Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-04-19
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, April 19, 2000
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PANATHINAIKOS BEATS EFES PILSEN 81-71
[02] PORT STRIKE CALLED OFF IN THESSALONIKI, PIRAEUS
[03] PINTER SPEAKS TO MPA ON ALL CURRENT ISSUES
[04] NEW EDUCATION MINISTER SHELVES SCHOOL REFORMS
[05] PERES: WE HAVE AN OPEN MARRIAGE WITH TURKEY
[06] GREEK PRESIDENT TO VISIT CANADA IN MAY
[07] PRESIDENT OF CHINA TO VISIT GREECE ON FRIDAY
[08] MIT'S NEGROPONTE ON FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY
[09] BALKAN PROFESSORS TO MEET IN THESSALONIKI
[10] TURKISH DIPLOMATIC DELEGATION VISITS THESSALONIKI
[11] ND WILL HOLD ITS EXTRAORDINARY PARTY CONGRESS IN JUNE
[12] SHEARER: THE INTERVENTION IN KOSOVO WAS NOT A MISTAKE
[13] EUROLEAGUE: THE EFES LEADER WISHED SUCCESS TO PANATHINAIKOS
[14] ALI TUIGAN: THE GREEK-TURKISH FRIENDSHIP IS NOT GIVEN
[15] IMPRESSIVE GAINS IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[16] SHEARER: THE GREEK-US RELATIONS ARE BETTER THAN EVER
[17] ROMANIAN ECONOMY WEEK IN GREECE
[18] GREEK AND TURKISH JOURNALISTS WILL MEET IN RHODES
[19] THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER WILL MEET WITH THE PARENTS OF A
BABY-BOY HELD BY HIS EGYPTIAN GRANDFATHER
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[20] F.R.Y. FINES INDEPENDENT AGENCY BETA WITH $15,000
[21] AMERICA SAE YOUTH HOLDS FIRST CONFERENCE
[22] THE EU AGAINST SOCIAL ISOLATION
[23] ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE AID TO THE PEOPLE OF ETHIOPIA
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PANATHINAIKOS BEATS EFES PILSEN 81-71
Panathinaikos Athens beat Efes Pilsen of Turkey 81-71 in the
European Basketball Championship semifinal held in Thessaloniki
last night.
The Athens team will play with Maccabi Tel Aviv, which beat
Barcelona 65-51 earlier in the evening, in tomorrow's final.
[02] PORT STRIKE CALLED OFF IN THESSALONIKI, PIRAEUS
Workers at Greece's key ports of Thessaloniki and Piraeus
have called off a planned three-day strike , thanks to the
interevention of the newly-appointed Minister of Merchant Marine
Christos Papoutsis.
According to the Federation of Port Workers, the key points
of their collective bargaining agreement have been approved by the
state and are to be in enforcement until December 31, 2001.
[03] PINTER SPEAKS TO MPA ON ALL CURRENT ISSUES
World-renowned British playwright Harold Pinter received an
honorary Ph.D. by the English Literature department of the
Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki last night.
In an interview with the Macedonian Press Agency, Mr. Pinter
spoke on his work, his opposition to NATO's involvement in
Kossovo, the arrest of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and, overall,
the pessimism he holds for Europe's future, or the world's for
that matter.
A fervent opponent of the Alliance's operation in Kossovo,
Mr. Pinter stated that the outcome justified his point of view and
noted that his country bowed to US President Bill Clinton.
The British intellectual confided that he feels a sense of
loneliness in his own country, given his political beliefs and
stance. However, he added, he was impressed by the massive volume
of supporting letters he received from his compatriots once he
expressed his opposition to NATO's operation in Kossovo.
"I am not a politician. I live in a free country, I am free
and I think freely," he stated.
Regarding his work "Mountain Language", written for the
Kurdish people, Mr. Pinter stated that upon Ocalan's arrest last
year the British press has reported that the murderer of 30,000
people has been apprehended while, in reality, the playwright
added, the Turkish army was responsible for the killings. He
stressed that he has a very clear view of Turkey and is aware of
the country's torture practices.
Events held in his honor include the inauguration of an
exhibition of photographs, titled "Pinter on the Greek stage",
from 40 of the playwright's various works on Greek theater stages.
Mr. Pinter was born in London's East End and first appeared
as a playwright in 1957 with his plays "The Room" and "Birthday
Party". Of late, he has directed many of his plays.
