Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-10-25
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, October 25, 2000
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
TITLES
[01] GREEK PM ATTENDS S.E. EUROPE' SUMMIT IN FYROM
[02] GREEK PUBLIC ORDER MINISTER CONDUCTS VISIT TO UK
[03] GREEK PM OUTLINES BALKAN POLICY ON FYROM TV
[04] SAMINA EXPRESS CREW SUE SHIPOWNER FOR DAMAGES
[05] STATE TO GREEK CONSUMERS: NO SUSPECT MEAT HERE
[06] PRESIDENT IN THESSALONIKI FOR PATRON SAINT DAY
[07] GREEK-TURKISH TOURISM ACCORD RATIFIED & SHELVED
[08] PM-ARCHBISHOP ICE BROKEN AT PATRIARCHAL DINNER
[09] NATO VINDICATES GREECE REGARDING THE AEGEAN
[10] MARGINAL LOSSES OF 0.15% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[11] MARIA GEORGATOY IS IN NO HEALTH RISK
[12] HITIRIS: A SIMITIS-ECEVIT MEETING IS NOT RULED OUT
[13] ACTING GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: NATO'S LEGAL DEPARTMENT VINDICATES THE
GREEK POSITIONS
[14] THE YOUNG GREEKS PREFER TO WATCH THE NEWS ON TELEVISION
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] THIRD TIME'S A CHARM, ANOTHER SILVER FOR GREECE
[16] GOLD MEDALS FOR GREECE IN SYDNEY'S PARALYMPIC GAMES
[17] BRONZE MEDAL FOR GREECE IN THE WOMEN'S 50M BACKSTROKE
[18] GOLD MEDAL FOR GREECE IN THE LONG JUMP F11 CATEGORY
[19] SIMITIS-ECEVIT MEETING
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREEK PM ATTENDS S.E. EUROPE' SUMMIT IN FYROM
Prime Minister Costas Simitis is to depart for FYROM today,
where he will take part in the summit conference of of
Southeastern Europe's state and government leaders.
The summit will feature the participation of Greece,
Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Albania and FYROM.
According to reports, Mr. Simitis is expected to promote a
climate of investment that will facilitate relevant initiatives,
while he will also stress that Greece is interested in FYROM's
stability and regional security and that the country is opposed to
any whatsoever effort to change the region's existing borders.
The conference is taking place three days prior to the local
elections in Kosovo, which Yugoslavia's president-elect Voijslav
Kostunica has already termed as "untimely and wrong" as, he said,
LDK party leader Ibrahim Rugova is seeking national elections that
will lead to Kosovo's independence.
[02] GREEK PUBLIC ORDER MINISTER CONDUCTS VISIT TO UK
Public Order Minister Mihalis Chrysochoides is presently
conducting a two-day official visit to London, where he met
yesterday with British Interior Minister Jack Straw.
Their talks, which Secretary Straw characterized as
constructive, focused on the Greek police department's ongoing
investigation in the murder of Brig. Stephen Saunders, who was
killed by the November 17 notorious terrorist group last June.
In a press conference yesterday, Mr. Chrysochoides said that
the Greek government, which has decided against hiring private
companies as security advisers for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games,
will recruit foreign police officers, either in active service or
retired, who are specialized in Olympic Games security to be used
by Greece as official advisers.
The Minister stated that he has forwarded relevant letters to
various countries, including Britain, Spain and the US, and will
also be sending a letter to Australia.
Mr. Chrysochoides is accompanied by a delegation that
includes Greek Police Chief Ioannis Georgakopoulos and senior
ministry officials. Divided into two groups on the first day of
the visit, the first group dealt with legislative issues, while
the second called on Scotland Yard where it was briefed primarily
on operational and human rights issues.
The Greek delegation will also meet with the U.K.'s Alternate
Foreign Minister for European Affairs Keith Vaz during a
conference on terrorism.
