Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-04-19

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

CONTENTS

[01] SURVEY ON "NOVEMBER 17"

[02] SIMITIS AT THE BUCHAREST THREE-DAY SUMMIT

[03] THE PALESTINIANS AND THE ISRAELIS MUST LIVE IN PEACE

[04] GAINS IN THE ASE

[05] KARAMANLIS' MEETING WITH JAVIER SOLANA

[06] GREEK PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES IN THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE SUMMIT

[07] CHINESE DELAGATION TO VISIT E. MACEDONIA-THRACE DISTRICT

[08] KARAMANLIS MEETS H. KOHL AND X. SOLANA

[09] EU COMMISSIONER M. MONTI IN ATHENS

[10] PAPANTONIOU MEETS WITH DEF. MINISTERS OF ROMANIA AND ALBANIA

[11] LUFTHANSA FLIGHTS FROM THESSALONIKI RECOMMENCE

[12] TRIPARTITE MEETING IN BUCHAREST

[01] SURVEY ON "NOVEMBER 17"

According to a survey on November 17, 89.1% of Greeks asks for the organization to stop its terrorist activities. The survey was performed by ALCO for PRESS magazine, published along with the Eleftherotypia newspaper.

67% of those asked disagrees with the positions and tactics followed by the organization, 22% agrees with the positions but disagrees with the tactics, 1.7% agrees both with the positions and the tactics, and 4.6% ask for it to continue its action.

64.5% characterized its members as terrorists and 11.6% as social revolutionaries. 60.5% believes that there are people hiding behind N17 and 22.3% believes that it is an autonomous organization. 47.8% believes that there are various parties behind it, 12.5% believes that it is PASOK, 9.1% believes it is the CIA, 4.5% think it's EYP, 3.4% believes it is Leftist extremists, 2.9% think it is the far Right, and 2.1% believe it is the PAK.

[02] SIMITIS AT THE BUCHAREST THREE-DAY SUMMIT

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis is in Bucharest in order to participate in the trilateral summit meeting of Greece-Romania-Bulgaria, where cooperation between the three countries as well as issues of the broader Balkan region will be discussed.

The three leaders of Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, stated their commitment to fight terrorism, confront drug smuggling, while they will cooperate to improve the infrastructure of business mechanisms.

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis is being accompanied by Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou on his trip.

[03] THE PALESTINIANS AND THE ISRAELIS MUST LIVE IN PEACE

The Greek government believes that the Palestinians and the Israelis must live in peace. The Palestinians should have their own country and the Israelis should live in safety, stressed acting Greek government spokesman Ministry of Press general secretary Ms. Dimitra Spiliopoulou.

Called to comment on the statements made by US President Bush according to which, Ariel Saron is a man of peace, she responded that the specific characterization belongs to Mr. Bush.

[04] GAINS IN THE ASE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +0.83% at 2.221,49 points, while the volume of transactions was at 84.2 million Euro.

Of the stocks trading today, 213 recorded gains and 98 had losses, while the value of 66 stocks remained unchanged.

[05] KARAMANLIS' MEETING WITH JAVIER SOLANA

Right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis met in Athens with EU common foreign policy and policy of the defense head Javier Solana. Their meeting focused on issues concerning the Euro-army and the situation in the Middle East.

In his statements, Mr. Karamanlis pointed out that the US-British text on the Euro-army cannot be accepted by Greece in its present form. Mr. Karamanlis criticized the government for the position it had adopted in the past and offered his backing to the position it negotiates now. He stressed that things would have been different if the government had not been inactive for about a year in spite of the repeated remarks and warnings made by New Democracy.

Mr. Karamanlis characterized as very important the EU security and defense issues and underlined that especially for Greece their importance is even greater. He said that he made it clear to Mr. Solana that the Euro-army text cannot be accepted by Greece in its present form, stressing that Greece cannot be a second rate country in terms of security. He added that the Greek citizens must feel safe like any other European citizen and Greece, which is a member of the EU, cannot be reduced to the same level with countries that are not EU member-states.

