Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-04-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] THE DAY AFTER FOR CYPRUS IS HERE

[02] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS ON A TWO-DAY VISIT TO ROMANIA

[03] SPILIOTOPOULOS: THERE WILL BE NO TENSION IN THE AEGEAN

[04] THE GREEK MINISTER OF PUBLIC ORDER MET WITH HIS ALBANIAN COUNTERPART

[05] EVENTFUL MEETING FOR THE HIERARCHY OF THE CHURCH OF GREECE

[06] SMALL GAINS IN THE ASE

[07] THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE ON THE EU DECISIONS

[08] THE GOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE MEETS TOMORROW

[09] ROUSOPOULOS: THE GOV'T HONORS EQUALLY THE PATRIARCHATE AND THE CHURCH

[10] THE GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE CYPRUS ISSUE AND THE GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS

[11] CYPRIOT GOVERNMENT MEASURES IN SUPPORT OF THE TURKISH CYPRIOTS

[01] THE DAY AFTER FOR CYPRUS IS HERE

The first indications on the EU stance that will be adopted after the rejection of the Annan Plan by the Greek Cypriots last Saturday will be seen today in the EU General Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg, where Mehmet Ali Talat is also invited to attend, while Turkey exerts pressures aimed at lifting the embargo which is in effect for the Turkish Cypriots.

Greek Foreign Minister Petros Moliviatis had a meeting yesterday with Brian Cowen, who is presiding over in the EU Council, and today he will meet with European Commissioners Verheugen and Patten.

Cypriot Republic Foreign Minister Giorgos Iakovou will announce measures in favor of the Turkish Cypriots.

Cypriot Republic President Tassos Papadopoulos called for new negotiations under the UN auspices.

[02] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS ON A TWO-DAY VISIT TO ROMANIA

Greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos will be on a two-day visit to Romania today and tomorrow at the invitation of Romanian President Ion Iliescu.

Mr. Stephanopoulos will depart this afternoon for Bucharest and later in the evening Mr. Iliescu will give a formal dinner in honor of the Greek President.

Tomorrow, Mr. Stephanopoulos will be at the Presidential Building for talks with Mr. Iliescu and later he will meet with Patriarch Theoktistos and Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastaze.

At noon tomorrow, Mr. Stephanopoulos will visit the National Museum of Maps and then he is scheduled to meet with Greeks living in Romania. In the afternoon, he will visit the Senate and later in the evening will return to Athens.

[03] SPILIOTOPOULOS: THERE WILL BE NO TENSION IN THE AEGEAN

The belief that there will be no tension between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean after the no of the Greek Cypriots in Saturday's referendum on the Annan Plan was expressed by Minister of Defense Spilios Spiliotopoulos responding to questions by reporters after the meeting he had today with Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis.

Mr. Spiliotopoulos stressed that he briefed the Prime Minister on issues concerning the current management of the Ministry of Defense.

[04] THE GREEK MINISTER OF PUBLIC ORDER MET WITH HIS ALBANIAN COUNTERPART

The cooperation between Greece and Albania in view of the Olympic Games was the main issue under discussion in the meeting Greek Minister of Public Order Giorgos Voulgarakis had in Athens with his Albanian counterpart Igli Toska.

After the meeting, Mr. Voulgarakis stated that the common goal is to create a Balkan shield to protect all Balkan countries and not just during the Olympic Games.

Mr. Voulgarakis thanked his Albanian counterpart for the good cooperation between the two governments.

On his part, Mr. Toska underlined that in the meeting they shared the same views concerning measures against organized crime.

[05] EVENTFUL MEETING FOR THE HIERARCHY OF THE CHURCH OF GREECE

The Hierarchy of the Church of Greece in an extraordinary meeting today decided with a narrow majority to proceed with the election of new Metropolites in Thessaloniki, Kozani, Eleftheroupolis and Mesogea.