[03] GREEK PM OUTLINES BALKAN POLICY ON FYROM TV
In a message broadcast on the state-owned television channel
of FYROM, Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis outlined Greece's
Balkan policy and emphasized the importance of the region's
integration in Euro-Atlantic structures.
"Greece believes that the European prospect of Balkan
countries and their integration in the Euro-Atlantic structures of
security and defense are a sine qua non in the current system of
international relations," said the Greek Premier, who is presently
in Skopje for the summit conference of Southeastern Europe's state
and government leaders. The summit will feature the participation
of Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Albania and
FYROM.
Mr. Simitis added that "this is the first ever visit by a
Greek prime minister to FYROM, taking place during the Balkan
Summit, and this fact has its own self evident importance.
"The Balkan Summit is taking place, this year, in light of
the recent positive developments in Yugoslavia and signals the
beginning of a new era for the sensitive region of Southeastern
Europe."
At the sidelines of the summit, Mr. Simitis will meet with
leaders of other Balkan countries, including the prime minister of
FYROM, Yugoslavia's new president and the Albanian president.
According to reports, the central issue to be discussed
during the summit will be the situation in Yugoslavia, as the
summit is taking place only three days before local elections in
Kosovo.
[04] SAMINA EXPRESS CREW SUE SHIPOWNER FOR DAMAGES
Eighteen crewmembers of the Samina Express ferry that sank
last month with the lost of 80 lives have filed a lawsuit seeking
compensation from the ship's owning company Minoan Flying Dolphins
(MFD), while an Athens court has banned MDF from selling or
transferring its fixed assets, pending the hearing of all
compensation actions filed by the shipwreck's survivors and the
victims' bereaved relatives.
The crewmembers are seeking a total of 2.9 billion drachmas
from MFD, claiming that the sinking has rendered them nervous
wrecks.
So far, 19 MFD has been served with 19 claims related to the
Samina Express sinking, cumulatively amounting to 11 billion
drachmas.
[05] STATE TO GREEK CONSUMERS: NO SUSPECT MEAT HERE
Greece has not imported any amount of French beef suspected
of having been contaminated with the "mad cow" disease, according
to the country's Undersecretary of Agriculture Fotis
Hatzimihalis.
The announcement came one day after reports that over a ton
of contaminated beef was pulled from the shelves of a supermarket
in France and parts of the infected meat may have made it to the
French seller's stores in Greece.
Yesterday, the Agriculture Ministry ordered the temporary
confiscation of dozens of tons imported from France for
distribution by the Carrefour, DIA and Marinopoulos supermarkets.
The meat was released for distribution today, after the state
received assurances from the French government and the European
Union that the said beef is not part of the lot withdrawn in
France for further health reviews.
[06] PRESIDENT IN THESSALONIKI FOR PATRON SAINT DAY
The President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos
will arrive in Thessaloniki this evening to attend this week's
festivities in Thessaloniki held in honor of the city's patron
Saint Demetrius (October 26) and the anniversary of the city's
liberation (October 28).
The holy icon of St. Demetrius will be carried in procession
tomorrow, October 25, while a doxology will be performed on
October 26, at the city's monumental St. Demetrius Church.
On the 28th of October, the President will lay a wreath at
the 3rd Army Corps and will attend the military parade. The events
will also be attended by the Minister of Defense Akis
Tsochatzopoulos, who will represent the Premier, while the
government will be represented by the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace
George Paschalides.
[07] GREEK-TURKISH TOURISM ACCORD RATIFIED & SHELVED
A Greek-Turkish cooperation accord pertaining to matters of
tourism was ratified last night by the Hellenic Parliament's Cross-
Party Committee on Production and Trade, but was subsequently
shelved in light of the provocative behavior displayed recently by
the neighboring country during NATO's military maneuver "Destined
Glory".
The committee's members have requested that the Speaker of
the House Apostolos Kaklamanis refrain from posting the said
accord on the parliamentary agenda, until Turkey's clarifies it
aims.
There are also reports that an additional eight G/T accords
signed by the Greek and Turkish Foreign Ministers, George
Papandreou and Ismael Cem, respectively, and pertaining to "low
policy" affairs, are not to be ratified in the near future.
