Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2001-07-20
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, July 20, 2001
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] THE GREEK GOVERNMENT EXPRESSED DISCONTENT OVER THE INCIDENTS
IN ANKONA
[02] MESSAGE BY PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS ON THE TURKISH INVASION
[03] SIGNIFICANT LOSSES IN THE ASE
[04] ATHENS DEMARCHE TO ROME
[05] GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN THE TRIAL OF TWO GREEKS IN SUDAN
[06] ACQUITTAL ON THE GROUNDS OF DNA TESTING ERROR
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[07] THE PRIORITIES OF THE NEW US AMBASSADOR TO ATHENS
[08] UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF 11.1% LAST YEAR IN GREECE
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] THE GREEK GOVERNMENT EXPRESSED DISCONTENT OVER THE INCIDENTS
IN ANKONA
Greek foreign ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis expressed the
Greek government's discontent over yesterday's incidents that took
place at the port of Ankona, Italy.
Mr. Beglitis expressed the government's strong discontent
over the abusive behavior of the Italian police forces toward
Greek citizens on board a Greek ship, adding that clarifications
will be requested from the Italian authorities.
He also underlined that the foreign ministry handled
immediately and with a sense of responsibility the problem that
was created when Greek citizens were not allowed to step on
Italian territory to participate in the anti-globalization
protests in Genoa.
Mr. Beglitis stated that foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou
had a telephone communication with his Italian counterpart Renato
Ruzzero in order to find a solution, while the Greek embassy in
Rome is in continuous contact with the Italian authorities making
the necessary representations.
Yesterday, the Italian police deported about 150 Greeks, who
had arrived in Italy to participate in the Genoa protests against
the G8 summit meeting.
The deportation took place as soon as 18 buses with Greek
protesters arrived by ferryboat at the port of Ankona, Italy and
were ready to continue their trip to Genoa. As it was made known,
police stopped 3 of the buses and ordered them to return back to
the ferry, which is now on its way to the port of Patras in
southern Greece.
According to a statement made by the ship-owner company,
three of the protesters who are returning to Greece, are slightly
injured. The rest 1.000 Greek protesters arrived in Genoa at
midnight yesterday after a long delay.
[02] MESSAGE BY PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS ON THE TURKISH INVASION
In any case, Greece is firm on Cyprus' side for the
restoration and consolidation of its integrity, sovereignty and
independence, stressed president Kostis Stephanopoulos in a
statement on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of the Turkish
invasion of Cyprus.
Mr. Stephanopoulos also underlined that the Turkish invasion
of Cyprus on July 20, 1974 and the continuing occupation of the
northern part of the island constitute flagrant violation of every
principle of International Law and added that in spite of the UN
resolutions and the initiatives undertaken on Cyprus no solution
was found because of Turkey's refusal to comply with the UN
resolutions and also as a result of the international community's
inability to implement them.
The president stated that the imminent accession of Cyprus
into the European Union could lead the Turkish side to meet its
international obligations and deal with this lingering issue in a
different way.
[03] SIGNIFICANT LOSSES IN THE ASE
Significant losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange
today. The general index dropped to -3.12% at 2.507,28 points,
while the volume of transactions was satisfactory at 206.50
million Euro or 70.364 billion drachmas.
Of the stocks trading today, the majority, 278, recorded
losses and 62 had gains, while the value of 35 stocks remained
stable.
[04] ATHENS DEMARCHE TO ROME
Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas denied categorically
that the Greek agencies delivered information on Greek citizens to
the Italian authorities, adding however that the Italian embassy
in Athens is able to collect its own information and sent it to
Rome.
The minister of press pointed out that Athens expressed its
strong discontent over yesterday's incidents both through the
diplomatic channels and in the telephone communication between
foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou and his Italian counterpart.
Mr. Reppas stressed that the protesters are not a marginal force,
they are citizens who want to demonstrate a different position in
a responsible way.
According to Mr. Reppas, the Italian authorities maintained,
in the clarifications they gave over yesterday's incidents, that
citizens from other countries were also refused entry, adding that
in the scuffles that erupted in the port of Ankona the Italian
police was attacked as well and a police officer was injured.
The government spokesman characterized the Italian
allegations as a perversion of reality and added that the Greek
government is not aware of information on individuals with
terrorist activities who were on their way to Genoa.
