Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-03-18

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

CONTENTS

[01] OLYMPIC AIRWAYS FLIGHTS CANCELLED

[02] HOPES FOR TERRORIST ARRESTS BY 2003

[03] SIMITIS-STEFANOPOULOS MEETING

[01] OLYMPIC AIRWAYS FLIGHTS CANCELLED

Beginning in April, direct flights from Thessaloniki airports to Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Munich, Chania, Santorini, Myconos, Rhodes, Heracleon, and Larnaka will be cancelled. This decision was made by Olympic Airways management, in the framework of the decisions made by the Ministry of Transfers and Communications, for the unification of the groups flights, and the cancellation of all non-profitable flights.

These flights, as is mentioned in press releases, are carried out by three Boeing 747 passenger aircraft, which will be used by the parent company after the flights are cancelled.

It should be noted that the employees, specifically flight attendants and caretakers, are actively reacting to this decision, supporting that the specific flights have increased passenger traffic.

However, the management of Olympic Airways does not share that opinion, and has for the past few months, been materializing government decisions, so that the entire company enters the new designs that will end in a new attempt for privatization. The estimation is, however, that a new OA will not be created immediately.

The business plan is expected to be completed in the next two months, while any changes to the company's structure will take effect during the summer months.

[02] HOPES FOR TERRORIST ARRESTS BY 2003

His hopes that there will be terrorist arrests by 2003, were expressed by the British Ambassador to Athens, David Madden, who is optimistic as far as the investigation of "November 17" is concerned.

Speaking to the Sunday "Typos", Mr. Madden stressed that when there are safe conclusions, arrests will be made, and he added that "we will not pressure the issue, so that no hasty decisions are made".

"I hope that there will be results by 2003", stated the British Ambassador, categorically refuting information on the carrying out of "friendly interrogations" by British officer, of terrorist activity suspects. He also underlined the importance of collecting necessary evidence, convicting the murderers of Steven Saunders.

In the meanwhile, in an interview to "E" magazine of the Sunday "Eleftherotypia", the German Ambassador to Athens, Karl Heinz Kuhna, who was a target of "November 17", pointed out that it will not be a random fact that will lead to the terrorist organization, while he does not share the opinion of incompetence of the authorities as far as "17N" is concerned.

He characterized "November 17" as a nationalist terrorist organization, supporting that it is not a threat to the 2004 Olympics, because it will not attempt to stand in the way of Greece's greatest sports meet.

[03] SIMITIS-STEFANOPOULOS MEETING

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis will meet with President of the Republic Kostis Stefanopoulos tomorrow, in order to inform him of the results of the recent Summit Meeting of the European Union at Barcelona, and other issues.

At the Summit Meeting, the basic directions for the increase of employment and energy market mobility, beginning in 2004, were agreed upon, but only for business use. The necessity of observing strict fiscal discipline, supporting of small businesses, improving the quality of public services, and protecting the environment, were also underlined.

On the Euroarmy issue, a decision for discussions between Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou and his Spanish counterpart Javier Solana were made for the near future, so that a commonly accepted solution is found soon. On the securities issue, the 15 announced that during the next Spring Meeting, to take place during the Greek Presidency, a Commission report on pension plan reforms in EU member-states will take place. It should be noted that the Prime Ministers of Spain and Italy supported that the minimum retirement age should be at 65, an opinion that the Greek Prime Minister disagreed with.

The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, stated that it is possible that the EU will disagree with a potential US attack on Iraq, adding however that the issue was not raised at the daily discussions of the Summit Meeting in Barcelona. Greece wants a compromise, as long as the autonomy of the Union is not threatened and there is no discrimination against member-states or candidate member-states, stressed PM Kostas Simitis, after the end of the Summit Meeting works.

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