[04] NEW EDUCATION MINISTER SHELVES SCHOOL REFORMS
Having wasted no time, newly-appointed Education Minister
Petros Efthymiou has postponed one of the more controversial
aspects of the education reform adopted by his predecessor,
Gerasimos Arsenis.
Mr. Efthymiou said that students in the first and second
years of high school will not have to sit for aptitude tests and,
instead, will be able to write the tests on May 12. The results
will not count toward their final marks - as was the original
plan.
He is expected to announce today the material that will be
covered during the exams.
[05] PERES: WE HAVE AN OPEN MARRIAGE WITH TURKEY
Addressing an Athens-held conference on S.E. Europe and the
eastern Mediterranean, former Israeli Premier and current Minister
for Regional Cooperation Shimon Peres underlined that Israel is
neither one of Turkey's allies, nor does it take part in the
Greek-Turkish dispute.
One of the keynote speakers at the roundtable discussion on
"Reconstruction, Development and Security in Southeastern Europe
and the Eastern Mediterranean", organized by The Economist
magazine, Mr. Peres stated that his country's cooperation with
Ankara should not be construed as a threat to anyone.
"Turkey and Israel are not a couple, they are co-existing in
an open marriage, which you could also join," he said
metaphorically.
Mr. Peres stressed that Israel has the same relations with
Ankara as it has with Athens.
Presently on a three-day visit to Greece, Mr. Peres met with
the President of the Hellenic Republic Costis Stephanopoulos,
Foreign Minister George Papandreou and other officials.
[06] GREEK PRESIDENT TO VISIT CANADA IN MAY
President of the Hellenic Republic Costis Stephanopoulos,
accompanied by Foreign Minister George Papandreou, will visit
Canada at the invitation of the country's General Governor
Adrienne Clarkson, from May 27 to June 2.
President Stephanopoulos is scheduled to meet with the
country's Greek expatriate community leaders, at the sidelines of
his official meetings with Canada's state leadership.
Expected to arrive in Ottawa on May 27, the President will
participate in a Greek Orthodox Liturgy in the city's cathedral on
May 28, while on May 29 he is to meet with Mme. Clarkson.
The Greek president, accompanied by a 30-member delegation of
Greek businessmen, will also visit Toronto and Montreal.
[07] PRESIDENT OF CHINA TO VISIT GREECE ON FRIDAY
The President of the People's Republic of China Jiang Zemin
is scheduled to arrive in Greece on Friday for a four-day visit at
the invitation of the President of the Hellenic Republic Costis
Stephanopoulos.
Following his arrival and reception by Stephanopoulos, Mr.
Zemin is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Costas Simitis, who
will also hold a dinner in honor of the Chinese president on
Saturday evening.
The Chinese President will also meet with the leader of the
main opposition party New Democracy's Costas Karamanlis ad will
visit the Hellenic Parliament, the Acropolis and the Panathinaiko
Stadium.
On Sunday Mr. Zemin will travel to Heraklion, Crete, where he
will visit the city's archaeological museum and Knossos. He will
depart for South Africa on Monday morning.
[08] MIT'S NEGROPONTE ON FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY
The Greek-American Professor of Media Technology and
researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nicholas
Negroponte, well known for his prognostications on the future of
technology, spoke extensively on the changes to occur in humanity
in the realm of the new, digital era, during a recent lecture
given at the Megaron Mela in Athens.
A world-renowned scientist, Mr. Negroponte has spent the last
30 years of his life predicting how and to what degree human life
will change as a result of developments in technology, while his
insights about the future of the world and its social structures
continue to astound people.
According to the Athens daily "Kathimerini", Mr. Negroponte
referred to the oncoming surprises in the digital era, how
technology will dominate daily life and how these changes will
affect the way we live, beginning with the Internet and its
application in all areas of life, from entertainment to
education.
Contrary to popular belief, "the future of technology,
belongs to everyone, not only to governments and large companies,"
he stated, adding that smaller countries which now present a
limited participation in cyberspace will take center stage in the
years to come.
"We'll see countries such as China and India acquiring a
leading role on the Internet, edging the United States and Europe,
and that will be the first major difference," he said.
Moreover, Mr. Negroponte believes that the future use of
computers will not be limited to communication tools but, rather,
will expand into all areas of daily life.
"Every type of machinery will be linked to the Internet and
will utilize its intelligence in order to execute commands," he
added.
Mr. Negroponte also added that tomorrow's adults, who will
have grown with the Internet, will be less burdened by
nationalism.
"Within the international environment of the Internet, they
will become more aware of the holistic nature of the world and the
global character of human existence" he stated.