The meeting began this morning in a tense atmosphere. Archbishop Christodoulos made a historical reference to the issue of the elections of the Metropolites and called on the hierarchs to ratify the text of the agreement reached between the Church of Greece and the Ecumenical Patriarchate and then to proceed with the election of the four Metropolites.

The agreement was ratified with a big majority but the Archbishop's proposal concerning the election of the Metropolites got just a narrow majority.

Specifically for the Metropolis of Thessaloniki, it was decided that an already active Metropolite be appointed and Metropolite Anthimos of Alexandroupolis was elected Metropolite of Thessaloniki with 49 votes.

[06] SMALL GAINS IN THE ASE

Small gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +0.32% at 2530.23 points, while the volume of transactions was at 101.7 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 96 had gains and 214 had losses, while the value of 72 stocks remained unchanged.

[07] THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE ON THE EU DECISIONS

Minister of Agriculture Savvas Tsitouridis with a letter to Parliament President Anna Psarouda-Benaki called for a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Production and Trade to brief its members on the conclusions of the extraordinary meeting of the EU Council of Ministers of Agriculture held in Luxembourg on April 21-22.

The main issue in the Luxembourg meeting was the revision of the Common Agricultural Policy on the Mediterranean products namely, olive oil, cotton and tobacco.

The Greek demands regarding the improvement of the proposals made by the European Commission on the reform of the Mediterranean products were approved in their entirety.

Mr. Tsitouridis had stated after the meeting that the income of the Greek olive oil and cotton producers was secured through high subsidies, while the likely abandonment of tobacco cultivation was averted.

[08] THE GOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE MEETS TOMORROW

The governmental committee meets tomorrow under Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis to discuss the situation in the sector of health.

The Prime Minister will meet with Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos at 11am on Wednesday.

[09] ROUSOPOULOS: THE GOV'T HONORS EQUALLY THE PATRIARCHATE AND THE CHURCH OF GREECE

The government respects and honors equally the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Church of Greece, stated Greek government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos, pointing out that the government maintains the same position it had as the main party of the opposition regarding the relations of the Patriarchate and the Church of Greece.

Mr. Rousopoulos added that any disagreement could be resolved in a spirit of understanding and good will.

[10] THE GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE CYPRUS ISSUE AND THE GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS

The regulation draft referring to the EU relations with the Turkish Cypriot side was close to our objectives, stated Greek government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos.

Mr. Rousopoulos added that in the EU General Affairs and Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg the Cypriot Republic presented a package of proposals in favor of the Turkish Cypriots.

On the proposal for a national conference on Cyprus, he said that the two governments are in concert and cooperate as it happened today with the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Cyprus, Petros Moliviatis and Giorgos Iakovou respectively.

On the Turkish Prime Minister's visit to Greece, Mr. Rousopoulos stated that Mr. Erdogan is scheduled to visit Greece on May 6-7.

[11] CYPRIOT GOVERNMENT MEASURES IN SUPPORT OF THE TURKISH CYPRIOTS

The announcement made by Cypriot Foreign Minister Giorgos Iakovou in the EU General Affairs Council concerning the adoption of measures by the Cypriot government in support of the Turkish Cypriots brought a positive surprise based on speculations by Greek diplomats.

The issue will also be discussed in the Foreign Ministers dinner in the presence of Foreign Minister Petros Moliviatis and Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Valinakis who will represent Greece.

Athens and Nicosia prepare for the way they will manage the day after in Cyprus and the adoption of a new strategy after the referendum result in Cyprus and the unfavorable comments on the stance of the Greek Cypriots.

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos is expected in Athens tomorrow and on Wednesday he will have talks with Greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis and political party leaders.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Athens in early May and will discuss with Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis the Cyprus issue, the Greek-Turkish relations and Turkey's European prospect in the light of the new developments.

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis will be in the United States on May 20 where he will meet with US President Bush at the White House to discuss the Greek-US relations, the Cyprus issue, developments in Europe and the pending issues in the region.

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