Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-03-30

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

CONTENTS

[01] POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE POINTS

[02] WAGE INCREASE DIGRESSION LEADS TO STRIKE

[03] 200,000 ABORTIONS PER YEAR IN GREECE

[04] PALEOKRASAS IN DEI, CHRISTODOULOU IN ELPE

[05] KARAMANLIS' RESPONSE TO THE US PRESIDENT ON TERRORISM

[06] THE SPANISH AGRICULTURE MINISTER VISITS ATHENS

[07] THE GREEK SIDE WAITS FOR THE UN SECRETARY-GENERAL RESPONSE

[08] THE GREEK DELEGATION SUBMITTED ITS OBSERVATIONS ON THE ANNAN PLAN

[09] MARGINAL LOSSES IN THE ASE

[10] NATO OFFICERS IN ATHENS FOR OLYMPIC SECURITY

[11] GREEK OBSERVATIONS ON ANNAN PLAN SUBMITTED TO DE SOTO

[01] POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE POINTS

The National Council of Cyprus, which convened until the early morning hours, found positive and negative points in the latest version of the Annan proposal. We can see that some of the points our side asked for were met, but some of our other basic points were not, stated the Cypriot Government Spokesperson. The Greek side shares the concerns of the Greek Cypriot side. There are problematic points, but there is also the will for a solution, stressed Greek and Turkish Prime Ministers C. Karamanlis and R. Erdogan after their meeting last night in Lucerne. The plan was characterized as a proposal which benefits everyone by a Washington's spokesperson. With the negotiations ending tomorrow, Head of the Opposition Giorgos Papandreou expressed his dissatisfaction with the lack of information from the government.

[02] WAGE INCREASE DIGRESSION LEADS TO STRIKE

The 24-hour strike declared by the General Union of Greek Workers and Employees will begin on Wednesday morning, in demand of the signing of the National Collective Labor Charter, which foresees an 8% wage increase in the public sector and a decrease of one hour of work per week. Employers' organizations proposed raises of 3.2%. An appeal to social partners to contribute so that the increase in wages can gradually converge with the sum of Greece's productivity growth rate and inflation in the Eurozone, was made by Governor of the Bank of Greece N. Garganas.

[03] 200,000 ABORTIONS PER YEAR IN GREECE

The number of abortions is double the number of births in Greece, reaching 200,000 each year, while only 3% of Greek women use contraceptive pills.

The above information was published by the Family Planning Company drawing on World Contraception Day today.

Also, according to the same information, only 40% of women under the age of 24 are informed on contraception issues by the gynecologist, while for the ages of 16-18, the percentage is only 22%. The majority of young people learn about contraception from the media and their friends.

[04] PALEOKRASAS IN DEI, CHRISTODOULOU IN ELPE

The Parliament's State Public Benefit Enterprises (DEKO) Committee approved the candidacies of Ioannis Paleokrassas for the position of President of DEI (Public Electricity Enterprise) and Timos Christodoulou for the position of President and Directing Consultant at ELPE (Hellenic Petroleum). Mr. Paleokrasas gave his reassurance that there will be no electricity adequacy problem during the Olympics, while Mr. Christodoulou made a commitment that there would be no redundancies in the excess personnel at ELPE, but that these people would be better utilized. New Democracy MPs voted for, PASOK MPs voted against and KKE and the Coalition voted for neither.

[05] KARAMANLIS' RESPONSE TO THE US PRESIDENT ON TERRORISM

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis stated that he agrees fully with the emphasis given by US President George Bush to the efforts against world terrorism in response to a relevant letter sent by President Bush yesterday.

In his response Mr. Karamanlis underlines the issue of security in view of the Olympic Games, stressing that combating terrorism is all the more important as Greece will be hosting the Olympic Games this summer and it is one of my government's top priorities that all measures be taken to ensure the safety of the games.

The Prime Minister also points out that the issue of terrorism will be discussed among others in the talks he will have with the US President during his visit to Washington on May 20.

[06] THE SPANISH AGRICULTURE MINISTER VISITS ATHENS

Spain's Minister of Agriculture Arias Canete is on a visit to Athens today at the invitation of Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Savvas Tsitouridis.

The two ministers will meet tomorrow morning and they will discuss the revision of the Common Agricultural Policy on olive oil, cotton and tobacco in view of the extraordinary Summit meeting of the EU Ministers of Agriculture in Luxembourg on April 19-20.

[07] THE GREEK SIDE WAITS FOR THE UN SECRETARY-GENERAL RESPONSE

The Greek government waits for the UN secretary-general Kofi Annan response on the observations he has received from all sides on his plan on Cyprus.

Diplomatic sources mentioned that there is no scheduled meeting between Mr. Annan and the Greek Prime Minister, adding that if there is an invitation for a meeting issued by the UN secretary-general Athens will not reject it.

The same sources pointed out that negotiations are in full progress and that there is complete coincidence of views and understanding with the Greek Cypriot side clarifying, however, that there is no quadripartite negotiation.

[08] THE GREEK DELEGATION SUBMITTED ITS OBSERVATIONS ON THE ANNAN PLAN

Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Valinakis, accompanied by a team of diplomats and specialists on military and legal issues, submitted the observations of the Greek side on the Annan Plan to UN secretary-general special adviser on Cyprus Mr. Alvaro de Soto.

Greek government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos clarified that the observations focus mainly on security and divergences.

The unwavering aim of the Greek side is to strengthen functionality and consolidate compatibility with the European principles and values, stated Mr. Rousopoulos.

[09] MARGINAL LOSSES IN THE ASE

Marginal losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -0.06% at 2375.57 points, while the volume of transactions was at 128.40 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 119 had gains and 178 had losses, while the value of 94 stocks remained unchanged.

[10] NATO OFFICERS IN ATHENS FOR OLYMPIC SECURITY

NATO officers will hold discussions in Athens on Tuesday, in order to specify the contribution of the North Atlantic Alliance to Olympic Security that Greece asked for.

According to Ta Nea newspaper, the large group will consist of officers from NATO's seat (Military Committee Secretariat), the European Headquarters (SHERE) and Naples (AFSOUTH). The discussions will initially last two days, while further meetings will follow.

The basic requests concern the flow of information, a bird's eye view and air surveillance with flying radars, patrols and support from naval forces (including ships from the 6th Fleet of the US Navy), as well as dealing with radiological and biochemical threats.

[11] GREEK OBSERVATIONS ON ANNAN PLAN SUBMITTED TO DE SOTO

The observations of the Greek side regarding the new proposal of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will be turned in to Alternate UN Secretary General Alvaro de Soto this afternoon by Deputy Foreign Minister Giannis Valinakis.

The above was announced by Government Spokesperson Thodoris Roussopoulos, who pointed out earlier that Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis discussed the issue with EU Commissioner Gunter Verheugen.

Mr. Roussopoulos stressed that the Greek observations mainly focus on issues of security and exclusion, and he underlined that strengthening functionality and establishing compatibility are standing objectives of the Greek and Cypriot governments.

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