Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-04-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] GREEK-TURKISH JOINT INITIATIVE IN MIDDLE EAST

[02] GREEK POLITICAL LEADERS: CYCLE OF VIOLENCE IN MIDDLE EAST MUST END!

[03] EUROPEAN POPULAR PARTY FORUM ON DEMOCRACY IN WESTERN BALKANS

[04] CHRISTODOULAKIS: TAX SHELTER SET AT 9.500 EURO

[05] LOSSES AGAIN IN THE ASE

[06] THE COST OF ACCIDENTS IN GREECE IS TREMENDOUS

[07] ALBANIAN BUSINESSMEN IN THESSALONIKI

[08] THESSALONIKI'S ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY CONDEMNS ISRAEL

[09] KAKLAMANIS LEAVES FOR CAIRO TOMORROW

[10] ALBANIAN BUSINESSMEN IN KOZANI

[11] SASSON: ISRAELI FORCES WILL RESPECT THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY

[12] MESSAGE BY THE DEPUTY SAE PRESIDENT TO THE GREEKS IN ISRAEL AND

[13] THE HERMES EXPO ENDED IN SUCCESS

[01] GREEK-TURKISH JOINT INITIATIVE IN MIDDLE EAST

Next week, quite possibly on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou and his Turkish counterpart, Ismail Cem, will make a joint visit to Israel.

During his official visit to China, Mr. Papandreou said, in statements to the press, that there would be a meeting with Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat. He also added that this initiative was taken, firstly because the two countries have vital interests in the Middle East and secondly so that the message that two traditional opponents are cooperating and promoting dialogue and political solutions.

Mr. Papandreou briefed his Israeli counterpart, Simon Peres, over the phone, while Mr. Cem communicated with US Secretary of State Colin Powell. The Greek-Turkish initiative has also been made known to the European Union.

As Mr. Papandreou pointed out, his visit to Israel will depend on that of US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique.

Finally, Mr. Papandreou mentioned that a meeting of the representatives of the European Union will take place tomorrow in Madrid, with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanof, US Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan.

[02] GREEK POLITICAL LEADERS: CYCLE OF VIOLENCE IN MIDDLE EAST MUST END!

The dramatic events taking place in the Middle East were referred to by all political leaders from the Parliament's podium, who mentioned that the cycle of violence must end and the door of dialogue must be opened.

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis initially stressed that he does not agree with the opinion heard, that EU leaderships are subservient to the US, and he added that action was taken by many EU Prime Ministers, both towards Israel and towards the US.

As Mr. Simitis said, the pressures put on Israel and the US, resulted in US Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to the Middle East, and he expressed the hope that it will lead to the de-escalation of the situation.

Referring to the actions of the Greek government, Mr. Simitis mentioned that he participated in many EU initiatives and he stated that a new discussion is developing, and quite possibly Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou will travel to Ramallah and meet Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat.

The bloodshed must stop, the Israeli forces must be withdrawn from the Palestinian lands, which must be recognized with UN Security Council resolutions, and there must be security for Israel stressed the Prime Minister, among other things.

President of New Democracy Kostas Karamanlis stressed the need for moderation, common sense and humanitarianism to return to the sorely tried region.

Extremities and fanaticism only hold wounds in store. The cycle of blood leads nowhere and continuing military operations endanger peace and stability in the region, noted Mr. Karamanlis.

At the same time he stressed that the International Community is obliged to intensify its efforts and that the solution for this crisis presupposes an immediate cease-fire and immediate applying of UN resolutions.

Peace requires both the founding of a Palestinian State and respect for Israeli civilian lives, he ended.

Secretary General of the Greek Communist Party (KKE), Aleka Papariga pointed out that any intervention stopping the bloodshed of the Palestinians, is welcome. She also added that recognizing the Palestinian State is not enough, while she noted that US policy is leading both to emptying Israel as well as the EU, and that its goal is to create a broader political problem in the Arab world.

President of the Coalition of the Left, Nikos Konstantopoulos, accused the governments of the EU of not standing up to the circumstances, and added that his party supports all initiatives the Greek government has taken and should have taken.

We must stand by the Palestinians being wiped out. We must ask for a for immediate recognition of the Palestinian State and support peace loving forces in Israel, asking for democratization, underlined the President of the Coalition, and added: We must express our trouble, because the President of the Greek Parliament became a target of verbal attacks for expressing the view of all parties.

[03] EUROPEAN POPULAR PARTY FORUM ON DEMOCRACY IN WESTERN BALKANS

A forum on democracy in western Balkans, titled Stability Pact: a new approach, will be held in Thessaloniki tomorrow until April 13 within the framework of the European Popular Party initiative headed by right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis.

The forum is co-organized by the European Popular Party, the European Democratic Union and New Democracy in cooperation with the Konstantinos Karamanlis Democracy Fund and the European institutes Robert Schuman, Jarl Hjalmarson and Politische Akademie.

On Thursday, Mr. Karamanlis will meet with European Commissioner Chris Patten, responsible for external relations, and on Friday he will address the forum.

[04] CHRISTODOULAKIS: TAX SHELTER SET AT 9.500 EURO

The social dialogue for tax reform in Greece was effectively launched today with the presentation of the Georgakopoulos Committee findings by Minister of Finance Nikos Christodoulakis.

The findings propose tax shelter increase to 9.500 Euro, tax cuts for businesses, imposition of property tax on real estate, introduction of VAT on new buildings, and gas consumer tax increases.

