Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-09-11

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

CONTENTS

[01] CONTROVERSIAL BILL ON SPORTS IN PARLIAMENT

[02] NATOs ROTATING CONVENTION BEGINS IN GREECE

[03] GREEK FM IN WASHINGTON DC, MEETS WITH ALBRIGHT

[04] SYMPOSIUM TO BE HELD FOR INT/L CRIMINAL COURT

[05] NATO DECIDES TO SEND 4 MORE BATTALIONS TO KOSOVO

[06] MR. PAPANDREOU'S CONTACTS IN THE UNITED STATES

[07] PAPANTONIOU: THE OIL PRICES' RACE WILL NOT AFFECT GREECE NEGATIVELY

[08] GREEK-SERB CONCERT IN THESSALONIKI

[09] LOSSES OF 3.31% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

[10] NEW INTEREST RATE CUTS IN OCTOBER BY THE BANK OF GREECE

[11] THE FIRST TURKISH-GREEK DICTIONARY IN GREECE

[12] THE KIVRIKOGLU VISIT TO THESSALONIKI IS LIKELY TO BE CANCELED

[13] THE FUNERAL OF VASILIS RAFAILIDIS WAS HELD TODAY

[14] PRESSURES ON SEZER REGARDING CYPRUS

[15] ARTICLE BY THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER ON THE OLYMPIC TRUCE

[16] LAMBIS NIKOLAOU IS A CANDIDATE FOR THE IOC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

[01] CONTROVERSIAL BILL ON SPORTS IN PARLIAMENT

A bill aimed at barring anyone who has been convicted of a crime or misdemeanor in the last 10 years from being a member of a sports club, federation or sports public company will be tabled in Parliament tomorrow by Deputy Culture Minister Giorgos Floridis, who is in charge of sports.

The said legislation, which is aimed at removing the chairman of the Association of Professional Football Clubs, Victor Mitropoulos, was withdrawn when first presented as an amendment to another law last Thursday, after opposition parties retracted a promise to provide the consensus needed for an amendment to be tacked onto an unrelated bill.

As a result, Mr. Floridis was forced to turn the amendment into a self-contained bill. The vote is expected in the first half of October.

Mr. Mitropoulos has been convicted of embezzlement and has appealed to the Supreme Court. Accusations have flown that MPs were influenced by Olympiakos club owner Socrates Kokkalis, who is said to be allied to Mr. Mitropoulos.

A.F.

[02] NATOs ROTATING CONVENTION BEGINS IN GREECE

The annual rotating Convention of NATO's Military Committee gets officially underway in Athens today, featuring the participation of all of the 19 NATO member-states' National Defense General Staff Chiefs.

On the sidelines of tomorrow's formal luncheon, Greek Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos will meet with Turkey's National Defense General Staff Chief Hussein Kivrikoglou.

The Convention will include discussions about the Alliance, Russia military issues and social events.

The military chiefs will be received by the President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos and will observe a military exercise in the Saronic Gulf.

The program also includes a visit to Mount Athos and Vergina's archaeological sites. Mr. Kivrikoglou will visit Kemal Ataturk's home in Thessaloniki and will also meet with the city's Turkish consul-general.

A.F.

[03] GREEK FM IN WASHINGTON DC, MEETS WITH ALBRIGHT

Foreign Minister George Papandreou is presently in Washington DC where he will meet with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright whom he will brief on the outcome of his recent tour in FYROM and Yugoslavia.

Mr. Papandreou will meet with his Turkish counterpart Ismael Cem on Saturday, with whom he will discuss Greek-Turkish relations and the Cyprus issue.

Ms. Albright will hold separate meetings with Messrs. Papandreou and Cem.

A.F.

[04] SYMPOSIUM TO BE HELD FOR INT/L CRIMINAL COURT

An international symposium for the International Criminal Court, a new element within International Justice, will take place in Santorini, from September 14th until 16th, at the island's Legal Institute.

The meeting is being organised by the Greek Foreign Affairs ministry, together with the country's ministry of Defense and the Politics, Human Rights and International Justice department of the International Relations Institute.

Greek minister of Justice, Michalis Stathopoulos and undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Elizabeth Papazoi will make the opening speeches at the Symposium and will be followed by Defense undersecretary Dimitris Apostolakis, the director of the International Relations Institute, Dimitris Konstas. Several international experts and diplomats will also take part in the event.

