Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-01-25

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

CONTENTS

[01] CHRYSOCHOIDIS MEETINGS IN LONDON

[02] ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER IN ATHENS TODAY

[03] GREECE-TURKEY COMMON DISAGREEMENT ON HQS

[04] MAD COW WARNINGS

[05] THE "GROUND ZERO-THE GREEK SOULS" DOCUMENTARY ON THE GREEK SATELLITE TV

[06] UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES IN THE EU

[07] SE EUROPEAN JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS WILL ATTEND SEMINARS IN GREECE

[08] PROTOPAPAS ON THE GUREL STATEMENTS

[09] SMALL LOSSES IN THE ASE

[10] GREEK ELECTRICITY TO ALBANIA

[11] THE GREEKS HAVE A NEGATIVE PICTURE OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION

[12] GREEK ANTIQUITIES IN A BERLIN MUSEUM

[13] GURT PROKOP WILL BE BURIED IN GREECE

[14] META MEETINGS WITH KAKLAMANIS-KARAMANLIS

[01] CHRYSOCHOIDIS MEETINGS IN LONDON

The scenarios on terrorism and the lists of suspects coming to surface and being published, were mentioned by Minister of Public Order Michalis Chrysochoidis in London, where he met with the Head of Scotland Yard and his British counterpart, David Blanket.

During his discussions with British officials, issues concerning the safety of the Olympics and terrorism were discussed.

The Minister of Public order, while updating Greek and British journalists, was asked if the British have given the Greek Police any lists of suspects, and he reacted intensely, stating that it is a shame for out country that such things are said.

When asked if there will be any arrests, Mr. Chrysochoidis answered that there have been no arrests, and there will be no announcements for arrests.

He stressed that terrorism is an important issue, that there is an organized effort taking place to deal with it, and ha added that, with the British, an exercise has been planned to be carried out by the Greek Police in a few months.

[02] ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER IN ATHENS TODAY

Prime Minister of Albania Ilir Meta is making an official visit to Athens, where, this morning, he will meet with President of New Cemocracy Kostas Karamanlis.

Later in the day, Mr. Meta will meet with Prime Minister Kostas Simitis, and Albania's major issue, the energy problem and the promotion of an agreement stabilizing the neighboring country with the EU, will be the main topic of discussion.

[03] GREECE-TURKEY COMMON DISAGREEMENT ON HQS

A peculiar alliance has been formed within NATO frameworks between Greece and Turkey, after the Alliance's intention of dispensing with the air force headquarters in Larisa and Eski Sehir, as well as those in Spain, Britain and Gibraltar.

The alliance's intention, as published in Express newspaper, was made known in a document that came into the possession of the General National Defense Staff and the Foreign Ministry, through its standing delegation in Brussels. NATO called on financial reasons to justify this decision of doing away with the headquarters, so that tensions between the 4 Alliance member-countries may end. According to the document, air control will be directly handled by AFSOUTH in Naples.

This adjustment will mean Greece losing its Air Policing Area in the Aegean which is the same as Athens FIR being handled by the Larisa Air Force HQ. On the other hand, Turkey will lose its grounds for questioning Greece's sovereignty in the Aegean. That is what justifies this peculiar Greek-Turkish alliance.

[04] MAD COW WARNINGS

For the first time since the mad cow epidemic broke out in the European Union, the Veterinarian Association of the Community proposed that Greece be included in the list of countries where cases have been recorded, not because there have been any cases as such, but because there may be one in the future.

It is noted, that of the 15 member-states of the EU, cases of the disease have been recorded in 12.

[05] THE "GROUND ZERO-THE GREEK SOULS" DOCUMENTARY ON THE GREEK SATELLITE TV CHANNELS

The Greeks living abroad will have the opportunity to watch the documentary Ground Zero-The Greek Souls on the Greek satellite television channels.

The documentary is a production that had the support of the Greek Foreign Ministry and is dedicated to the innocent victims, the Greek-Americans, who were killed in the September 11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York. Parts of the documentary had been screened for the first time within the framework of the World Council of Greeks Abroad, SAE, 4th World Assembly that was held in Thessaloniki last December.

Family members of the victims speak in the documentary about their loved ones and the film displays the strength of the Greek soul and the dignity of those people, while it also sends out a message of solidarity to the Greek-American community.

The documentary can be watched on Antenna-Pacific in Australia on Saturday, January 26 at 15:15pm local time, Antenna-Satellite in the USA and Canada via the Odyssey TV Network on Sunday, January 27 at 21:15pm NY time (EST), MEGA-COSMOS in the USA and Canada on Sunday, January 27 at 22:30pm NY time (EST) and MEGA-COSMOS in Australia on Monday, January 28 at 14:30pm local time.

[06] UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES IN THE EU

The European Commission gave to publicity figures concerning unemployment in the EU member-states.

In Greece, unemployment is at 11.1%, while the EU average is at 7.9%. Spain has the largest unemployment rate at 13.6%.

Greece occupies the top place regarding unemployment among the young people under the age of 25 with 29.5%, followed by Italy 29.1% and Spain 25.5%.

[07] SE EUROPEAN JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS WILL ATTEND SEMINARS IN GREECE

About 200 judges and prosecutors from southeastern Europe will attend seminars that will be held twice a year at Thessaloniki's Judges School, according to a statement made in Thessaloniki by Justice Minister Philippos Petsalnikos.