The information technology sector, following the pace of
entrepreneurship demanded by the international market, is growing
and bearing fruit.
Referring to the ever-growing trend of e-commerce, Mr.
Negroponte stated that the consumer will have greater access to
the markets, and will, for example, be able to purchase a car
from the manufacturer, dealership, or insurance company.
Furthermore, he forecast that the future of school education
will be student-teacher-book interactive, in line with the
explosion in telecommunications.
In all, Mr. Negroponte finds that vital sectors of public
life such as health and public administration urgently need to be
modernized and the only way to do this is through digital
technology.
The founder of Wired magazine, Mr. Negroponte is also the
"father" of the MIT's Media Laboratory, a pioneering research
center for studying future forms of human communication. Currently
supported by nearly 170 corporations worldwide the Media Lab has
pioneered the development of now-familiar areas such as digital
video and multimedia.
A graduate of MIT, Professor Negroponte has taught at the
universities of Michigan, California (Berkeley) and Yale.
He is also author of the 1995 best-seller "Being Digital"
which has been translated into more than 40 languages.
[09] BALKAN PROFESSORS TO MEET IN THESSALONIKI
University professors from Greece and other Balkan countries
are to meet in Thessaloniki on Friday, within the framework of the
first regular General Assembly of the Balkan Association of
Pedagogics and Education (VEPE).
Presiding over VEPE is the Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki's literature professor Nikos Terzis, while the Board
of Directors comprises professors from Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus,
FYROM, Romania, Serbia and Turkey.
The General Assembly will elect its new Board of Directors,
while the Greek-Turkish committee will review matters pertaining
to the pedagogical conference to be held at Istanbul in September.
[10] TURKISH DIPLOMATIC DELEGATION VISITS THESSALONIKI
A seven-member delegation of Turkish diplomats visited the
Center of International and European Economic Law in Thessaloniki
today, within the framework of a series of bilateral contacts
initiated by Greece's and Turkey's foreign ministers, Messrs.
George Papandreou and Ismael Cem respectively.
The Greek side has offered to contribute, through the Center,
to the organization of training seminars aimed at Turkey's
adoption of
European ideals and principles.
The Turkish delegation was given a tour of the Center's
premises and was briefed on its activities.
Turkey's alternate undersecretary of foreign affairs Ulug
Ozulker told the Macedonian Press Agency that Turkey and Greece
share many characteristics and added that his country can benefit
from Greece's experience in regards to European Union issues.
"The difficulties Greece experienced during its (EU)
accession course and the advantages it enjoys today will
constitute an interesting example for us and will guide us to a
path for the course of accession to the EU," he stated.
[11] ND WILL HOLD ITS EXTRAORDINARY PARTY CONGRESS IN JUNE
Opposition conservative New Democracy leader Kostas
Karamanlis, speaking before the party's parliamentary group,
announced that the party's extraordinary congress will be held on
June 3 and 4.
He said that New Democracy will be changed through reforms in
its structure, organization and operation, while he reiterated
that it is the party of the center, pointing out that the choices
made in the period before the elections were not opportunistic.
On the April 9 election results, he said that New Democracy
increased its power by 5%, while referring to himself he said that
the party congress elected him to the presidency, adding that he
may have displeased certain people but his conscience is clean.
Honorary ND leader and former prime minister Konstantinos
Mitsotakis did not attend the parliamentary group meeting.
[12] SHEARER: THE INTERVENTION IN KOSOVO WAS NOT A MISTAKE
The view that the NATO intervention in Kosovo was a one-way
street when the negotiations with the Milosevic regime collapsed,
was expressed to Macedonian Press Agency by Derek Shearer, senior
researcher for the Economic Strategy Institute in Washington and
member of the Information Security Policy Advisory Commission.
He said that the decision to drive all the ethnic Albanians
out of Kosovo had been made a long time before by Slobodan
Milosevic and it was aimed at promoting his own political career.
Therefore, he said, if the international community was not quick
to intervene the war could have spread to other south-eastern
European countries resulting to even bigger human losses and huge
social effects. Mr. Shearer said that at first it was thought that
Europe had to handle the issue but in the end the US and NATO
intervention was necessary for the massacres to stop. He said that
negotiations continued until the last moment and when ambassador
Holbrooke went to Belgrade had told Milosevic that there could be
other ways to settle the crisis, but Milosevic reacted as if he
was not interested. It was like as if we were negotiating with
Hitler. At some point, you just stop talking and decide to stop
him, said the US official.
