Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-06-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] THE POLITICAL PARTY LEADERS IN THESSALONIKI

[02] TO EUROPE THROUGH REFORMS

[03] CABINET MEETING ON THE COURSE OF THE ABSORPTION OF EU FUNDS

[04] LOSSES IN THE ASE

[05] THE TRANSIT OF VENUS TOMORROW WILL BE VISIBLE FROM GREECE

[06] AVRAMOPOULOS TO VISIT BEIJING

[07] THE TELEVISED DEBATE OF THE POLITICAL PARTY LEADERS

[08] DENNIS OSWALD: ONLY GREECE CAN GIVE A SPECIAL FLAVOR TO THE OLYMPIC

[09] INTERVENTION BY HILARY CLINTON ON THE ISSUE OF THE THEOLOGY SCHOOL OF

[10] THE BLACK SEA BANK TO SIGN A SECOND MEMORANDUM OF COOPERATION WITH THE

[01] THE POLITICAL PARTY LEADERS IN THESSALONIKI

The three-day visit of the political party leaders in Thessaloniki is being completed today with the speech of PASOK President Giorgos Papandreou.

The visits began on Saturday with the speech of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis who made an assessment of the three-month governance of the country by his party of New Democracy, while speaking yesterday in the newspaper Apogevmatini he announced ten measures to be adopted in the sector of culture.

Communist Party General Secretary Mrs. Aleka Papariga called on the voters to teach a lesson to PASOK and New Democracy and stated characteristically that the European Party of the Left is made on the basis of the European Commission orders.

Mr. Papandreou in an interview with the newspaper TO VIMA reiterated yesterday that he will confront all mechanisms that will attempt to block PASOK's reconstruction, while he will visit the facilities of EXPO, MAKINE, the fishermen's shelter and the Agios Panteleimon Foundation.

Coalition of the Left President Nikos Konstantopoulos will deliver a speech on Thursday.

[02] TO EUROPE THROUGH REFORMS

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis backed Turkey's European Union accession clarifying, however, that the country's European course will depend on the reforms it will make.

If Turkey becomes a member of the EU the country itself will benefit as well as, its neighbors and the whole of Europe, said Mr. Karamanlis adding that Turkey is responsible for the continuation of the reforms and its harmonization with the European standards.

[03] CABINET MEETING ON THE COURSE OF THE ABSORPTION OF EU FUNDS

Greece will have to absorb about 3.2 billion euros from the 3rd Community Framework of Support corresponding to 35% of the overall public spending, compared to 24% in May and 21% last March, commented Minister of Finance Giorgos Alogoskoufis after the cabinet meeting on the course of the absorption of the 3rd Community Framework of Support funds.

According to government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos, the Prime Minister stated in the cabinet meeting that the construction of public projects should be accelerated, while he also called for transparency and effectiveness, stressing that the delays so far were unacceptable.

Mr. Alogoskoufis stated during the press briefing that the delays are long and a great effort is needed to avoid losing funds. Responding to a relevant question, he stated that there were many reasons that led to the delays such as, administrative and management weaknesses as well as, a problematic production system as far as public works are concerned.

[04] LOSSES IN THE ASE

Losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -0.79% at 2423.09 points, while the volume of transactions was at 98.4 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, only 68 had gains and 242 had losses, while the value of 75 stocks remained unchanged.

[05] THE TRANSIT OF VENUS TOMORROW WILL BE VISIBLE FROM GREECE

For the first time after 122 years, the transit of planet Venus tomorrow will be visible from Greece from 8am until 14:30pm. There are periodic astronomical events that could never be observed again by any human alive today. One of these is the transit of Venus on June 8.

The phenomenon will last 6 hours and planet Venus will be visible from Europe, the Middle East and part of Africa and Asia. Planet Venus will be seen as a tiny black dot moving across the disc of the sun.

The black dot, with a diameter 30 times smaller than the sun's diameter, will appear early in the morning over Western Europe, around noon over the Middle East and Russia and later in the afternoon over Asia.

The previous transit of Venus occurred on December 6, 1882 one of merely five events of its kind ever watched by mankind. The next visible transit will take place on December 11, 2117 while another transit of Venus will occur on June 6, 2012, which will not be visible from Europe.

Astronomers warn that watching the sun's disc without protection can cause blindness and the transit of Venus can be watched safely only through special filters and not by naked eyes.

[06] AVRAMOPOULOS TO VISIT BEIJING

Minister of Tourism Dimitris Avramopoulos departs for Beijing today at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart to discuss issues concerning the cooperation prospects between Greece and China in the sector of tourism within the framework of the opening made by the Greek market to the markets of the Far East.

