Macedonian Press Agency: News In Brief (96-10-23)

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY

Thessaloniki, October 23, 1996

TITLES

[01] PRIME MINISTER TO ATTEND MOSCOW CONFERENCE OF BLACK SEA COUNTRIES

[02] PREMIER TO ATTEND EUROPEAN SOCIALIST LEADERS MEETING IN HUNGARY

[03] SAE PRESIDENT CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION OF TURKEY

[04] TVX GOLD TO STAY, AGREEMENT REACHED WITH LOCALS

[05] OTE INCREASES LOCAL RATES, LOWERS LONG DISTANCE

NEWS IN DETAIL

[01] PRIME MINISTER TO ATTEND MOSCOW CONFERENCE OF BLACK SEA COUNTRIES

Athens, October 23 (M.P.A.)

The Premier will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos and a delegation of officials from the Foreign and National Economy ministries.

Present at this summit meeting will be the presidents or premiers of BSEC's 11 countries-members which are Russia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, the Ukraine, Georgia, Moldavia, Armenia, Albania and Azerbaijan.

The "11" are expected to sign a manifesto which will confirm their intent to deepen cooperation among them, especially in the economic sector.

The two basic issues of concern to BSEC are, first, to what degree must priority be given to cooperation among the countries- members and, second, if and when must BSEC be established into an international organization.

Greece supports that the strengthening and intensification of the already-existing economic cooperation within BSEC must be given priority status. Moreover, both for BSEC's expansion and its transformation into an international organization, the greek side proposed that a task group be formed in order to study the relevant consequences prior to undertaking any decision.

Siding with the greek proposals are Bulgaria, the Ukraine and Armenia, which have submitted, along with Greece, a relevant proposal to be discussed in Moscow. Also, Greece would be willing to consent to BSEC's expansion if Cyprus was included among other countries, a proposal which has met Turkey's opposition. Currently, Cyprus has observer status in the BSEC.

Two other issues are expected to be tabled in Moscow from the greek side. First, the Bank of Commerce and Development of the Black Sea, based in Thessaloniki, whose first President would be Mr. Volkan, Turkish Foreign Minsiter Tansu Ciller's advisor, and second, the International Center of Studies of the Black Sea which will be permanently established in Athens.

[02] PREMIER TO ATTEND EUROPEAN SOCIALIST LEADERS MEETING IN HUNGARY

Athens, October 23 (M.P.A.)

Socialist parties from European Union member-states will meet in Hungary with socialists from eastern European countries for the first time to discuss developments in the EU and the issue of its expansion.

[03] SAE PRESIDENT CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION OF TURKEY

Chicago, October 23 (M.P.A.)

According to Mr. Athens, the initial reactions expressed from the United States, Great Britain and other countries and organizations, such as the European Union and the United Nations peacekeeping forces, in the repeated criminal acts committed by turkish soldiers in the recent months, have been sufficiently strong.

"Yet," Mr. Athens, added, "the international community must understand that such acts will continue until the time comes when the strong powers stop Turkey. The countries that have openly expressed their opposition to the murders in Cyprus must act against Turkey now so that we will not have similar tragedies in the future."

[04] TVX GOLD TO STAY, AGREEMENT REACHED WITH LOCALS

Thessaloniki, October 23 (M.P.A.)

Press and Media Minister Dimitris Reppas stated that "the Government will keep its promise to protect the environment."

Yesterday, a government delegation reached an agreement with the locals that the plant will be located as far as possible from the administrative limits of the Olympiada and Varvara villages. The local residents had blockaded for ten months the road that leads to the mines, fearing that the gold mining plant would damage the environment and hurt the local tourism.

Last week the company had threatened to pull out of the 64 billion drachma investment by yesterday if the protests did not end.

[05] OTE INCREASES LOCAL RATES, LOWERS LONG DISTANCE

Athens,October 23 (M.P.A.)

According to company officials, the increase was dictated by the need to modernize OTE, improve its services and boost its competitiveness. This increase is expected to boost OTE's revenues by an additional GRD 22.5 billion.

These new rates include an increase for city calls from 10.2 to 11.5 drachmas per three minutes, and a 1.78 reduction for long- distance calls.

Calls to the United States, Canada and Australia will be reduced by 18 per cent, while calls to the rest of Europe will rise by seven per cent. Specifically, calls to the U.S. and Japan, which are now among the most expensive at 245 drachmas per minute, will drop to 200 GRD a minute.

Complete archives of the Macedonian Press Agency bulletins are available on the MPA Home Page at http://www.mpa.gr/ and on the U.S. mirror at http://www.hri.org/MPA/

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