Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-06-28

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

CONTENTS

[01] GREEK DEMAND

[02] WARM RECEPTION TO KARAMANLIS BY THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH

[03] SPILIOTOPOULOS DENIED THE ALLEGED STATEMENTS

[04] GREECE WILL PLAY AGAINST THE CZECH REPUBLIC

[05] THE GREEK NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM GOALKEEPER ON THE MATCH WITH THE

[06] SIGNIFICANT GAINS IN THE ASE

[07] THE OLYMPIC FLAME IS IN ROME TODAY AFTER SPAIN

[08] MEETING OF THE GREEK AND TURKISH MINISTERS OF DEFENSE

[01] GREEK DEMAND

Washington's request concerning the training of Iraqi soldiers by NATO forces will be discussed by the 26 NATO member-states in the Summit meeting of the alliance that was launched today under tight security in Istanbul.

Among the issues up for discussion will be measures against international terrorism and NATO's assistance in the security of the Olympic Games.

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis is expected to suggest to Turkey to proceed with the adoption of a number of measures for the improvement of the climate between the two countries in return for Greece's support to Turkey's EU accession.

[02] WARM RECEPTION TO KARAMANLIS BY THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH

The reception of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at Fener, Istanbul was especially warm.

The Ecumenical Patriarch briefed Mr. Karamanlis, who is in Istanbul for the NATO Summit meeting, on the meeting he had with US President George Bush.

The US President assured the Ecumenical Patriarch that in the contacts he had with the Turkish state and political leadership in Ankara he discussed again the issue of the reopening of the Theology School of Halki.

Mr. Karamanlis arrived at Fener accompanied by Foreign Minister Petros Moliviatis and the Ecumenical Patriarch congratulated him on his recent victories in the Greek parliamentary elections and the Euro-elections, as well as on Greece's successes in the Euro 2004.

In their talks, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Prime Minister Karamanlis referred to the prospects for the opening of Turkey's EU accession negotiations. Mr. Karamanlis stated that Turkey's course to the EU and its accession will benefit everybody, pointing out that the first to benefit will be the Turkish people.

The Ecumenical Patriarch expressed optimism that in the next school year the Theology School of Halki will reopen after 33 years and thanked Mr. Karamanlis for the interest both he and the Greek government have displayed in the issue of Halki.

[03] SPILIOTOPOULOS DENIED THE ALLEGED STATEMENTS

The Ministry of Defense categorically denied all that is mentioned on the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet as statements allegedly made by the Defense Minister concerning the Greek national airspace.

In the statement issued by the Ministry of Defense it is mentioned that everything written as alleged statements made by minister Spilios Spiliotopoulos on the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, especially with regard to the likelihood to limit the Greek national airspace to be under 10 nautical miles, is the product of a gross alteration of the position expressed and the outcome of the news item editor fertile imagination and do not need to be denied.

[04] GREECE WILL PLAY AGAINST THE CZECH REPUBLIC

The Greek National Football Team will play against the Czech National Football team next Thursday in the Euro 2004 semifinals. The Czechs were the winners in Sunday's match against Denmark (3:0).

In Wednesday's semifinal Portugal will play against Holland.

The Greek National Football Team arrived in the city of Porto on Sunday, the city which was the starting point of its very successful course in the Euro 2004.

[05] THE GREEK NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM GOALKEEPER ON THE MATCH WITH THE CZECHS

Greek National Football Team goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis spoke to Greek state-run ERA Sport radio-station today and commented on the Euro 2004 semifinal match with the Czech National Football Team to be held in Porto, Portugal on Thursday.

To get to the Euro 2004 final we will have to beat the Czechs. It is a fairly good team. In the beginning of the tournament when discussions were held on which team is a favorite to be the champion I counted on the Czech Republic. It is an effective team characterized by consistency in its performance, stressed the Greek goalkeeper.

