Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-06-18

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

CONTENTS

[01] DIPLOMATIC THRILLER

[02] THE NEW METROPOLITE OF THESSALONIKI IS ENTHRONED TODAY

[03] BIG CROWD WELCOMED THE NEW METROPOLITE OF THESSALONIKI

[04] LOSSES IN THE ASE

[05] MINISTRY OF DEFENSE STATEMENT ON THE ALLEGED TURKISH PROVOCATION IN THE

[06] THE COUNTER-TERRORISM DRAFT LAW WAS PASSED IN THE RESPONSIBLE

[07] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS TO VISIT AZERBAIJAN

[08] PAPALIGOURAS: THE OLYMPIC FACILITIES IN ASPROPIRGOS ARE TEMPORARY AND

[09] THE OLYMPIC FLAME IS IN ST. LOUIS

[01] DIPLOMATIC THRILLER

A diplomatic thriller is unfolding in Brussels as the 25 European Union member states were unable to agree on who will succeed European Commission President Romano Prodi.

The candidacy of Chris Patten was met with the opposition of the big EU countries, while a total 12 names were put on the table but no one of them got the necessary majority.

Earlier, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis had stated that he would back former Prime Minister Kostas Simitis if he was a candidate for the post.

[02] THE NEW METROPOLITE OF THESSALONIKI IS ENTHRONED TODAY

Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All of Greece will enthrone the new Metropolite of Thessaloniki at the church of St. Sophia this afternoon.

The reception of Metropolite Anthimos will take place at Grigorios Palamas church and then a procession will end up at the church of St. Sophia where the mayor of Thessaloniki will welcome the new Metropolite on behalf of the local authorities and the people.

The Metropolites of Kalamaria, Neapolis and Stavroupolis, Langada, Florina, Larisa, Serres, Xanthi, Paronaxia, Fthiotida, Dimitriada, Sidirokastro, Piraeus, Limnos and Chios will attend the enthronement ceremony.

The enthronement of Metropolite Chrisostomos of Eleftheroupolis will take place tomorrow at the church of St. Nikolaos.

Metropolite Pavlos of Kozani and Servia will be enthroned on Sunday.

[03] BIG CROWD WELCOMED THE NEW METROPOLITE OF THESSALONIKI

A big crowd welcomed new Metropolite Anthimos of Thessaloniki, who was enthroned this afternoon in a ceremony held in the church of St. Sophia.

Metropolite Anthimos accompanied by Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All of Greece and representatives of other Churches first went to the church of Grigorios Palamas where his reception ceremony took place and the faithful strew the new Metropolite with rose petals.

Outside the church of St. Sophia, Mayor of Thessaloniki Vasilis Papageorgopoulos welcomed the new Metropolite.

The enthronement ceremony took place in the presence of Archbishop Christodoulos, the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Metropolite Panteleimon of Tiroloi and Serentiou, representatives of Patriarchates and other Orthodox Churches, hierarchs, representatives of the government, the opposition, academics and many people.

[04] LOSSES IN THE ASE

Losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -0.66% at 2360.34 points, while the volume of transactions was at 108.7 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 154 had gains and 115 had losses, while the value of 118 stocks remained unchanged.

[05] MINISTRY OF DEFENSE STATEMENT ON THE ALLEGED TURKISH PROVOCATION IN THE AEGEAN

The Ministry of Defense issued a statement on the occasion of the press report on the Athens newspaper "TA NEA" according to which, a Turkish provocation was recorded in the Aegean during the night of June 5 to June 6 when a Turkish military helicopter approached the island of Agathonisi, southeast of the Aegean island of Samos.

The Ministry of Defense stressed that no Turkish helicopter flew over Agathonisi and citing a ground observation station on the island itself, underlined that no Turkish helicopter used its searchlights to scan the island and furthermore, there was no flight made that "lasted 10 minutes".

It characterized the press report as very imaginative and informed that a Turkish military exercise was in progress on that day in the region of Agathonisi (situated about 5 nautical miles from the Turkish coasts with the Greek territorial waters at 2.5 nautical miles) and therefore, the flight activity was the usual recorded under such circumstances.

The Ministry of Defense statement questions the motives of those who attempt to create impressions with absolutely inaccurate evidence hurting, this way, national interests.

Responding to Anna Diamantopoulou, PASOK Foreign Affairs and Defense Issues' Coordinator, the statement mentioned that before uncritically adopting such press reports she could have asked to be formally briefed on the issue to avoid serving unknowingly interests and goals other than the national ones.