From his side, Mr. Solana stated that the dialogue on the Euro-army will continue to find the best possible solution. Speaking this morning in The Economist conference organized in Athens he referred to Turkey's EU accession prospect.

[06] GREEK PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES IN THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE SUMMIT

A Greek Parliament twelve-member delegation will depart for Strasbourg on Sunday to participate in the proceedings of the 2nd part of the 2002 Summit meeting of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly that will take place on April 22-26.

The issues on which the meeting will focus will be the future cooperation of European institutions, Russian legislation on religion and protection of minorities in Belgium. Also, the legal situation of Gypsies in Europe, the New Economy in Europe, training of employees in new technologies, the Red Cross International Committee activities, changes in religion in central and eastern Europe and the protection of forests and sea life.

They will also discuss the situation in the Middle East.

[07] CHINESE DELAGATION TO VISIT E. MACEDONIA-THRACE DISTRICT

An official visit to the district of Eastern Macedonia-Thrace will be made on April 20-21 by a Chinese delegation, headed by the governor of the Zhegiang province, Chai Shongyue.

In the framework of the visit, the members of the Chinese delegation will visit industrial areas of the district, while they will participate in conferences with businessmen and official bodies.

[08] KARAMANLIS MEETS H. KOHL AND X. SOLANA

President of New Democracy Kostas Karamanlis is meeting with the High Representative on Joint Foreign Policy and Defense issues of the EU, Xavier Solana, this morning.

In the afternoon the Head of the Opposition will meet with former Chancellor of Germany, Helmut Kohl, who will speak at The Economist conference tonight.

[09] EU COMMISSIONER M. MONTI IN ATHENS

EU Commissioner of Competition Mario Monti, will visit Athens today. This morning Mr. Monti will speak at the War Museum at a Competition Committee meeting.

In the afternoon, Mario Monti will have consecutive meetings with Minister of National Economy, Nikos Christodoulakis, and Development, Akis Tsohatzopoulos.

[10] PAPANTONIOU MEETS WITH DEF. MINISTERS OF ROMANIA AND ALBANIA

Greek Minister of National Defense will have consecutive meetings today with his counterparts from Albania, Luan Rama, and Romania, Ioan Mircea Pasku.

Mr. Papantoniou, will meet with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Solomon Passi, and President of SAE, Andrew Athens.

[11] LUFTHANSA FLIGHTS FROM THESSALONIKI RECOMMENCE

The possible recommencing of Lufthansa flights from and to Thessaloniki's Macedonia airport, was stated by deputy Minister of Finance of Bavaria, Hans Spitzner, in a meeting he had with Minister of Macedonia-Thrace, Giorgos Paschalidis.

He also expressed his interest for cooperation with the Greek side on the Thessaloniki Technological Park.

The Minister of Macedonia-Thrace will complete his four-day visit to Germany today.

[12] TRIPARTITE MEETING IN BUCHAREST

The need for a more organized presence to combat illegal immigration, arms and drugs smuggling and consolidate security in the Balkans, was stressed in Bucharest by the leaders of Greece, Romania and Bulgaria in their tripartite meeting in the Romanian capital.

The three leaders examined the prospects for the cooperation of the three countries toward the strengthening of investments, the greater activation of economic chambers, the development of transportation infrastructures and the linking of energy and natural gas networks.

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis stated that when the reconstruction of the Yugoslav network is completed there will be greater potential for the development of the energy market in the region.

The Athens-Bucharest-Sofia cooperation at a political level was also examined in the meeting and at this point, it was stressed that Greece backs the accession of Romania and Bulgaria into the European Union. It was also underlined that a regular communication takes place on this issue at a diplomatic level and that a Greek Foreign Ministry diplomatic mission is currently in progress aimed at backing the Balkan demands.

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