Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-03-13

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

CONTENTS

[01] IRANIAN PRESIDENT IN ATHENS

[02] GRIEF FOR THE DEATH OF FORMER CYPRIOT PRESIDENT

[03] SEARCHES FOR US CHOPPER CONTINUE

[04] JOINT GREEK-BOSNIAN BUSINESS FORUM

[05] KAKLAMANIS MET WITH THE BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTER

[06] THE GREEK POSITIONS IN THE BARCELONA SUMMIT

[07] LOSSES IN THE ASE

[08] THE GREEK GDP INCREASED IN THE FOURTH TRIMESTER OF 2001

[09] POSITIVE GREEK-TURKISH MEETING

[10] BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTER IN ATHENS

[11] GREEK FRIGATE IN THE PERSIAN GULF

[12] PASCHALIDIS-MICHAILOVA MEETING

[01] IRANIAN PRESIDENT IN ATHENS

President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyed Mohammad Khatami, will begin his three-day official visit to Athens today.

Mr. Khatami will arrive at Eleftherios Venizelos airport at 3.15pm. At 4.14pm, he will be meet with the President of the Greek Republic, Kostis Stefanopoulos, with whom he will have discussions followed by bilateral agreements. The agreements will concern customs matters, the executive educational programme, and a memorandum between the Public Natural Gas Company (DEPA) and the appropriate Iranian service on power issues.

At 6pm, the Iranian President will meet with Prime Minister Kostas Simitis at the Presidential Estate.

Subsequently, Mr. Khatami will have a meeting with Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou at the Intercontinental Hotel, at 8.15pm. It should be noted that Mr. Papandreou will have already met with his Iranian counterpart, Mr. Karazi, at the Foreign Ministry.

Mr. Khatami's schedule for today will be completed with an official dinner held in his honor by the President of the Greek Republic.

Tomorrow, at 10.40am, he will take a tour of the archeological site of the Acropolis, while at 12 noon he will visit the Parliament, where he will meet with its President, Apostolos Kaklamanis, who will award him the Golden Medal of the Greek Parliament.

At 5.20pm a meeting will take place between the Iranian President and the Mayor of Athens, Dimitris Avramopoulos, where Mr. Khatami will receive the Golden Medal of the City. At 6.30pm, Mr. Khatami will speak at Pantion University.

On Friday morning, Mr. Khatami will have consecutive meetings with the representative of the Main Opposition Party, Dimitri Sioufa, the Secretary General of the Greek Communist Party, Aleka Papariga and the President of the Coalition of the Left, Nikos Konstantopoulos.

With his visit to the Archbishopric of Athens, at 10.40pm, and his meeting with the Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece, Christodoulos, the official three-day visit of the Iranian President to Athens, will be over.

[02] GRIEF FOR THE DEATH OF FORMER CYPRIOT PRESIDENT

Former Cypriot Republic President Spiros Kiprianou, died yesterday afternoon in the Nicosia Oncology Center where he was hospitalized since last Saturday, when his health deteriorated. Mr. Kiprianou suffered from bone cancer.

President of the Republic Kostis Stefanopoulos expressed his great sorrow for the loss of the Cypriot people.

"The dearly departed, used his life from a young agefor the Cyprus cause, and with his political struggles expressed his desires for Cypriot Hellenism", stressed Mr. Stefanopoulos, and added that "Spyros Kyprianou, till his last moment, fought for great national causes".

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis expressed his deep grief for the death of the Cypriot former President, pointing out that his long-lasting efforts, contribution and work for the resolving of the Cyprus issue were of decisive importance.

"A close collaborator of Ethnarch Makarios, Foreign Minister for many years, and then President of the Cypriot Republic, he fought crucial diplomatic battles on all international podiums for the resolving of the Cyprus problem, for a free and united Cyprus, where both communities could live in harmony", stressed Mr. Simitis in his statements, and sent his warmest condolences to Spyros Kyprianou's family, the leadership, the staff and the friends of DIKO, and to the whole Cypriot people.

A telegram with his condolences was sent to the family of the deceased former President by honorary President of New Democracy, Konstantinos Mitsotakis.

"Losing Spyros Kyprianou, whose fighting spirit and fortitude in defending our national issue, is a loss for Cyprus, for Hellenism, for us all. At this hard time, I want to assure you all of my wholehearted support, and ask you to please accept my warmest condolences", mentioned Mr. Mitsotakis in his telegram.

[03] SEARCHES FOR US CHOPPER CONTINUE

Searches by sea and air for to locate the US military helicopter that crashed yesterday, in the sea area approximately 100 nautical miles from the Peloponesian coast, have yielded no results.

Greece has contributed to the searches with two C-139 military aircraft and a Super Puma helicopter, and the US is using two helicopters, an aircraft, and a ship in the US fleet.

[04] JOINT GREEK-BOSNIAN BUSINESS FORUM

The establishment of a joint business forum aimed at strengthening bilateral economic relations will be promoted in April by the governments of Greece and Bosnia-Herzegovina, according to a decision made today during the meeting of Greek Minister of Development Akis Tsochatzopoulos and Bosnian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumtzia.

Mr. Tsochatzopoulos stated that a main goal is to promote more effectively the existing bilateral cooperation on security issues, adding that the sectors with greater cooperation potential are the Greek and the European energy market as well as telecommunications. Prospects are also favorable for bilateral cooperation in the banking sector.