[08] PM-ARCHBISHOP ICE BROKEN AT PATRIARCHAL DINNER
The Archbishop of Athens and All of Greece Christodoulos and
Prime Minister Costas Simitis met again last night at a formal
dinner the latter hosted for the Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos
in Athens, after a long period of silence created over the
identification card issue, where the Church objects to the state's
decision to omit the listing of religion from the cards.
Addressing his guests, Mr. Simitis stated that "at a time
when real vision is often confused with false visions, an era that
easily slides into demagoguery and the clamor of the mob
concealing the spiritual essence of matters, the word of the
Phanar inspires and spiritually elevates Orthodoxy."
[09] NATO VINDICATES GREECE REGARDING THE AEGEAN
A NATO document that was published today by the Athens
newspaper "TA NEA" vindicates Greece's positions regarding the
Turkish claims in the Aegean. Specifically, the NATO document has
as follows:
"Concerning the flights over the Aegean islands during
Exercise Destined Glory, the opinion of the Office of the Legal
Adviser is the following.
The Treaty of Lausanne (1923) ordered the demilitarization of
the certain islands in the Aegean. The treaty was followed by the
Treaty of Montreaux (1936), which makes no mention of the
demilitarization. Since the Montreaux Treaty expressly states in
the Preamble that it replaces the Lausanne Treaty ( and not only
some parts of it), our opinion is that the Lausanne Treaty is not
in effect now, therefore the demilitarization clauses no longer
apply.
Should the Lausanne Treaty apply, even in that case it is
questionable whether it forbids overflights by military (State)
aircraft. When defining the meaning of demilitarization, the
treaty specifically does not mention such a ban even though it may
only be so because the level of technical development did not make
it necessary in 1923. The status of the island of Ikaria is
covered by the Lausanne Treaty of Peace (1923), which is still in
effect. This treaty does not order a complete demilitarization,
just stipulates that, "No naval base and no fortification will be
established in the said islands." (Art.13.1) This definitely does
not mean that no military aircraft can fly over Ikaria. Greek and
Turkish military aircraft are forbidden to fly over the territory
of one another only.
In conclusion, our opinion is that there is no legal obstacle
to the overflights in the concerned area during the exercise. This
statement has been ratified by SHAPE Legal dept."
[10] MARGINAL LOSSES OF 0.15% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
The Athens Stock Exchange had marginal losses of 0.15% today
and the general index was at 3.749,08 points.
The volume of transactions was very small at 68.8 billion
drachmas. The intense fluctuations, nervousness and the fact that
the investors' purchasing interest focused on the blue chips were
the characteristics of today's session. Of the stocks trading
today 95 had gains, 255 recorded losses and 29 remained unchanged.
[11] MARIA GEORGATOY IS IN NO HEALTH RISK
There is no health risk for Maria Georgatou. The 17yearold
bronze Olympic medallist in the gymnastics team fell and hit her
head during training. This morning she underwent surgery in
Athens' General State Hospital where the doctors removed a
haematoma from her head.
She is in the intensive care unit for precautionary reasons
and according to the doctors, her post-surgery course is
developing without problems.
[12] HITIRIS: A SIMITIS-ECEVIT MEETING IS NOT RULED OUT
Undersecretary of press Tilemachos Hitiris, who is acting
government spokesman, did not rule out the likelihood of a meeting
between Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis and his Turkish
counterpart Bulent Ecevit on the sidelines of the Balkan Summit
meeting in Skopje.
Mr. Hitiris stated that there is no scheduled meeting between
the two leaders but this likelihood is not ruled out. The
undersecretary of press stated that Mr. Simitis will not request a
meeting but if a meeting is requested by the Turkish prime
minister then Mr. Simitis will decide what he will do.