Mr. Shearer also stated that if Milosevic was not stopped in
Bosnia and Kosovo the war would have spread to south-eastern
Europe and things would have been even worse for the neighboring
countries of Kosovo, namely FYROM and Albania, while Greece and
Italy would suffer great consequences as the number of refugees
would be bigger, and the loss of life greater.
He also said that the NATO intervention was not a mistake and
the West is not responsible for the state of the Yugoslav economy,
adding that if Milosevic wanted a stable economy he could have
made different choices.
[13] EUROLEAGUE: THE EFES LEADER WISHED SUCCESS TO PANATHINAIKOS
The members of the Turkish basketball team Efes Pilsen
recognized the superiority of Panathinaikos after yesterday's semi-
final in Thessaloniki, in which the Athens team dominated with an
81-71 score.
Turkish team leader Ibrahim Kutluai wished success to
Panathinaikos in the rest of the tournament and stated that he and
his teammates will try for the best possible outcome in the small
final against Barcelona on Thursday afternoon.
[14] ALI TUIGAN: THE GREEK-TURKISH FRIENDSHIP IS NOT GIVEN
Turkish businessmen are in Greece to present their products
in the trade exhibition that opens tomorrow, while the Greek
businessmen will present their own products in Turkey in April
2001.
Turkish ambassador to Athens Ali Tuigan in an interview with
the newspaper "Imerisia" mentions that everything achieved so far
in bilateral relations must not be regarded as given and that
those who criticize this rapprochement should appreciate all that
have happened.
The nine agreements signed by the two countries are of vital
significance for both economies, stated the Turkish ambassador,
and specifically for sectors such as, tourism, trade, the safety
of the people. He said that the critics of the rapprochement
should wonder why all these did not happen earlier if they were so
easy to achieve as they maintain.
He said that the difficulties, pointed out in the letter sent
by Turkish foreign minister Ismail Cem, still exist in spite of
the progress in bilateral relations, adding that they are the
known issues concerning the disagreements over the Aegean and are
mainly agenda and methodology problems.
The Turkish ambassador said that proposals will be made when
the right time will come and added that there are certain circles
on both sides of the Aegean that wait for the right moment to say
that the rapprochement did not work and nothing has changed. Mr.
Tuigan expressed the wish that they will be proven wrong,
stressing that there are many things that have changed while he
added that maybe the problems still exist but the parameters of
the Greek-Turkish relations are different.
[15] IMPRESSIVE GAINS IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
Impressive gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange
today which are mainly due to the interest rates cuts announced by
the Bank of Greece and the positive course of the European and US
markets.
The general index recorded gains of 7.74% at 4.257,85 points,
while the volume of transactions was 178.8 billion drachmas. Of
the stocks trading today, 331 had gains and only 7 recorded
losses.
[16] SHEARER: THE GREEK-US RELATIONS ARE BETTER THAN EVER
The Greek government policy develops toward the right
direction even though important reforms have to be made in
different sectors, stated to MPA Derek Shearer, senior researcher
with the Economic Strategy Institute in Washington as well as,
international adviser for Ziff Brothers Investments and member of
the US Information Security Policy Advisory Commission.
He said that the social benefits and the economic development
are not incompatible prospects for Greece because there are
formulas that can bring a balance between the social benefits
offered by a government and the economic development target.
Mr. Shearer stated that the Greek-US relations are better
than ever and that the two countries now work as allies on a more
equal basis in order to deal with common problems.
He also said that the United States do not see the economic
strengthening of the European Union as a threat but on the
contrary, they support its expansion eastwards and toward the
former communist countries. He said that the expansion of the EU
distances the likelihood of conflicts and wars between European
economies that are linked with each other.
The US official, who in 1992 assisted the then governor Bill
Clinton in the election campaign for the US presidency and put his
mark on the campaign's economic program, also referred to the
prospects of the US economy.
He stated that its prospects remain positive, while he
characterized as "good" the recent correction in the Wall Street,
speculating that the next interest rate increase by the FED will
be between 0.25%-0.50%.
[17] ROMANIAN ECONOMY WEEK IN GREECE
Romanian Economy Week will be organized in Greece on June 5-9
by the East European Investment Institute in cooperation with the
Forum Invest Romania.
Bilateral business meetings will be held during the event,
while the Greek-Romanian Forum will take place on June 7.
The issues that will be discussed concern the funding
programs for the strengthening of cooperation with Greece, the
funding through banks, investments, capital markets and the access
to sums offered by the Greek state within the framework of the
Greek-Romanian programs.