It is a good and harmonic team with great football players, a fact that makes it even more dangerous. In order to face this team you have to be skeptical but not scared. We are skeptical and we are not scared. When you participate in the European Championship finals after a 25year absence it is natural for everybody to see you as an outsider. We do not say that we are the outsider because it pleases us but because it is the truth. We are happy to be the surprise of the Euro 2004, said Nikopolidis.

[06] SIGNIFICANT GAINS IN THE ASE

Significant gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +1.26% at 2342.72 points, while the volume of transactions was at 128.1 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 222 had gains and 76 had losses, while the value of 96 stocks remained unchanged.

[07] THE OLYMPIC FLAME IS IN ROME TODAY AFTER SPAIN

The Olympic Flame visits Rome, the Eternal City, today after completing its visit to Spain.

The Olympic Torch Relay continued its journey, reaching Spain on Sunday, 27 June 2004. The first leg of the Torch Relay took place in Madrid and the second in Barcelona, the organizing city for the 1992 Games.

The 30 Torchbearers who included Spanish basketball legend Jose Antonio Corbalan and Olympic skiing champion Blanca Fernandez Ochoa covered a distance of about 12 kilometers in the crowded roads of summery Madrid.

The last Torchbearer, veteran footballer Kiko of Atletico Madrid, delivered the Flame to Crown Prince Felipe, who, with his wife Letizia at his side, lit the Altar at the Puerta de Alcala, Madrid's best-known monument. The Flame passed by several of the Spanish capital's main sites, such as the Palace, the Retiro park and the Atocha train station where dozens of Spaniards lost their lives in the terrorist attack of 11 March 2004. The Olympic flame symbolizes peaceful coexistence and truce. We are sending the world a message of peace, noted ATHENS 2004 representative Spiros Lambridis. In the Torch Relay festivities took part Tennis, Beach Volleyball and Canoe / Kayak athletes.

A special plane transported the Flame to Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, for the second leg of the Torch Relay on the Iberian Peninsula.

The Torch Relay started off from Barcelona's Olympic Stadium, the same one that had hosted the 1992 Olympic Games. Torchbearers of all ages, 127 of them in all, carried the Flame over 50 kilometers, passing beside the city's famous monuments, such as the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, Ramblas Avenue, Plaza Catalunya, Turo Park, the Forum of Cultures exhibition and the Magic Fountain, and reached its end late in the afternoon in the Del Marques de Foronda square.

At an impressive ceremony - held in the presence of Honorary IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, Barcelona's mayor, Greece's Ambassador to Spain Aristidis Agathoklis, the Consul General in Barcelona Vangelis Tsaousis, and ATHENS 2004 representative Spiros Lambridis - Spanish basketball star Juan Antonio San Epifanio (known as Epi) carried the Flame to the Altar, cheered on by thousands of people who had swarmed the square and surrounding streets.

Juan Antonio Samaranch made the following statement to Greek state television (ERT): I thought organizing the Global Torch Relay would not be an easy affair but, in the end, you Greeks are capable of achieving everything. I, too, will be in Athens for the Games, from 7 August until their end.

[08] MEETING OF THE GREEK AND TURKISH MINISTERS OF DEFENSE

Ministers of Defense of Greece and Turkey, Spilios Spiliotopoulos and Mehmet Vecdi respectively, had a one-hour meeting in Istanbul today on the sidelines of the NATO Summit meeting.

A number of issues were raised during the meeting, which was held in a positive atmosphere. The issues discussed concerned security in the wider region as a follow-up to the discussion held by the two men in their recent meeting in Brussels.

Mr. Spiliotopoulos raised the issue concerning the upgrading of direct communication between the political leaderships of the two ministries, a proposal that was accepted immediately by the Turkish Minister of Defense. They also discussed the issue of mutual cuts in armament programs.

The Greek Minister of Defense stressed that purely offensive mechanisms should cease to exist in the Turkish arsenal now that Turkey aspires to become a member of the EU.

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