Mr. Reppas stated that probably the situation in the
neighboring country would have been different if a government
under Rusconi came to power after the recent elections instead of
a government under conservative Silvio Berlusconi. He said that
this is an educative example that gives the opportunity for the
necessary parallelisms to be made in Greece and added that Athens
is in no contact with the foreign ministries of other countries,
the citizens of which were also not allowed to step on Italian
territory. He also said that the presence of Greek police officers
in Italy within the framework of the European police force,
Europol, is minimal.
Responding to the question if Greece will make a demarche to
Rome, he stated that already Athens has made a verbal demarche.
[05] GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN THE TRIAL OF TWO GREEKS IN SUDAN
General secretary for the Greeks living abroad, Dimitris
Dollis returned yesterday from Khartoum, Sudan where he
represented the Greek government in the trial of two Greeks of the
Diaspora, E. Papgis and E. Kalidakis, accused of murdering
Metropolite Titos of Khartoum last July.
Mr. Dollis was accompanied by foreign ministry ambassador
Iakovos Spetsios, and World Council of Hellenes Abroad, SAE,
coordinator in the Asia-Africa region Stephanos Tambakis.
During his four-day stay in the Sudanese capital, Mr. Dollis
had meetings with Sudan's deputy foreign minister, undersecretary
of justice, and the prosecutor general, to whom he conveyed the
interest of the Greek government in the case and requested that
the procedures be shorter, pointing out the prolonged detention of
the two and the health problems they suffer from.
From their side, the Sudanese officials assured Mr. Dollis
that they will do everything possible to respond to the Greek
government's request and added that the detention conditions for
the two are good. They also pointed out the role of the Greek
community in Sudan which they regard as a valuable part of their
society.
The trial will be repeated on July 29-30 and August 5-6.
[06] ACQUITTAL ON THE GROUNDS OF DNA TESTING ERROR
A court in Athens accepted for the first time in the Greek
justice history that the DNA test results can be insufficient
evidence on which to base a guilty verdict.
According to the court ruling, a Lebanese woman was found not
guilty based on this reasoning even though the likelihood of an
error in a DNA test is 1 to 67.000.
She was accused of manslaughter in the case of the murder of
a woman friend of hers.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[07] THE PRIORITIES OF THE NEW US AMBASSADOR TO ATHENS
Thomas Miller, who was proposed by US president Bush for the
post of the new US ambassador to Athens, appeared before the US
Senate foreign affairs committee in Washington yesterday and
presented his priorities namely, terrorism, the Cyprus problem,
and the promotion of the US-Greek economic and trade relations.
Mr. Miller praised the Greek government and prime minister
Simitis for the important progress that has been made in economy,
and expressed his personal regret for the loss of Yiannos
Kranidiotis, with whom he had worked in the past, characterizing
his death as a big loss.
On the Cyprus problem, he stated that Turkey's EU course is
blocked by the fact that the Cyprus problem is still unresolved,
expressing however optimism concerning the Greek-Turkish
rapprochement. He said characteristically that the only way to
reach a solution on Cyprus is through the cooperation and help on
behalf of Athens and Ankara.
On terrorism, he said that he wants the break up of the
terrorist organization "17 November", pointing out that there is a
problem in this area adding, at the same time, that Greece has
made steps.
Regarding the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, he maintained that
there is a security issue, stressing that Greece is in close
cooperation with the United States and other countries in order to
deal with the problem.
Mr. Miler's appointment is expected to be approved by the US
Senate at the end of July or by early August.
[08] UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF 11.1% LAST YEAR IN GREECE
The unemployment rate for the year 2000 in Greece was at
11.1%, according to the European statistics agency, Eurostat. The
unemployment rate for women was 16.7%, while among the young,
under the age of 25, it was 29.5%, showing a decline compared to
1999.
The highest unemployment rate was recorded in western
Macedonia, northwestern Greece (14.7%) and the lowest in the
Ionian Sea islands (5.1%). Regarding the unemployment rate among
women, the highest was in Thessaly, central Greece (22.8%) and the
lowest in the Ionian Sea islands (5.5%). The unemployment rate for
the young people was the highest in western Macedonia,
northwestern Greece (45.0%) and the lowest was again recorded in
the Ionian Sea islands (11.9%).
The unemployment rate is determined by the percentage of the
unemployed in the total economically active population. According
to the World Organization of Labor, a person is regarded as
unemployed if he/she does not work during the week of the research
or if he/she expects to work in two weeks counting from the day
the research is being conducted or in case he/she looks for a job
in the last four weeks before the research.
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