Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2001-03-06
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, March 6, 2001
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
TITLES
[Á] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREEK FM ON LIGHTNING VISIT TO SKOPJE TODAY
[02] PREMIERS OF GREECE AND FYROM HOLD PHONE TALKS
[03] THE MAYOR OF ATHENS WILL ANNOUNCE THE NAME AND EMBLEM OF HIS
PARTY
[04] BASKETBALL PLAYER ZARKO PASPALJE SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK
[05] GREECE WILL RAISE THE ISSUE OF THE PROTECTION OF MONUMENTS IN
AFGHANISTAN
[06] THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE REGAINS ITS BALANCE
[07] MESSAGE OF SUPPORT FROM SIMITIS TO HIS FYROM COUNTERPART
[08] THE CEM STATEMENTS OFFER BAD SERVICES TO TURKEY
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[09] FREE TRADE ZONE BY GREECE AND BULGARIA IN SVILENGRAD
[10] A GREEK COMPANY WILL BUYOUT PART OF THE LARGEST FYROM BAKERY
INDUSTRY
[11] VENIZELOS: THE NEXT 9 MONTHS ARE CRUCIAL
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREEK FM ON LIGHTNING VISIT TO SKOPJE TODAY
Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou cut short his
scheduled three-day visit to Vienna and will travel to Skopje
today in order to convey the Greek government's concern over the
crisis in the region.
The latest developments in FYROm were also the focus of holds
Mr. Papandreou held with his Austrian counterpart Benita-Maria
Ferrero-Waldner and Austrian President Thomas Klestil.
"Balkan leaders as well as NATO, EU and OECD member-states
have categorically warned that they will not allow a proliferation
of violence, whereas any problems should be resolved through
peaceful means," Mr. Papandreou stressed.
He also pointed to what he called the increasing polarisation
between the Slavic-speaking and Albanian-speaking residents of
FYROM and southern Serbia, stressing that this type of
polarisation aims at destabilizing the entire region.
During his talks with his Austrian counterpart, Mr.
Papandreou discussed the undertaking of a trilateral initiative
with Italy for dealing with crises in the region.
They also discussed the Cyprus issue and the future accession
of Cyprus to the European Union, Greek-Turkish relations, the EU's
enlargement and institutional reforms and cooperation between the
two countries in international organizations.
[02] PREMIERS OF GREECE AND FYROM HOLD PHONE TALKS
Prime Minister Costas Simitis held a telephone conversation
with his counterpart from FYROM Ljubcho Georgievski last night,
while Foreign Minister George Papandreou is traveling to Skopje
today, within the framework of an international diplomatic
initiative undertaken by Athens over the crisis fermenting at the
FYROM-Kosovo border.
The Greek government is supportive of FYROM's territorial
integrity and is in contact with Skopje, Washington, the Balkan
countries and the European Union in an effort to contain the
escalation of tension that could lead to a further destabilization
in the region.
Government spokesperson Dimitris Reppas has condemned the
armed activities of Albanian extremists, while Mr. Papandreou is
in contact with US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
At the same time, Greece's Defense Minister Akis
Tsochatzopoulos stated that the present situation at the FYROM-
Kosovo border is dangerous and called on the United Nations
Security Council to convene.
Greece's General Army Staff is in constant contact with the
operation room of the Greek force in Kosovo. The 34th Greek
control company, at the border between Kosovo and FYROM is on the
alert, having the control of the Skopje-Blatse-Belgrade road,
which has been shut down.
Yesterday, the President of FYROM convened an extraordinary
meeting of the National Security Council, featuring the
participation of NATO ambassadors, as well as representatives of
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the
EU.
Following the talks, the Foreign Ministry of FYROM announced
that it would close down all passages at the border with Kosovo
and called for an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council
and the creation of a security zone between Kosovo and FYROM.
From Tirana, the Albanian government denounced the recent
violent incidents and called on the Albanians to stop attacks.
[03] THE MAYOR OF ATHENS WILL ANNOUNCE THE NAME AND EMBLEM OF HIS
PARTY
Athens mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos is expected to announce
this evening the name and emblem of the political party he will
found.
According to press information, the announcement will be made
this evening. The next steps for Mr. Avramopoulos will be to
present the party's founding declaration and positions and hold
the founding conference.
[04] BASKETBALL PLAYER ZARKO PASPALJE SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK
Basketball player Zarko Paspalje suffered a heart attack last
night while playing football with his friends in an Athens suburb.
According to the medical statement that was issued, Paspalje is
out of danger and will remain in intensive care for the next four
days, while in eight days he will be able to return to his home.