Mr. Christodoulakis characterized the tax reform as the mother of all reforms and stressed that it is a simple and fair system that backs development. He also clarified that social dialogue should be completed by the end of May to be followed by the technical processing of the proposals. He added that a new tax draft bill will be submitted to Parliament in the fall and the changes that will be adopted will be put in effect on January 1, 2003.

Mr. Christodoulakis also referred to the need to combat tax evasion and pointed out that the government takes all necessary measures in order to deal with tax evasion mostly committed through offshore companies, false invoices and fuel smuggling.

[05] LOSSES AGAIN IN THE ASE

Losses were recorded again today in the Athens Stock Exchange. The general index dropped to -0.68% at 2.207,53 points, while the volume of transactions was at 67.8 million Euro.

Of the stocks trading today, 88 had gains and 244 had losses, while the value of 65 stocks remained unchanged.

[06] THE COST OF ACCIDENTS IN GREECE IS TREMENDOUS

The annual economic cost of accidents in Greece is at 115 billion drachmas. It is estimated that a total of 24.000 accidents take place every year in Greece including traffic accidents, accidents in the workplace, accidental events and violent acts.

Every year, accidents in Greece are the cause for about 2.500 deaths and 32.000 injuries.

The accident-caused injuries are the main cause of death for people under the age of 40 and the third cause of death for all ages in the developed countries. In the past decade, a total of 20 million people around the world died because of accident injuries, and the ratio is four heavily injured people for every accident-caused death.

[07] ALBANIAN BUSINESSMEN IN THESSALONIKI

A large Albanian business delegation from Letze in Albania will be in Thessaloniki on April 26 to discuss with their Greek colleagues the cooperation potential in a number of sectors.

The 31 businessmen from Albania will be received by members of Thessaloniki's Trade and Industry Chamber Board of Directors.

The Albanian businessmen are interested in launching a cooperation with their Greek colleagues in the sectors of building and construction materials, clothing, cosmetics, decorative crystal items, pharmaceuticals, bakery goods, electric panels, shipping, and paints.

[08] THESSALONIKI'S ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY CONDEMNS ISRAEL

Thessaloniki's Aristotle University condemns Israel's continuing military operations in the occupied Palestinian territories, stressing that the need to combat terrorism under no circumstances can take the form of collective incrimination of entire populations, violence targeting civilians and destruction of infrastructures.

It is stressed that there are numerous examples in the world history proving that the peaceful settlement of conflicts and the coexistence of peoples are feasible.

Thessaloniki's Aristotle University also calls on Israel to respect the UN Security Council decisions for the immediate withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the occupied Palestinian territories.

[09] KAKLAMANIS LEAVES FOR CAIRO TOMORROW

Greek Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis will depart for Cairo tomorrow to attend the extraordinary meeting the Euro-Mediterranean Parliament Presidents Conference Contact Group. Mr. Kaklamanis is currently holding the conference's presidency.

In the meeting that will take place in the Egyptian Parliament Building on April 12 will participate the presidents of the parliaments in Egypt, Spain, Italy, Tunisia and France and European Parliament vice-president Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos.

The critical situation in the Middle East and the ways in which national parliaments could intervene to defuse the crisis and reopen the dialogue process will be discussed in the extraordinary meeting of the Contact Group in the Egyptian capital.

[10] ALBANIAN BUSINESSMEN IN KOZANI

A business mission organized by the Chamber of Pogradec in Albania and headed by its president is visiting Kozani, in northwestern Greece today and tomorrow.

During the visit, contacts will be made with local businessmen. The delegation will visit the Trade and Industry Chamber of Kozani and will be received by its president Panagiotis Apostolidis.

[11] SASSON: ISRAELI FORCES WILL RESPECT THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY

His assurance that Israeli forces will respect the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was given by Israeli Ambassador David Sasson, in his letter of response to that sent to him by Archbishop Christodoulos.

Armed Palestinian terrorists violently entered the Church, knowing well that the Israeli Armed Forces would not even think of touching such a holy monument. In reality it was the armed Palestinians that blew up the back door of the Church, while they invaded it, noted Mr. Sasson.

Furthermore he pointed out that among those seeking refuge in the church are members of Tanzim, Yasser Arafat's armed militia, who are well known suppliers of weapons and explosives, and are directly responsible for the killing of many innocent Israeli civilians.

I can only express my sorrow, because these real events were presented in Greece, opening the way to Palestinian propaganda, which consists of shameless lies, in every sense of the word, he ended.

[12] MESSAGE BY THE DEPUTY SAE PRESIDENT TO THE GREEKS IN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

A message of moral support to the Greeks living in Israel and Palestine and to all the people living in the region who are hurt by violence was sent by deputy World Council of Greeks Living Abroad, SAE, President Stefanos Tambakis. Mr. Tambakis stressed that the crisis between Israel and Palestine has reached a very critical point.

He stated that SAE will be morally and materially on the side of the Greeks living in the region and will contribute to the efforts to heal their wounds as soon as possible after the crisis is overcome.

[13] THE HERMES EXPO ENDED IN SUCCESS

A protocol of cooperation was signed by the municipality of Philadelpia in the United States and representatives of the municipality of Thessaloniki, who participated in the Hermes Expo trade exhibition that took place in Atlantic City on April 6-7.

More than 70 businesses participated in the exhibition that was held in the Trump Taj Mahal Casino and was visited by about 20.000 people. The participation of personalities from the world of politics, business and the mass media in the seminars that were organized gave a convention character to the exhibition and contributed to the creation of a climate of communication and understanding between Greece and the Greeks living abroad.

The main speaker was US ambassador to Athens Thomas Miller, who referred extensively to the situation in the Greek business sector and the need for the improvement of cooperation with the United States.

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