[13] ACTING GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: NATO'S LEGAL DEPARTMENT
VINDICATES THE GREEK POSITIONS
NATO's legal department vindicated the Greek positions and
Greece's stance and after the latest developments Turkey is
exposed both by the statements it has made and its actions,
underlined acting government spokesman and undersecretary of press
Tilemachos Hitiris.
He also added that the Turkish allegations on the
demilitarization of the airspace are invalid and reiterated that
the withdrawal of the Greek forces from the NATO exercise
"Destined Glory" was the right thing to do for Greece.
Mr. Hitiris said that Greece will raise the issue in NATO's
international fora and stated that the Greek National Defense
General Staff Chief will deliver the complete file on the exercise
and the Greek positions to his counterparts, who will participate
in the NATO states Armed Forces Chiefs Council meeting on November
9.
[14] THE YOUNG GREEKS PREFER TO WATCH THE NEWS ON TELEVISION
The young Greeks, 15-18 years old, prefer to watch the news
on television but this does not mean that they do not read
newspapers, according to a research by Dr. Sophia Aslanidou
included in her book under the title "The myth of the passive
viewer".
According to the research, 59.2% of the young Greeks read
newspapers and 72.5% of them prefer the political newspapers.
However, 79.4% prefer to watch the news on television, 13.1%
prefer the printed news and 7.5% the radio.
Most of them, 57.3% prefer television because it combines
image and sound, 24% because they think it is more reliable and
7.6% because they believe that communication is more direct
through the television.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] THIRD TIME'S A CHARM, ANOTHER SILVER FOR GREECE
Bringing home a third silver medal in Sydney's Paralympics
Games, Greece's Eleni Samaritaki finished second in the women's
200 m finals yesterday, with 34.55.
Britain's Caroline Innes finished first with 32.90, while
Hong Kong's Chun Lai Yu became the bronze medalist with 34.88.
Samaritaki has also snatched the silver medal in Monday's 400-
meter race, while Vangelis Bakolas earned the silver medal
Tuesday in the Men's shotput category.
[16] GOLD MEDALS FOR GREECE IN SYDNEY'S PARALYMPIC GAMES
Greece won its second gold medal in Sydney's Paralympic
Games. Stephanos Anargirou won the gold medal in the men's shotput
F55 category with a throw of 10m. The first gold was won by Kostas
Fikas in the men's 100m freestyle swimming S8 category when he
broke the world record with 1:02.50.
The second place and the silver medal in the men's shotput
F55 category was won by Czech Martin Nemec with a throw of 9.86m
and the bronze went to Germany's Ulrich Iser with 9.64m.
[17] BRONZE MEDAL FOR GREECE IN THE WOMEN'S 50M BACKSTROKE
Swimming offered one more Paralympic medal to Greece in
Sydney. Maria Kalpakidou won the bronze medal in the women's 50m
backstroke S2 category with 1:33.79.
The gold medal was won by Spain's Sara Carracelas with
1:21.20, which is a new Paralympic record, while the silver went
to Ireland's Mairead Berry with 1:22.85.
[18] GOLD MEDAL FOR GREECE IN THE LONG JUMP F11 CATEGORY
The Greek successes continue in Sydney's Paralympic Games. It
appears that today was a good day for the Greek champions who
managed to win many medals. A third gold medal was won by Greece
in today's events, this time in the men's long jump F11 category.
Greece's Thanasis Barakas with a 6.11m jump won the first
place after a difficult competition. The silver went to Spain's
Manuel Rodriguez with 6.09m and the bronze was won by China's Duan
Li with 5.99m.
[19] SIMITIS-ECEVIT MEETING
Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis had a 10-minute meeting
with his Turkish counterpart Bulent Ecevit during the luncheon
that was given within the framework of the SE European leaders
summit that is taking place in Skopje. The meeting was held in a
friendly atmosphere.
Prime minister Simitis stated to his Turkish counterpart that
Turkey's stance in the NATO exercise was negative. Mr. Ecevit
responded that a new circle of a dialogue will be opened and the
Greek prime minister responded that the Greek side has a clear
stance, its positions are known and it remains firm on that.
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