The Forum Invest Romania maintain that the sum of US$78
million will be invested in the most important sectors of the
Romanian economy assisting the country in its effort to become a
member of the European Union through the Greek program for the
reconstruction of the Balkans.
[18] GREEK AND TURKISH JOURNALISTS WILL MEET IN RHODES
A Greek-Turkish meeting of journalists will be held in the
south-eastern Aegean island of Rhodes on May 26-28 organized by
the municipality of Rhodes. The meeting will also be attended by
representatives of Local Administration Organizations, Economic
and Commerce Chambers and scientific associations.
In the May meeting will take part 15 journalists, based on a
decision reached by the Lasting Contact and Cooperation Group of
Greek Journalists and Mass Media that met in Istanbul.
The topic of the meeting will be the mass media, the local
societies, the local administration, economic, scientific and
professional activities and tourism as elements for the
improvement of relations between the people of Greece and Turkey.
[19] THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER WILL MEET WITH THE PARENTS OF A
BABY-BOY HELD BY HIS EGYPTIAN GRANDFATHER
Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou will meet tomorrow
morning with Greek Ioannis Diamantis and his Egyptian wife Mohamad
Fati Ali Ahmet Zihan whose 20month old baby-boy is held by his
grandfather in Egypt against the will of his parents since last
August.
Mr. Papandreou will examine with them what measures can be
taken in order to settle this human tragedy.
The Muslim grandfather objects to the fact that his daughter
is married to a Christian and demands that the couple gets a
divorce before giving the child back to its mother.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[20] F.R.Y. FINES INDEPENDENT AGENCY BETA WITH $15,000
Charged with violating laws pertaining to information,
Belgrade's independent news agency BETA has been slapped with a
$15,000 fine by the courts of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,
following a lawsuit filed by the country's Minister of Information
Goran Matic.
Held personally liable in the lawsuit, BETA's general
director Radomir Diklic and editor in chief Ljubica Markovic were
prosecuted for reporting on rallies conducted last week by the
opposition party's youth supporters, held in the memory of the
assassinated editor in chief of the "Dnevni Telegraf" daily Slavko
Curuvia.
In his lawsuit, Mr. Matic claimed that the news report
constituted an act of personal defamation against him.
The Yugoslav minister of information lodged a similar lawsuit
against the independent daily "Blic" however the court opined that
the newspaper merely ran the news report from BETA's wire and, as
such, was not guilty of any wrongdoing.
[21] AMERICA SAE YOUTH HOLDS FIRST CONFERENCE
The Youth Chapter of the Council of Greeks Abroad - America
(SAE) has held its first conference in Chicago, featuring the
attendance of young persons from the United states, Latin America
and Canada.
The event was saluted by Greece's Consul General in Chicago
Gabriel Koptsides and the Education Ministry's special adviser
Ioannis Eftimopoulos, while SAE America's vice-president Christos
s Tomaras was the master of ceremonies.
In his address, Mr. Tomaras referred to the youth chapter's
role within SAE and stressed the need for unity in order to
preserve the Greek ideals.
The conference appointed an 11-member committee which will
oversee six subcommittees.
[22] THE EU AGAINST SOCIAL ISOLATION
The European Commission can contribute to the efforts aimed
at ending the social isolation of all sensitive groups, including
the population groups in transit, like the gypsies, pointed out EU
Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou responding to a question by Greek
Euro-deputy from the opposition conservative party of New
Democracy Ms. Marietta Yianakou.
Ms. Diamantopoulou stated that the tackling of isolation has
become a goal for the EU members since the Treaty of Amsterdam,
adding that the main responsibility for the prevention and
countering of social isolation belongs to the EU member-states.
She said that the recent proposals against discrimination that
were approved by the EU Commission ban racially and ethnically
motivated discrimination at work and in education, in social
protection and security, social benefits and access to goods and
services.
[23] ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE AID TO THE PEOPLE OF ETHIOPIA
Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos sent the sum of US$ 20.000
to Patriarch Pavlos of Ethiopia for the purchase of food that will
be distributed to the people of this African country after the
very difficult situation that was created by the long drought.
This is the first part of the aid that will be sent to
Ethiopia after a decision by the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Holy
Synod.
Famine threatens 8 million people in the country and an
additional 8 million in the wider region. According to the World
Food Program, Ethiopia will need in the current year at least
800.000 tons of food to cover the needs of its people.
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