[06] THE COUNTER-TERRORISM DRAFT LAW WAS PASSED IN THE RESPONSIBLE PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE

The responsible Parliament Committee approved in principle with a majority vote the Justice Ministry draft law on the European arrest warrant and the clear definition of terrorism.

The Communist Party and Coalition of the Left Parliament deputies as well as 7 PASOK deputies voted against the draft law.

The remaining 5 PASOK deputies present in the committee will vote for the draft law in principle when it will be put up for discussion in the Parliament plenary session next Tuesday.

For the record, PASOK President Giorgos Papandreou told his party's Parliament deputies to vote by conscience.

Earlier, the Athens Bar Association President Dimitris Paxinos had expressed opposition to certain clauses of the draft law like the one concerning the terrorist acts committed by an individual or the extradition of Greek nationals, stressing that they hurt individual rights.

[07] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS TO VISIT AZERBAIJAN

Hellenic Republic President Kostis Stephanopoulos will be on a formal visit to Azerbaijan on Sunday, June 20 until June 22. Deputy Foreign Ministers Evripidis Stilianidis and Panagiotis Skandalakis will accompany the Greek President.

Mr. Stephanopoulos will have talks with his counterpart Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Artur Rasizade on Monday, while he will also visit the state Parliament.

Four bilateral agreements are to be signed within the framework of the visit on the sectors of road transportation, customs authorities' cooperation, double taxation and protection of investments.

President Stephanopoulos will also meet with the President and the representatives of the Greek community in Baku.

[08] PAPALIGOURAS: THE OLYMPIC FACILITIES IN ASPROPIRGOS ARE TEMPORARY AND ONLY FOREIGNERS

The assurance that the facilities in Aspropirgos will be temporary and will host only foreign offenders during the Olympic Games was given by Justice Minister Anastasis Papaligouras responding to a question by PASOK deputy Theodoros Pangalos in Parliament.

On his part, Mr. Pangalos expressed satisfaction with the clarifications he received on the issue by the Justice Minister.

Mr. Papaligouras denied press reports that spoke of an effort to create ghetto conditions. He stressed that they are totally inaccurate and do not help in the efforts made for safe and successful Olympic Games.

He pointed out that an estimated 1 million tourists are expected to visit Greece in August and it is statistically certain that some of them will violate the law.

[09] THE OLYMPIC FLAME IS IN ST. LOUIS

The Athens Olympic Flame gave St. Louis the opportunity to look a hundred years back into its past and remember the 1904 Olympic Games. The Flame's arrival at the largest city of Missouri State revived Olympic memories on the shores of the Mississippi. Torchbearers were called on to surpass themselves, because of suffocating heat and humidity. The city had been looking forward for days to the Torch Relay, with the media keeping the spotlight constantly on the flame's route around the world. The Mayor of St. Louis even proclaimed 17 June Torch Relay Day and asked all citizens to take part in the events and cheer the torchbearers on.

The Relay started from what is the city's symbol, the great Gateway Arch, gateway to the West. The first Torchbearer, comedy actor Joe Torry, received the Olympic torch from the great Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, who will be in Athens in August to see what she predicted would be a highly successful Games. For Torry, these Games were a return to the ideals of classical antiquity.

The Olympic Flame passed by the great landmarks of St. Louis, to halt at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, in the hands of third-generation Greek-American torchbearer Costas Catsavis. The Greek community welcomed the flame with their national anthem. The occasion was made all the more moving when the torch passed to Louis Zamberini, who had taken part in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Today he is in a wheelchair, but he was still able to raise the Torch and greet the cheering crowd. The last Torchbearer was Olympic winner Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who kindled the altar in the City Park under a hail of fireworks.

Athens should be very grateful to St. Louis, said ATHENS 2004 Ambassador Spiros Lambridis in his speech of greetings. The choice of Torchbearers stands for our message that accompanies the International Torch Relay. We have seen many athletes, people confined to wheelchairs, and children with disabilities. We are waiting for you all in Athens, at the best Venues ever, at the best Games ever.

The Olympic Flame will be lit on Friday at Atlanta, where the Greek delegation will be headed by ATHENS 2004 President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki. The USA Torch Relay and its programme of events ends in New York on Saturday. Mayor Bloomberg called on all citizens of New York to take part in the events at the various points on the course of the Flame. As the Olympic Flame goes through the neighborhoods of New York, it will be passing through the whole world. I call on people to celebrate this route.

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