Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 03-09-11

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

CONTENTS

[01] A MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR ANNA LINDH

[02] CONVERGENCE CHARTA WITH DEVIATION CATEGORIES

[03] THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR

[04] 2004 OLYMPICS IN COMPLETE SECURITY

[05] SKANDALIDIS MET WITH THE ALBANIAN AMBASSADOR TO ATHENS

[06] THE GREEK GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE SEPTEMBER 11 ANNIVERSARY

[07] MAGRIOTIS MET WITH THE METROPOLITE OF CANADA AND THE AUSTRALIAN

[08] THE GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE SAFETY OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

[09] GAINS IN THE ASE

[10] WOMAN JUDGE IN THE GREEK SUPREME COURT

[11] INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INCREASE IN JULY

[12] GARRY KASPAROV IN CRETE

[13] KARAMANOU ON THE ASSASSINATION OF ANNA LINDH

[14] PAPANDREOU: WE WANT THE TURKISH CYPRIOTS TO BE ACTIVE EU CITIZENS

[01] A MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR ANNA LINDH

Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou went to the

Stravolos Mayor's Hall, where a moment of silence was

kept in memory of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh

at Mr. Papandreou's request. After the news of Anna Lindh's death today, Mr. Papandreou, who had held discussions with her two days ago in Stockholm, said that his Swedish counterpart was "a very good friend who had struggled for the accession of Cyprus and for democracy in Greece, unfortunately is no longer with us". Mr. Papandreou expressed his warm condolences to her

family and the people of Sweden.

[02] CONVERGENCE CHARTA WITH DEVIATION CATEGORIES

The convergence charta, which consists of goals and

commitments for Greece to narrow the gap from the

average of the EU of the "15", was presented by

PrimeMinister Costas Simitis. Mr. Simitis said that

over the next four years growth will accelerate and he

announced the transfer of the charta's principles to

all regions. Mr. Simitis repeated the outline for

2000, stated President of New Democracy Costas

Karamanlis. Convergence and competitiveness express a

fully barbaric class policy, said Secretary General of

the Greek Communist Party, Aleka Papariga. There was

harsh criticism from the Coalition, the KKE and DIKKI.

[03] THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR

The new school year is beginning today with the

Ministry of Education giving its assurance that all

measures have been taken to guarantee total stability

regarding the positioning of teachers, as well as in

delivering books. One hundred and ten new school

buildings were turned over by the School Housing

Organization, which gave its assurance that the

problem of double shift schools will have been solved

within 2004. 5500 all day schools are functioning

throughout the country, while English will begin being

taught at 3rd grade. We are searching for a new model

of education, stated Archbishop Christodoulos.

Teachers threaten with strikes if their financial

demands are not met. There is optimism at the Ministry

of Education that mobilization can be avoided.

[04] 2004 OLYMPICS IN COMPLETE SECURITY

Greece is a safe country, it is taking all the

measures possible and there must be absolute security

both for the duration of the 2004 Athens Olympics as

well as long before that time. There must be no

concern about the security of the Olympic Games and

the country's safety in general", said deputy Minister

of the Press Tilemachos Chytiris after the meeting of

the ministerial committee on the

[05] SKANDALIDIS MET WITH THE ALBANIAN AMBASSADOR TO ATHENS

Greek Interior Minister Kostas Skandalidis met in Athens today with Albanian ambassador Baskim Jeneli and discussed issues concerning the legalization of the Albanian immigrants.

Mr. Skandalidis stressed that the legalization procedure will be completed by the end of the year and added that the government will make efforts to limit bureaucracy in the renewal of the residence and work permits of immigrants.

The Interior Minister accepted an invitation to visit Albania and the visit is expected to take place between October 15 and 20.

[06] THE GREEK GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE SEPTEMBER 11 ANNIVERSARY

September 11 was a tragic day for the American people and the whole world, stated today Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas on the occasion of the 2nd anniversary of the terrorist attack on New York's Twin Towers.

Greece is dedicated to the fight against terrorism and cooperates with the international community in every effort undertaken within the framework of the United Nations aimed at eliminating terrorism, added the Greek government spokesman.

[07] MAGRIOTIS MET WITH THE METROPOLITE OF CANADA AND THE AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR

Greek Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Yiannis Magriotis met in Athens today with Metropolite Sotirios of Canada and a large delegation of Greek-Canadians.

