Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-10-30
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, October 30, 2000
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
TITLES
[01] PROFOUND GRIEF FOR DEATH OF PROFESSOR PETRIDES
[02] MPA TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF ITS LATE PRESIDENT
[03] BALKAN POST OFFICE UNIONS MEET IN THESSALONIKI
[04] G/T BUSINESS CONFERENCE IN ATHENS THIS WEEK
[05] INNER CABINER TO EXAMINE 2001 BUDGET TOMORROW
[06] INTERPOL HOLDS ANNUAL ASSEMBLY IN RHODES
[07] CORRUPTION PERVADES PUBLIC LIFE, NOT JUST POLITICS
[08] THE PRIME MINISTER EXPRESSED HIS GRIEF FOR PAVLOS PETRIDIS'
DEATH
[09] LOSSES OF 0.01% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[10] THE GREEK-TURKISH AGREEMENTS WERE FROZEN
[11] THE GREEK GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON THE GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS
[12] REPPAS: THE ROLE OF THE US IS DECISIVE FOR THE SOLUTION OF
THE CYPRUS PROBLEM
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[13] KOSOVO: OSCE TO ANNOUNCE OFFICIAL RESULTS TODAY
[14] "MAD COW" HUMAN FORM RESISTANT TO STERILIZATION
[15] DEFICIT OF 1 BILLION EURO IN THE EURO-ZONE TRADE BALANCE IN
AUGUST
[16] ROMPRES SENT ITS CONDOLENCES FOR THE LOSS OF PAVLOS PETRIDIS
[17] PLASKOVITIS' VISIT TO SOFIA
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PROFOUND GRIEF FOR DEATH OF PROFESSOR PETRIDES
Thessaloniki's academic, intellectual and political
communities have expressed in unison their profound grief over the
early loss of professor Pavlos Petrides, President of the
Macedonian Press Agency's Board of Directors, who died on October
28 from heart failure. He was 54 years old.
Statements of condolences have been issued by a great number
of leading political figures -representing the full spectrum of
Greek political parties- and academics.
The Secretary General of the ruling PASOK party's Central
Committee Costas Skandalides characterized professor Petrides's
death as "an untimely loss for the academic community and civic
life."
Minister of National Defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos also
expressed his condolences "for the loss of a man whose death
leaves behind an irreplaceable void."
The leader of the main opposition party, New Democracy's
Costas Karamanlis, stated that "we shall remember Pavlos Petrides
for his vast authorship and for his tenure as president of the
Macedonian Press Agency, during which the MPA emerged as an
information leader in the Balkan region."
Professor Petrides taught civic and constitutional history at
the Law School of Thessaloniki's Aristotle University, while he
had also collaborated with the University of Vienna and numerous
other academic institutions.
Prior to undertaking the chairmanship of MPA's Board of
Directors in 1994, professor Petrides had also served as president
of the National Lyrical Stage and the State School of Orchestral
Art, as well as vice-president of "George Papandreou Foundation".
A distinguished scholar and academic, professor Petrides'
input and guidance as the president of the MPA's board of
directors was instrumental in the organization's rapid development
and institutional advancement into a leading source of news
pertaining to the Balkans, regional economies, and the Greek
community abroad.
With his invaluable guidance and input, the MPA organized
four successful Balkan conferences themed after regional
cooperation, as well as two symposiums concerning Rigas
Velestinlis and Eleftherios Venizelos-Alexandros Papanastasiou.
A prolific writer, professor Petrides authored over 40 books,
the majority of which pertain to modern Greek history,
particularly the European policy of Greece's first president
Ioannis Kapodistrias, the civil war period (1943-50), George
Papandreou and the Cyprus issue (1954-65), etc.
His funeral will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow, October 31, at
the Church of Aghia Sophia in Thessaloniki. He is survived by his
wife Lina.
[02] MPA TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF ITS LATE PRESIDENT
The Macedonian Press Agency is mourning the loss of the
president of its board of directors professor Pavlos Petrides, who
died early Saturday morning from heart failure at the age of 54.
He will be laid to rest tomorrow, October 31, at the church of
Aghia Sophia in Thessaloniki.
The MPA will honor the memory of its late president, as per a
series of resolutions drawn at a special board session wherein it
decided that the entire board will attend his funeral together.