On Wednesday, Mr. Avramopoulos will attend the ceremony held for the reception of the Olympic Flame as Beijing will host the 2008 Olympic Games.

[07] THE TELEVISED DEBATE OF THE POLITICAL PARTY LEADERS

The televised debate of the political party leaders is expected with great interest in view of the June 13 Euro-elections.

The debate will be aired on Tuesday evening and it is expected to focus on issues of domestic interest while, according to press information, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis wishes to send the message that the election campaign commitments undertaken by New Democracy will be met to their entirety.

Given the low interest of the people in the Euro-elections, the discussion is expected to focus on issues concerning the country and specifically, everyday life issues.

[08] DENNIS OSWALD: ONLY GREECE CAN GIVE A SPECIAL FLAVOR TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES

International Olympic Committee, IOC, Coordinating Committee President Dennis Oswald stated to Athens radio station Sky that only Greece can give a special flavor to the Olympic Games, expressing optimism that Greece will organize safe Olympic Games, while he also stated that he is satisfied with his cooperation with Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis' government.

He stated that he is convinced now that the Olympic Games' projects will be completed on time, adding that the security efforts made are enormous and justified because everything possible need to be done to host safe games and protect the people.

Mr. Oswald said that the economic cost for the Greek people will be high, adding that Greece has acquired expensive security devices and therefore, it will not be an investment just for the games but it will help in future security efforts as well. He added that the rest investments are exclusively for the Olympic Games and this part of the responsibility belongs to the host country. He said that seven countries advise and help Greece and they also spend money, stressing that the US ambassador to Athens has told him that his country has already spent US million for the safety of the games.

Responding to a relevant question, he stated that he does not fear of a terrorist attack during the games.

He also stated that the IOC is pleased with the cooperation it has with the current government, adding that it had good relations with the previous government as well.

[09] INTERVENTION BY HILARY CLINTON ON THE ISSUE OF THE THEOLOGY SCHOOL OF HALKI

US Senator Hilary Clinton addressed a letter to US President George Bush urging him to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Istanbul.

Mrs. Clinton, under her authority as a member of the Helsinki Watch Committees on Human Rights, calls on the US President to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to discuss with him the problems faced by the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Mrs. Clinton also calls on President Bush to exert pressures on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to achieve the reopening of the Theology School of Halki.

[10] THE BLACK SEA BANK TO SIGN A SECOND MEMORANDUM OF COOPERATION WITH THE EU

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, BSTDB, will sign a second memorandum of cooperation with the European Union to facilitate the flow of funds for the development programs in 6 or 7 of the 11 Black Sea Zone countries. The bank also plans to more than double its funding commitments to reach US3 million in the next 2.5 years compared to US3 million in 2003.

The Black Sea Bank President Mustafa Gurtin clarified in his speech in the Black Sea Business Conference, taking place in Tirana today in the presence of Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano, that the memorandum will be signed within the framework of the European Commission Wider Europe development initiative.

Responding to a question by MPA, Mr. Gurtin stated that the signing of the memorandum will be discussed in the next meeting of the Bank's Board of Directors in September 2004.

Last year, the Black Sea Bank signed in Thessaloniki the first cooperation memorandum with the EU and seven financial and credit organizations to facilitate the financing of small-medium sized businesses and projects in Bulgaria and Romania, as countries being in a pre-accession negotiation status with the EU, and Turkey.

Referring to the bank's business plan for the period until the end of 2006, Mr. Gurtin stated that in 2.5 years from now the overall financial commitments will be more than doubled to reach SDR571 million, namely US3 million based on the current exchange rate. He also expressed the belief that the Black Sea region offers a stable environment for investments and the interest of foreign investors turns gradually toward the Black Sea countries.

On his part, Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano addressing the over 250 delegates assured them that the goal of his government will be the democratic, economic and social development.

The GDP growth rate in Albania is expected to be at 6% on an annual basis in the period 2004-2007 maintaining the high growth rates of the previous decade, according to Albanian Minister of Finance Arben Malaj, who pointed out that inflation in Albania has dropped to the controllable level of 2-4% which is expected to remain stable thanks to the momentary policy that is being implemented.

Georgia's Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Ukleba praised the Black Sea Bank activities, both in the Black Sea region countries and in his country in particular, reminding that by the end of 2003 the Black Sea Bank had important financing programs in progress of which, over US million concerned the financial and credit sector, US million the energy sector and US million the transportation sector.

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