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Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 97-11-10Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCYThessaloniki, November 10, 1997TITLES
NEWS IN DETAIL[01] GOVERNMENT TO FINALIZE FISCAL POLICY ON WEDNESDAYAthens, November 10 (MPA)The state budget is expected to be approved on Wednesday by the governmental committee which has unanimously approved the budget’s main points, as they have been submitted by the Minister of National Economy and Finance Yiannos Papantoniou.According to Mr. Papantoniou, 1998’s tight fiscal policy is in line with the European Union’s convergence program. The committee is to decide on salary increases and pensions, as well as tax breaks. A.F. [02] EPISODES AT TVX GOLD MINE YESTERDAY, FIVE LOCAL OFFICIALS ARRESTEDThessaloniki, November 10 (MPA)Five community leaders have been arrested at Halkidiki’s Olympiada region, on charges of aiding and abetting yesterday’s episodes when a large group of irate locals clashed with police, after trying to blockade a drilling operation conducted by the area’s gold mining company TVX Gold.The drilling was to be conducted under the watch of a strong police force but the opposing locals, about 1,500 of them, formed a ring around the premises in an effort to obstruct the operation. The SWAT team used tear gas against the protesters when they began overturning police vehicles and throwing stones against the policemen. The project, operated by TVX Gold Hellas, an affiliate of the Canadian mining company TVX Gold Inc., has been in the eye of the storm for a long time now as a select group of local residents is opposed to the mining operation fearing that it will result in environmental pollution and a drop in tourism. The Prefect of Hallkidiki Vasilios Vasilakis told the MPA “the matter should not have come to this. I had repeatedly appealed to both the company (TVX) and the Ministry of Development asking them to refrain from drilling for the time being since that would incite the locals. Now, with the presidents of five communities having been arrested, the locals have more reasons to be angry. The climate is uncertain and pretty bad.” TVX officials state that these episodes threaten the suspension of what is Greece’s largest project in the past three decades, that is a whooping 270-billion-dollar investment. According to the company’s spokesperson, Stelios Samaras, “we’re waiting for the relevant authorities to act before we draw our decidions and proceed to the relevant measures.” Mr. Samaras added that the damage caused to the plant’s facilities is quite extensive. The president of the Olympiada community Stavros Stoitsas, who is among those arrested, told the MPA yesterday that the locals were unjustifiably attacked by the police. “You don’t invest with the use of SWAT teams. They (TVX) went ahead with the drilling instead of conducting studies,” he said. Meanwhile, the local residents are to soon proceed to various types of mobilizations, while at the community of Asprovalta, whose president has been arrested, the schools remained closed. Not all locals are opposed to the plant’s operation. The local laborers‘ association is in favor of the gold processing since they say that it will promote the region’s much-desired development. Last year, hundreds of local workers and residents took part in a march held in support of the project. TVX Gold foresees that the Olympiada project will triple the area’s gold output to 1.2 million ounces by next year. The company bought the two mines in the peninsula of Halkidiki in December of 1995 for 11 billion dollars following an international call for tender. According to the environmental impact study reports published by TVX Gold, the project is environmentally sound as it will employ modern technology to process the gold. A.F. [03] US PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY RICHARD HOLBROOKE IN CYPRUS TODAYNicosia, November 10 (MPA)The United States presidential envoy to Cyprus Richard Holbrooke is currently in Nicosia where he will have separate meetings with Cypriot President Glafkos Clerides and Turkish- Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.Mgrs. Clerides and Denktash are to also meet informally together with Mr. Holbrooke tomorrow. Also, the special coordinator for the Cyprus issue Toni Miller is currently in Cyprus where he will be received by President Clerides. Following his stay in Cyprus, Mr. Holbrooke will travel to Brussels where he will meet with European Commissioner Hans Van Den Broek while he may also travel to Moscow for the matter of the S-300 anti-aircraft missiles the Russian government has sold to Cyprus. A.F. [04] HOLBROOKE SPEAKS TO “THE WASHINGTON POST” ON THE CYPRUS ISSUEWashington, November 10 (MPA)Shortly before he departed for Cyprus where he is to meet with the Cypriot President Glafkos Clerides, the United States Presidential envoy Richard Holbrooke told the US daily “The Washington Post” that he is “neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but I do believe in creating opportunities. ”In the article, Mr. Holbrooke saluted the recently-held meeting between the premiers of Greece and Turkey, Mgrs. Kostas Simitis and Mesut Yilmaz respectively, as one such opportunity, stating that “following months of deteriorating ties, the two Premiers, along with other leaders, vowed to work together in order to create the conditions in their regions that will promote welfare within the framework of peace, security, good neighborliness and stability.” The newspaper characterizes Mr. Holbrooke’s visit to the island as the most intense effort exerted by the Clinton Administration for resolving the issue. Mr. Holbrooke is expected to focus his pressure on the negotiations for Cyprus’s accession to the European Union. Mr. Holbrooke has repeatedly stated that resolving the Cyprus issue will reduce the tension between Greece and Turkey, while the US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has stated that Washington cannot ignore the issue, since “the island is a hotbed that threatens significant strategic interests of the United States in the region, such as NATO’s expansion and stability in the Balkans. A.F. [05] EUROPEAN UNION’S FOREIGN MINISTERS TO CONVENE IN BRUSSELS TODAYBrussels, November 10 (MPA)The Foreign Ministers of the European Union’s 15 member- states are to convene in Brussels today in order to examine the future of the Community’s relations with Turkey.The officials are to closely examine Turkey’s ties with the EU following the European Commissioner Hans Van Den Broek’s recent visit to Ankara. The European Commission had provided Turkey with specific proposals last summer, in regards to supporting the customs union, the development of cooperation in the services sector, to which Greece -along with other countries- is opposed, developments of telecommunications and the information society, as well as the liberalization of agricultural product imports-exports. According to a high-ranking official from the Luxembourg-held EU Presidency, the agricultural products import-export sector is a sore point since many countries are unsure of their cooperation prospects with Turkey. These hurdles, as well as the issue of application and maintenance of human rights in Turkey, are to be discussed by the Foreign Ministers in light of the EU-Turkey Association Council meeting to be held on November 24. However, sources in Brussels say that it is doubtful that the Council meeting will be held since the Ministers are to decide on November 24 if it will actually take place or if the Turkish Foreign Minister will merely be invited to attend that day’s formal dinner during which they will discuss the Turkey-EU related issues. Greece is to be represented today by Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos who will brief his allies on the results of the meeting held between Mr. Simitis and Mr. Yilmaz, as well as on the overall results of the Inter-Balkan Summit conference held recently in Crete. A.F. [06] TURKISH FM MEETS WITH RAUF DENKTASH AT CYPRUS’ OCCUPIED REGIONNicosia, November 10 (MPA)Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ismael Cem met with the leader of the Turkish-Cypriots Rauf Denktash at Cyprus’s occupied region yesterday.The two men re-confirmed the Demirel-Denktash declaration concerning the integration of the island’s occupied part to Turkey. Mr. Cem arrived at Cyprus yesterday accompanied by the Turkish Minster of Presidency, responsible for Cyprus-related matters Sonkru Giurel. A.F. 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/Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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