In a press conference he gave during his visit to the Judges School, Mr. Petsalnikos pointed out that the prolongation of the term of limitations concerning the crimes that are related with terrorism is being considered.

[08] PROTOPAPAS ON THE GUREL STATEMENTS

The statements made by Turkish State Minister Mr. Gurel according to which, Greece suffers from a behavioral problem as a result of its EU member status, are not to the right direction, stated Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas. Mr. Protopapas added that such statements remind of times of total intransigence on behalf of Turkey.

The government spokesman stated that Turkey will not benefit from such intransigence, pointing out that it has led Turkey to isolation and called on Ankara to change this stance.

[09] SMALL LOSSES IN THE ASE

Small losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -0.12% at 2.617,87 points, while the volume of transactions was at 139.1 million Euro or 47.4 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, 127 recorded gains and 169 had losses, while the value of 66 stocks remained unchanged.

[10] GREEK ELECTRICITY TO ALBANIA

The assurance that Greece will help Albania to deal with the serious energy problem it faces, was given by Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis to his Albanian counterpart Ilir Meta, who is on a formal visit to Athens. Mr. Simitis stated that Greece supplied Albania with electricity of 100megawatt during the latest wave of bad weather. The two Prime Ministers agreed that a meeting of specialists should be held to examine ways to exploit the waters of Aoos River.

The developments in the Balkans were also discussed in the Simitis-Meta meeting as well as the plan for the economic reconstruction of the Balkans, the Greek investments in Albania, the issue of the Albanian immigrants in Greece and the problems of the ethnic Greek minority in Albania.

On the Albanian immigrants in Greece, Mr. Simitis said that the issue of their social security coverage is open and consultations are underway between the responsible authorities in Greece and Albania. On the issue of public order and security, he pointed out that progress has been made in the cooperation between Greece and Albania in an effort to combat organized crime. Mr. Simitis gave a special emphasis to the need for an intense effort along the borders to limit illegal immigration and materialize the bilateral agreements on employment.

Regarding the ethnic Greek minority in Albania, they discussed the minority problems and education issues.

They also discussed the situation in the Balkans and considered ways to promote peace in the region. On bilateral relations, Mr. Simitis stated that efforts have been made with Albania lately to overcome differences and conflicts.

Mr. Meta thanked Mr. Simitis for the understanding he displayed in all the issues they discussed and pointed out that the Greek-Albanian relations had a steady improvement, adding that Greece actively backed Albania's stabilization and EU course.

[11] THE GREEKS HAVE A NEGATIVE PICTURE OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION

The Greeks have a negative picture of local administration, according to the outcome of a research conducted by Thessaloniki's Aristotle University.

Based on the responses of 80.8% of those who answered the questionnaire, the municipal authorities officials offer jobs to their own people, while 74% believe that the municipal authorities are interested in projects that create strong impression without having any significant use for the people. In addition, only 1/3 of the people expressed an interest in the upcoming municipal elections.

The most serious problems for the city people are the lack of available parking space and green areas, while the problems the state government is being called to solve are unemployment, education and crime.

[12] GREEK ANTIQUITIES IN A BERLIN MUSEUM

Twenty nine ancient artifacts from the Museum of Ancient Olympia in southern Greece, together with other archaeological findings from different parts of Greece, will be exhibited in Berlin next March.

The archaeological findings will be exhibited in the Martin-Gropius-Baus Museum in Berlin.

[13] GURT PROKOP WILL BE BURIED IN GREECE

Philhellene German football coach Gurt Prokop, who died in Chalkidiki, northern Greece from cancer at the age of 63, will be buried in Thessaloniki on Monday. It was his wish to be buried in Greece. He worked in Greece and Cyprus for a total of 20 years.

Gurt Prokop won the hearts of the Greeks and he used to say that Greece is his second home.

He began his career as a football coach in the Alemagna Aachen football team and came to Greece in 1981 to coach the Athens Apollo team. He also coached the Greek teams of PAS Yiannena, Doxa Dramas, Athinaikos, Ionikos, Aris, Apollo Kalamaria, Doxa Vironas and Niki Volos. In 1994 he went to Cyprus where he stayed for four years and coached the teams of Omonia and Paralimni.

[14] META MEETINGS WITH KAKLAMANIS-KARAMANLIS

The decision for the further strengthening of relations between the Greek and the Albanian parliament, was expressed by Greek parliament president Apostolos Kaklamanis and Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta after their meeting in Athens today.

They also discussed the issue of the ethnic Greek minority in Albania, as well as ways to deal with illegal immigration and organized crime.

The Albanian Prime Minister thanked Mr. Kaklamanis for the warm welcome and for the commitment he undertook according to which, the Greek parliament will contribute to the further strengthening of the Albanian parliament. Mr. Meta said that in the meeting they made an assessment of bilateral relations, while an emphasis was given to the Greek investment presence in Albania, which has increased considerably lately.

Mr. Meta also visited right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis, who accepted an invitation to visit Albania. Mr. Karamanlis made it clear to the Albanian Prime Minister that a precondition for good bilateral relations is the satisfactory living standards and the respect of the rights of the Orthodox Greeks in Albania.

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