The board members also decided that a GRD500,000 award of ethics
and integrity will be established in the honor of the late
Petrides, to be bestowed annually upon a select member of the MPA
staff.
A distinguished scholar and academic, professor Petrides
contribution and leadership were instrumental in the
organization's rapid development and institutional advancement
into a leading source of news pertaining to the Balkans, regional
economies, and the Greek community abroad.
With his invaluable guidance and input, the MPA organized
four successful Balkan conferences themed after regional
cooperation, as well as two symposiums concerning Rigas
Velestinlis and Eleftherios Venizelos-Alexandros Papanastasiou.
He will be missed.
[03] BALKAN POST OFFICE UNIONS MEET IN THESSALONIKI
The first Balkan Postal Conference is to get underway in
Thessaloniki today, featuring the participation of delegations
from Balkan post office unions.
The two-day event will be addressed by the Minister of
Macedonia-Thrace George Paschalides and the Minister of
Transportation and Communications -responsible for post office
matters- Alekos Voulgaris, as well as labor union officials from
Greece.
The participants are to discuss a wide variety of issues,
including peace, solidarity and cooperation in the Balkan region,
as well as developments in the postal sector and their
consequences in the sectors of finance and labor.
[04] G/T BUSINESS CONFERENCE IN ATHENS THIS WEEK
The second Greek-Turkish business cooperation conference will
be held in Athens on November 2-3, titled "Greece - Turkey - EU:
Opportunities for business and economic cooperation".
Turkey's former vice-president and ex-foreign minister Mesut
Yilmaz will be taking part in the conference heading the Turkish
delegation and will be a keynote speaker. According to reports,
Mr. Yilmaz is expected to meet with Prime Minister Costas Simitis
and Foreign Minister George Papandreou.
The two-day event will give the delegates the opportunity to
be briefed by EU commissioners on community regulations regarding
trade and business activities.
Moreover, the conference will provide the opportunity for the
formation of joint ventures in the Black Sea region and central
Asian countries.
The conference is to feature the participation of over 300
business delegates from Turkey, Greece and other EU countries, as
well as government officials from both countries and EU
commissioners.
[05] INNER CABINER TO EXAMINE 2001 BUDGET TOMORROW
The 2001 state budget, which is to be tabled in Parliament on
November 1, will be examined by the inner cabinet tomorrow and a
cabinet meeting on Wednesday, both chaired by Prime Minister
Costas Simitis, the Premier's press office announced.
According to the announcement, the budget's main
characteristic will be its social aspect, combined with overall
economic policy.
The new budget is expected to call for a tight fiscal policy,
with wage increases amounting 3.5% for salaried workers, and a 5.5
percent increase for pensions.
Meanwhile, the euro's downward slide, combined with the
rising oil prices, are exerting intense inflationary pressures,
driving the state to search for ways to contain market prices.
Additionally, the dollar's vertical trend is also another
burden for the state's deficit, while concerns have also arisen
over the course of privatizations.
[06] INTERPOL HOLDS ANNUAL ASSEMBLY IN RHODES
With a focus on combating organized crime, Interpol's annual
general assembly got underway at the island of Rhodes today.
Six major issues which will also be examined are funding for
the struggle against terrorism, crimes in the Internet, drug
trafficking, economic crimes, money laundering and illegal
immigration.
[07] CORRUPTION PERVADES PUBLIC LIFE, NOT JUST POLITICS
An overwhelming majority (91.5 percent ) of Greeks find that
corruption is not limited to the political sector but, rather,
pervades most forms of public life, and that to a large degree.
According to a nationwide survey, conducted by the Opinion
polling firm, 54.8 percent of the respondents believe that
corruption is most evident in politics, while 60.4% maintain that
its occurrence is equally prevalent in all parties.
As far as popularity ratings go, on a scale of one to ten,
Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos ranks first with 7.79, followed
by the Archbishop of Athens and All of Greece Christodoulos with
7.39, music composer Mikis Theodorakis with 6.68 and Athens 2004
Organizing Committee President Yianna Aggelopoulou with 5.96.
In regards to the identification card issue, 42.8 percent of
those polled are in total agreement with the Church's stance (i.e.
to include one's religious affiliation on the state-issued I.D.
cards), and 46.8 percent wholly support the Church's relevant
referendum.