The International Criminal Court memorandum was adopted in Rome in June 1998, during a UN international conference and was signed by Greece. It has been approved by 15 countries since then, but has to be approved by a total of 60 countries before it can be officially adopted.

The Court will try individuals accused of committing war crimes or other crimes against humanity as part of political or genocide attacks.

[05] NATO DECIDES TO SEND 4 MORE BATTALIONS TO KOSOVO

NATO will send four more battalions to Kosovo in order to consolidate the troops already present in the region, in preparation for the Yugoslavian federal elections to be held on September 24th.

The decision was announced during the annual rotating Convention of NATO's Military Committee, this year held in Athens and with the participation of National Defense General Staff Chiefs from all 19 NATO country-members.

The additional forces are being sent to Kosovo, not only to provide security during the elections but also because NATO feels that "their presence is necessary as there will be problems that existing forces will not be capable of dealing with alone", according to colonel Frank Salice. The 4 battalions will each be made up of 500 soldiers from France, Italy, Greece and Great Britain.

"In this way, we will consolidate the existing forces of 36.000 NATO soldiers, together with the non-NATO staff in the region of 7.000", said Mr Salice, adding that, according to normal procedure, the battalions will serve in Kosovo for a period of six months.

[06] MR. PAPANDREOU'S CONTACTS IN THE UNITED STATES

Greek acting government spokesman Tilemachos Hitiris stated today that foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou, who is on a visit to the United States, will have a meeting with US secretary of state Madeleine Albright tomorrow, while on Friday he will meet with Turkish foreign minister Ismail Cem.

Mr. Hitiris also announced that the delegations from Greece and Turkey will attend a formal dinner on Saturday in which they will assess the course of bilateral relations and they will discuss the confidence building measures.

The Greek foreign minister will also have bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the Balkan states and on Thursday he will address the United Nations.

[07] PAPANTONIOU: THE OIL PRICES' RACE WILL NOT AFFECT GREECE NEGATIVELY

The view, according to which, the oil prices will not have a big negative effect on the Greek economy and growth rate even if they remain at today's high levels was expressed by minister of national economy Yiannos Papantoniou in a interview he gave today.

Mr. Papantoniou stated characteristically that even if the most pessimistic scenario comes true based on which, the oil prices will remain high in the next months, the effect on Greece's inflation will be smaller compared to the rest European countries. Mr. Papantoniou stated that structural inflation, concerning domestic products and services, continues to be at very low levels, 1.4%, and inflation is not predicted to go up.

He also said that there will be no significant consequences on the development of the Greek economy, due to the positive effect by the interest rate cuts, privatization, the promotion of big infrastructure public works and the structural changes that lead to a growth rate of 4.1% in 2000 and 5% in 2001.

Mr. Papantoniou also stressed that if the oil prices go down then new positive prospects will open for Greece and the rest European countries.

[08] GREEK-SERB CONCERT IN THESSALONIKI

A Greek-Serb music concert will be held at Thessaloniki's port on September 16 with the participation of famous artists from the two countries.

The concert organizers stated today that the goal of the event is to back the efforts made by the society of citizens and the movements of citizens in Serbia for the consolidation of democracy and the free operation of the mass media in the country.

The concert is organized by the Greek non governmental organizations "Paremvasi" and Evropaiki Ekfrasi" and by the Serb pro-opposition youth organization "Otpor" which is targeted by the government after the authorities' decision to ban it.

In the concert will take part Savina Giannatou, "Ipogia Revmata", "Vavilona", "Mikro", "Ble", "Blues Wire" and Babis Tsertos from Greece and "Eva Brawn" and "Love Hunters" from Serbia.

The concert organizers pointed out in a press conference they gave today that Serbia must stop being the "black hole" of the Balkans and underlined that the September 24 elections offer an opportunity to put an end to the exclusion and isolation of Serbia.

[09] LOSSES OF 3.31% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

Significant losses of 3.31% were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today and the general index dropped to 4.236,9 points, after seven sessions in a row with a continuous upward trend. However, the volume of transactions remained satisfactory at 233.6 billion drachmas.

Most losses were suffered by the bank shares after the gains they recorded in the past seven sessions. The bank index had the biggest losses, 6.35%, and dropped to 8.180,41 points.