Mr. Magriotis referred to the big progress made by Greece in the past few years and made a special reference to the successful Greek EU Presidency in very difficult circumstances due to the war in Iraq. He also referred to the preparations for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and Greece's participation in the Euro-zone.

On his part, the Metropolite thanked Mr. Magriotis and the Greek State for the help they offer to the Greek community in Canada and briefed him on the new activities and initiatives undertaken by the Metropolis of Canada, while he wished success in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

Mr. Magriotis also met with Australian ambassador to Athens Mr. Hume and discussed bilateral issues, like the progress made in the efforts to reach a bilateral agreement on social security, and the interest of Australian firms in making investments in Greece.

[08] THE GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE SAFETY OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

The safety of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games is a Greek police job and nobody else's, stated Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas today, on the occasion of the statement made by US ambassador to Athens Thomas Miller according to which, the US Olympic team will be accompanied by American security advisers.

Mr. Protopapas added that anybody can come to Greece, which is a free country, if they respect its laws, rules and regulations, while during the Olympic Games, in particular, they should respect the special security measures that are going to be adopted.

The responsibility for the safety of the Olympic Games belongs exclusively to the Greek authorities and the game will be played under the terms set by the Greek laws, said Mr. Protopapas.

[09] GAINS IN THE ASE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +0.95% at 2.094,87 points, while the volume of transactions was considerable at 163.5 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 276 recorded gains and 52 had losses, while the value of 55 stocks remained unchanged.

[10] WOMAN JUDGE IN THE GREEK SUPREME COURT

A woman will become a Supreme Court judge for the second time in the Greek history.

The Supreme Judicial Council promoted Court of Appeals Judges President N. Yiannakakis to the post of the Supreme Court Judge yesterday.

For the record, the first woman Supreme Court Judge was A. Athanasiadis and retired about 15 years ago.

[11] INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INCREASE IN JULY

An increase of 2.1% at an annual basis was recorded in July in the mine production, industry, electricity-natural gas-water general index, according to a statement by the Greek National Statistics Agency.

In the January-July seven-month period the increase was at 1.5%.

The biggest increase in July was recorded in the electricity-natural gas-water index, while the mine production index was on the decline mainly due to the strike in the Chalkidiki mines.

[12] GARRY KASPAROV IN CRETE

World famous chess player Garry Kasparov is in Crete at the invitation of the sports club Kydon in Chania, the winner of the Greek Chess Championship for the past four years.

Kasparov will be in Crete for two weeks and will give demonstration matches on September 22-25 with European Champion Zurab Azmajparasvili, from the former Soviet republic of Georgia, who is an athlete of the sports club Kydon for the past two years.

The match will be broadcast live on the Internet and is expected to be watched by chess fans from all over the world.

[13] KARAMANOU ON THE ASSASSINATION OF ANNA LINDH

Greek governing Socialist Party of PASOK Euro-deputy Mrs. Anna Karamanou stated that she is deeply shocked by the news of the assassination of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh.

The fights she gave for the rights of women and the united Europe placed her among the leading EU leaders. She was a strong supporter of the single EU currency and represented the most liberal movement in her country, stated Mrs. Karamanou.

The members of the European Parliament Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities, were informed of the death of Anna Lindh during their regular meeting in Brussels. They expressed grief for her loss and extended their condolences to her family and the Swedish people.

[14] PAPANDREOU: WE WANT THE TURKISH CYPRIOTS TO BE ACTIVE EU CITIZENS

The message that the Greek side wants the Turkish Cypriots to be part of the great European family and also, to be citizens with an active participation in the EU, was sent today from Cyprus by visiting Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou.

He also sent the message that the safety of the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots is more guaranteed through the participation in the big European family than through occupation armies.

In a press conference on the completion of the contacts he had in Cyprus, Mr. Papandreou stressed that there is greater self-confidence when looking at the future of the wider region and Cyprus itself. He stressed that the Turkish Cypriots themselves hope now that they can also live under one Cypriot, European roof.

Mr. Papandreou also referred to the partial lifting of the restrictions in the movement of the people, saying that it is the result of the new momentum created for the solution of the Cyprus problem.

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