[08] THE PRIME MINISTER EXPRESSED HIS GRIEF FOR PAVLOS PETRIDIS'
DEATH
Prime minister Kostas Simitis in a statement he made
expressed his grief for the death of Pavlos Petridis, Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki political and constitutional history
professor and MPA board of directors' president.
Minister of press and government spokesman Dimitris Reppas
expressed his deep grief for the loss of professor Petridis, a
public figure, who was an excellent scientist characterized by a
high sense of morality. He said that he had a successful term in
MPA as president of its board of directors, adding that MPA has
offered a lot to the area of information and this is due to Pavlos
Petridis to a great degree.
Meanwhile, his funeral will be held at public expense
tomorrow after a decision by minister of culture Theodoros
Pangalos.
Professor Pavlos Petridis died last Saturday in the early
morning hours from heart failure at the age of 54.
Also, Athens News Agency board of directors president and
general director Andreas Christodoulakis and the ANA staff sent
their condolences to MPA for the loss of its president.
[09] LOSSES OF 0.01% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
The week opened for the Athens Stock Exchange with marginal
losses of 0.01% and the general index was at 3.762,46 points. The
volume of transactions was very small at 39.17 billion drachmas,
showing the absence of interest on behalf of the investors.
Of the stocks trading today 225 recorded gains, 125 had
losses and 31 remained unchanged.
[10] THE GREEK-TURKISH AGREEMENTS WERE FROZEN
Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou expressed his
strong discontent to parliament president Apostolos Kaklamanis
concerning last week's decision by the responsible parliamentary
committee to freeze the nine agreements on low policy issues
signed by Greece and Turkey.
It should be noted that when the Greek-Turkish tourist
cooperation agreement was presented to the production and commerce
committee the political parties had voted in favor. However, after
the provocative stance displayed by Ankara during the "Destined
Glory" NATO exercise, the Greek political parties agreed to call
on the parliament president to delay the ratification of the nine
agreements by the parliament's plenary session until Turkey
clarifies its intentions.
Mr. Papandreou stressed to Mr. Kaklamanis that it is to the
interest not only of Turkey but of Greece as well to bring those
agreements to parliament for ratification in time. The parliament
president assured him that there will be no delay and all
agreements will be ratified as scheduled.
[11] THE GREEK GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON THE GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS
The statements like the recent one made by Turkish government
vice-president Mesut Yilmaz offer negative services to the Greek-
Turkish relations, stated Greek government spokesman Dimitris
Reppas.
Specifically, the government spokesman stated that if the
statements attributed to Mr. Yilmaz are correct then he does not
speak the language of friendship and offers negative services.
Mr. Yilmaz had stated that after every handshake in Greece
one must count his fingers to see if he is missing any of them.
Regarding the exercise "Destined Glory", he reiterated that
NATO appeared weak to make the allies and in this case, Turkey,
comply with what was agreed from the beginning.
Finally, regarding Turkey's overall stance he reiterated that
it should harmonize with the international legal order and
implement the international law.
[12] REPPAS: THE ROLE OF THE US IS DECISIVE FOR THE SOLUTION OF
THE CYPRUS PROBLEM
The United States and the country's president himself have a
decisive role to play in reaching a solution to the Cyprus
problem, but unfortunately there has been no positive development
yet which is very sad, stated Greek government spokesman Dimitris
Reppas when asked to comment on the statements made by president
Clinton regarding the Cyprus problem.
Mr. Reppas added that what is important is not to reach
conclusions examining the problem in retrospect or to make pledges
in view of an election race. He said that what is important is to
work continuously until there is finally a solution to the Cyprus
problem, reiterating that a solution must be reached within the
framework of the UN decisions.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[13] KOSOVO: OSCE TO ANNOUNCE OFFICIAL RESULTS TODAY
The first official results of the municipal elections held in
Kosovo ( the first in the province's post-war era) on Saturday are
to be announced by the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) today.
According to the Serb media, the leader of the Democratic
League of Kosovo (LDK) Ibrahim Rugova is ahead in 19 out of the
30 municipalities that have had their ballots counted.
