Ecumenical
Patriarch Athenagoras who served as the Archbishop of America from
1930-48.
Archbishop Tutu was honored for his fight against apartheid
and human/religious rights struggles.
[17] ENCOURAGING FIGURES ON UNEMPLOYMENT
The unemployment rate was steady at 9.5% in the Euro-zone
countries in the month of February compared to the revised
unemployment percentage in January, according to the European
Union statistics agency, Eurostat.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in all EU member-states was
at 8.8% in February, while last year the unemployment rate in all
15 EU member-states was at 10.3% and in the 11 Euro-zone countries
was at 9.5%.
Luxembourg had the smallest unemployment rate at 2.2%,
followed by Holland at 2.7%, Austria 3.5% and Denmark 4.9%, while
the biggest unemployment rate was recorded in Spain at 15.2%.
In Greece, the available figures show that 10.3% of the
active population is outside the job market.
[18] MOVING HUMANITARIAN INTEREST ON BEHALF OF THE GREEK EMBASSY
IN TIRANA
The humanitarian interest showed by the Greek embassy in
Tirana in the drama of an Albanian citizen is promoted by the
Albanian newspaper "Koha Yone".
According to the newspaper, young Luan Laha from Gramci died
from frostbite in his effort to enter Greece illegally from the
prefecture of Kozani, in the north-west, in February 1995. His
father Zaho Laha expressed the wish to bring his son's remains to
Albania and the only institution that showed interest on the issue
was the Greek embassy in Tirana.
The Greek embassy's press office called the "Koha Yone"
offices and asked for assistance in the effort to locate the
father of the young Albanian who died in Greece and the consul
general asked for a meeting with him.
The newspaper accused the Albanian foreign ministry of
indifference in the demand of the dead man's father and concluded
by writing that the Greek embassy in Tirana is more interested in
the case than the Albanian foreign ministry itself.
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