[10] NEW INTEREST RATE CUTS IN OCTOBER BY THE BANK OF GREECE

The next interest rate cuts will be announced by the Bank of Greece in October, according to the latest report by Morgan Stanley analyst Ricardo Barbieri, who also mentions that the Greek interest rates will be closer to those in the Euro-zone in the month of December.

The Morgan Stanley analyst, also stresses that attention must focus especially on the fiscal policy sector in view of the 2001 budget presentation and the structural reforms.

In the report it is mentioned that the speedy growth rate and the low interest rates are very favorable pre-conditions for the development of the basic macro-economic indexes in Greece.

[11] THE FIRST TURKISH-GREEK DICTIONARY IN GREECE

The first Turkish-Greek dictionary that will supplement the Greek-Turkish dictionary published a few years ago is in the Greek bookstores. The new dictionary is the fruit of a long effort by the Eastern Languages and Culture Center group of editors headed by Faruk Tunzai and Leonidas Karatzas.

The Turkish-Greek dictionary with the 37.000 words and 45.000 idioms and expressions it includes aspires to cover the needs of those who work with the two languages namely, translators, students etc. The words included in the dictionary are those used today, while it also includes a significant number of technical, medical, economic and legal terms.

[12] THE KIVRIKOGLU VISIT TO THESSALONIKI IS LIKELY TO BE CANCELED

The participation of Turkey's national defense general staff chief Hussein Kivrikoglu in the tour of the archaeological site in Vergina together with his 18 counterparts taking part in the NATO summit in Athens has not been confirmed yet.

According to information, general Kivrikoglu might not visit the archaeological site in Vergina and the house of Kemal Ataturk in Thessaloniki because he will have to leave for Istanbul tomorrow to welcome the national defense general staff chiefs who will attend the NATO summit there.

Based on the schedule, the national defense general staff chiefs will arrive in Thessaloniki on Wednesday morning and they will visit the archaeological site of Vergina as well as the monastic community in Mount Athos. Later, that afternoon they will leave for Istanbul.

[13] THE FUNERAL OF VASILIS RAFAILIDIS WAS HELD TODAY

Relatives, friends and colleagues said the last goodbye to distinguished journalist Vasilis Rafailidis who died from cancer last Friday at the age of 66. His funeral was held today public expense.

Vasilis Railidis was not only a journalist, but an article writer and film critic.

[14] PRESSURES ON SEZER REGARDING CYPRUS

Foreign leaders exerted pressures on Turkish president Ahmet Sezer in his contacts on the sidelines of the UN millennium summit in New York calling for a solution to the Cyprus problem.

According to the Turkish newspaper "Radikal", UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, the presidents of the United States and France and the German chancellor called on Turkey to prepare the ground so that the proximity talks on Cyprus that will be underway in New York tomorrow to turn into meaningful talks.

The newspaper also mentions that even though Mr. Sezer insisted that Turkey will continue to support the talks both US president Clinton and the UN secretary-general called for a more constructive approach.

[15] ARTICLE BY THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER ON THE OLYMPIC TRUCE

The 2004 Olympic Games in Athens offer the opportunity to reassess the contemporary Olympic Games and restore certain of the ideals that inspired the ancient games, stresses Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou in an extensive article on the US daily "Washington Post".

Mr. Papandreou also points out the significance of the initiative that led to the establishment of the International Olympic Truce Center which, as he stresses, will give a new life to the Olympic Games.

He wrote that International Olympic Committee, IOC, president Juan Antonio Samaranch and himself inaugurated in Athens on July 24 the International Olympic Truce Center, which is a non governmental organization. It is an ambitious undertaking by the IOC in cooperation with the Greek government aimed to promote international truce during the Olympic Games and build bridges between rivals in the four-year interval between the Olympic Games.

In 2004, writes Mr. Papandreou, the Olympic Games will return to Greece, the place from where they started in ancient times, over a century after their revival in 1896. This move is more than a symbolic one. It offers an opportunity to reassess the contemporary Olympic Games and restore certain of the ideals that inspired the ancient games.

[16] LAMBIS NIKOLAOU IS A CANDIDATE FOR THE IOC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President of the Greek Olympic Games Committee, Mr. Lambis Nikolaou is one of the seven candidates for the two positions that are open in the IOC Executive Committee, according to a statement issued today. The two positions will be covered after elections that will be held in Sydney on September 20.

The other six candidates are from Russia, Italy, South Africa, Ireland, Sweden and France.

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