As the "Glas Javnosti" daily reported, the leader of the
formerly-known-as Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) and presently
called Democratic party of Kosovo Hasim Thaci has conceded defeat
in five municipalities.
The final results are expected to be announced by OSCE by
next Tuesday, at the latest.
[14] "MAD COW" HUMAN FORM RESISTANT TO STERILIZATION
The human form of the "mad cow" disease, officially known as
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), may be resistant to
sterilization, according to recent reports from Tulane University
Hospital in New Orleans where eight patients who recently
underwent operation with possibly infected medical instruments are
now at risk for contracting the fatal disorder.
According to a recent article posted on the Internet's Salon
magazine, eight individuals who underwent neurosurgical procedures
at Tulane, are presently at risk of having contracted CJD; the
instruments used in their operations had been used on an another
patient who suffered from CJD, as a later autopsy revealed.
CJD is the human form of mad cow disease and occurs in about
one in a million people worldwide. It is believed to be spread by
prions, mysterious rogue proteins that are not really alive and
thus cannot be "killed." Resistant to heat and radiation, prions
are unaffected by standard sterilization procedures used for
disinfecting medical instruments.
According to hospital officials, the instruments were cleaned
and sterilized each time following routine procedures. Weeks
later, when the autopsy was conducted, the hospital ordered the
surgical instruments destroyed, but they had already been used on
the other eight patients, according to Dr. Alan Miller, Tulane
University Health Sciences Center vice president for clinical
affairs.
Because the incubation period for CJD can be decades long and
the disease is generally confirmed only through an autopsy, the
eight living surgery patients will have to wait an extremely long
time to find out if they have been contaminated. They are
receiving counseling and "related medical care," Dr. Miller said
in a prepared statement.
According to Salon, this is not the first time contaminated
surgical equipment has been implicated in the spread of CJD; in
1977, two teenagers in Switzerland developed the incurable disease
after having undergone surgery for brain tumors. The electrodes
that apparently transmitted CJD had been cleaned, disinfected and
sterilized using benzene, alcohol and formaldehyde.
Another example occurred last year in England after a woman
suffering from depression and mood swings underwent Caesarian
section. When doctors diagnosed her with probable CJD in January,
the hospital was "able to ascertain seven other women had had
Caesarian sections using this theater kit," according to Dr. Rod
Griffiths, West Midlands director of public health.
[15] DEFICIT OF 1 BILLION EURO IN THE EURO-ZONE TRADE BALANCE IN
AUGUST
The trade balance in the Euro-zone in the month of August had
a deficit of 1 billion Euro, according to the initial estimates by
the European statistics agency, Eurostat.
The trade balance in the Euro-zone presents a negative
picture compared to August 1999, when there was surplus of 2.6
billion Euro. The economic analysts believe that the basic cause
of the existing situation is the rapid increase in the cost of the
imported sources of energy.
According to the available figures, the trade balance in the
Euro-zone showed a surplus of 6.9 billion Euro in the first eight
months of the year 2000 which is notably decreased compared to the
same period last year when it was 37.9 billion Euro.
[16] ROMPRES SENT ITS CONDOLENCES FOR THE LOSS OF PAVLOS PETRIDIS
Romania's news agency ROMPRES sent its condolences to MPA for
the loss of its board of directors' president Pavlos Petridis, who
died last Saturday from heart failure at the age of 54.
It is stressed that the news of his sudden death were shocking,
while it is mentioned that he did a remarkable job as the
president of MPA and he was widely recognized as a respected
university professor and author.
ROMPRES also writes that he was a dear and respected colleague and
collaboration with him was rewarding both at a bilateral level and
in the Balkan News Agencies' conferences.
[17] PLASKOVITIS' VISIT TO SOFIA
There is no separation into groups of the EU candidate-states
as the progress of each country is assessed based on its
achievements, stressed in Sofia Greek foreign ministry general
secretary responsible for European issues, Ilias Plaskovitis after
the meeting he had yesterday with the Bulgarian foreign affairs
undersecretary, Vladimir Kisiov, heading the Bulgarian negotiating
team in the EU accession negotiations.
Mr. Plaskovitis also stressed that Greece wants to help
Bulgaria in its negotiations with the European Union. In addition,
the two sides examined the training potential in Greece for
Bulgarians specializing in the sectors of economy, public
administration and customs agencies.
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