The 34yearold Yugoslav is in contact with the environment and
according to his doctors, he requested to be allowed to read
newspapers and watch television in order to see for himself in
what way his health problem is being presented by the mass media.
[05] GREECE WILL RAISE THE ISSUE OF THE PROTECTION OF MONUMENTS IN
AFGHANISTAN
Greece is willing to undertake initiatives and ready to offer
its services for the preservation of the cultural treasures in
Afghanistan, stated Greek culture minister Evangelos Venizelos,
while at the same time, he announced that the Greek delegation
will raise the issue in the UNESCO Committee conference for the
protection of cultural heritage that is being held in Cambodia.
Mr. Venizelos pointed out that a large Greek delegation
attends the UNESCO conference in Cambodia because one of the
issues discussed in every conference held by the organization is
the return of the Parthenon Marbles.
[06] THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE REGAINS ITS BALANCE
Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The
general index rose to 0.31% at 3.182,34 points, while the volume
of transactions was satisfactory at 216.16 million Euro or 73.65
billion drachmas.
Of the stocks trading today, 220 recorded gains and 119 had
losses, while the value of 31 stocks remained stable.
[07] MESSAGE OF SUPPORT FROM SIMITIS TO HIS FYROM COUNTERPART
Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou, who is on an
urgent visit to Skopje, FYROM, conveyed a message of support from
prime minister Kostas Simitis to his FYROM counterpart.
Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas stated that Greece is
ready to contribute to the strengthening of stability in the
region within the framework of the international community.
Mr. Reppas stated that the position shared by the
international community is that the KFOR, which has been deployed
in the region during the crisis in Yugoslavia, must coordinate its
efforts to put under control the situation at the Kosovo-FYROM
borders in order to be able to face any effort made by the
autonomous groups that can create a risk of fluidity and
volatility in the region.
The Greek foreign minister will have meetings with FYROM
president Boris Trajkovski, prime minister Ljupco Georgievski and
opposition party leader Branko Cervenkovski.
[08] THE CEM STATEMENTS OFFER BAD SERVICES TO TURKEY
The statements made by Turkish foreign minister Ismail Cem
offer bad services to Turkey, stated Greek government spokesman
Dimitris Reppas when he was asked to comment on the statements
made by the Turkish foreign minister according to which, Cyprus'
likely EU accession will create a new incident.
Mr. Reppas added that the stance of the international
community is known regarding Cyprus' EU accession course and the
solution of the Cyprus problem.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[09] FREE TRADE ZONE BY GREECE AND BULGARIA IN SVILENGRAD
The creation of a free trade zone between Greece and Bulgaria
at the border town of Svilengrad, Bulgaria is in the process of
materialization, according to a statement issued by Trigono local
community president Ioannis Gramenidis.
As it was announced, the Greek government will offer the sum
of 1 billion drachmas for the purchase of a piece of land near the
Bulgarian borders within the framework of the materialization of
this idea.
Meanwhile, according to local officials in the municipality
of Svilengrad, Greek businessmen have already reached an agreement
with Bulgarian cotton producers for the purchase of their product
and its processing in the free trade zone.
[10] A GREEK COMPANY WILL BUYOUT PART OF THE LARGEST FYROM BAKERY
INDUSTRY
The name of the Greek company that will purchase part of
"Zito Lux", the largest FYROM bakery industry which is based in
Skopje, will be announced on March 15.
Its director Aleksandar Simevski stated yesterday that the
Greek company and the European Bank of Development and
Reconstruction will purchase 51% of the stocks, stating that this
way the privatization of "Zito Lux" will be completed.
In the final phase of the privatization, a total of 800
employees will be laid-off after receiving 24 salaries as
compensation.
The share that will belong to the Greek company has not been
announced yet but according to unofficial information in Skopje,
it will purchase 31% of the bakery industry while the European
Bank will have 20%.
[11] VENIZELOS: THE NEXT 9 MONTHS ARE CRUCIAL
The next nine months will be crucial for the Olympic Games
projects as the procedures leading to the construction of many of
them are being completed on a daily basis, stated culture minister
Evangelos Venizelos in a press conference he gave in Brussels
yesterday on the occasion of a two-day conference on the
"Sustainable Olympic Games"
Mr. Venizelos stated that there is no technical problem for
any of the projects and added that the problems are legal,
ecological and archaeological and they have been faced with great
care and effectiveness.
The Greek culture minister also pointed out that the speech
delivered during the conference by International Olympic Committee
(IOC) vice-president Jacques Rogge showed the IOC's great interest
in the success of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
Referring to the European volunteers, who will participate in
the 2004 Olympiad, he said that they will be 50.000-60.000 while
according to the latest estimates, the foreign journalists, who
will cover the events, will be about 20.000.
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