Mr. Lagumtzia clarified that his government will secure the participation of strong businessmen and economic world personalities in the joint forum that will take place in April. In the forum will be called to participate representatives of companies from the sectors of telecommunications, insurance, natural gas and road networks.

[05] KAKLAMANIS MET WITH THE BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTER

Greece watches with great interest the effort made in Bosnia-Herzegovina for stability, peace and economic development, stated Greek Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis in the meeting he had with Bosnian Prime Minister Zlatko Lagumzia, who is on a visit to Greece.

Mr. Kaklamanis assured the Bosnian Prime Minister that the Greek Parliament backs the efforts of his country because it regards Bosnia as an integral part of the great family of European peoples and its place is in the European Union.

He said that through cooperation and joint effort we have to create the preconditions for the Europeans to stop viewing the Balkan states as a powder-keg and start seeing them as an integral part of Europe.

Mr. Lagumtzia thanked the president of the Greek Parliament for the firm support to his country's European orientation and expressed his excitement over the fact that the draft law on the reconstruction of the Balkans was being discussed in the Greek Parliament on the day of his visit.

[06] THE GREEK POSITIONS IN THE BARCELONA SUMMIT

The Greek positions that will be presented in the EU Summit meeting in Barcelona on Friday were discussed in a ministerial meeting that was held in Athens today under Prime Minister Kostas Simitis.

In the Barcelona meeting, the European leaders will discuss the situation in the Middle East, while the Greek side will present Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou proposal for the solution of the Middle East issue.

Mr. Simitis will have the opportunity to present the Greek positions for the promotion of the joint foreign policy and the policy on defense, including the Euro-army issue. The situation in the Balkans is also expected to be discussed.

A main issue in the Barcelona Summit will be the social policy and the promotion of measures aimed at the improvement of competitiveness, economic growth and social cohesion.

Referring to the course of the European economy, Minister of Finance Nikos Christodoulakis stated that the new goal for Europe is to adjust its economy to modern demands, make it more competitive and increase employment.

[07] LOSSES IN THE ASE

Losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to 0.11% at 2.384,35 points, while the volume of transactions was at 80 million Euro or 27.2 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, 118 recorded losses and 173 had gains, while the value of 81 stocks remained unchanged.

[08] THE GREEK GDP INCREASED IN THE FOURTH TRIMESTER OF 2001

The Greek GDP increased by 3.7% on an annual basis in the last three months of 2001, according to figures provided by the National Statistics Agency.

For the record, the Greek GDP growth rate in the fourth trimester of 2001 is much higher compared to the Euro-zone average.

[09] POSITIVE GREEK-TURKISH MEETING

Both the Greek and the Turkish side characterized as constructive and positive the meeting they had in Ankara yesterday that opened the exploratory contacts between the two countries.

Greek Foreign Ministry International Political Affairs General Director, ambassador Anastasios Skopelitis characterized the meeting as positive and constructive, adding that they exchanged views.

Turkish Foreign Ministry permanent undersecretary, ambassador Ugur Zigial stated that the meeting was constructive and it will be repeated in Athens next April, clarifying that the talks concerned methodology as well as, the framework and the essence of the problem. He also stressed that the talks have no specific time limit.

Both sides agreed that there will be no detailed statements on the contents of the dialogue to preserve its effectiveness.

[10] BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTER IN ATHENS

The two-day visit of Prime Minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Zlatko Lagumdzija, to Athens, will be completed today. Mr. Lagumdzija met with the Minister of Development, Akis Tsohatzopoulos this morning, while at 1.30pm he met with the President of the Parliament, Mr. Kaklamanis. He will then speak at Athens University, and in the afternoon he will have meetings with Greek businessmen.

Before departing, the Prime Minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina will attend a dinner in his honor, held by the US Ambassador, at the Ambassador's residence in Athens.

[11] GREEK FRIGATE IN THE PERSIAN GULF

The international naval force overseeing the sea region from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, has a new Greek addition, the "Psara" frigate of Greece's Navy.

The frigate set off this morning from the Salamina port, with a crew of 216 officers, non-commission officers and sailors, including 2 women officers.

This latest technology frigate, is participating in the international campaign against terrorism and will patrol the Red and the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. It's mission will last three months.

[12] PASCHALIDIS-MICHAILOVA MEETING

Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Giorgos Paschalidis, who is on a visit to Bulgaria, met this morning in Sofia with the newly elected president of the Union of Democratic Forces Party Nadezda Michailova.

Mr. Paschalidis stated that women make up 1/3 of the parliament deputies in Bulgaria and this is a proof of quality for Bulgaria's Parliamentary Republic.

Mr. Paschalidis and Ms. Michailova discussed the Greek program for the reconstruction of the Balkans and cooperation in inter-border issues and Ms. Michailova referred to the efforts made by Bulgaria to become a member of NATO and the EU.

The Greek minister invited her to attend the conference on the Balkans that will take place in Thessaloniki on May 22. He also invited her to the meeting of the EU candidate-states representatives that will be held in Thessaloniki in the fall to discuss the future of Europe.

Mr. Paschalidis had meetings with representatives of the political parties that are represented in the Bulgarian Parliament and proposed the establishment of a committee, made up of representatives of the four political parties that are being represented in Parliament, to visit Thessaloniki. The date of the visit has not been decided yet.

During his three-day visit that was completed today, Mr. Paschalidis had meetings with the country's Prime Minister, the deputy Prime Minister, the Minister and the Undersecretary of Regional Development and Public Works, and the Minister of Sports.

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