Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-10-13

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

CONTENTS

[01] INQUIRY COMMITTEE ON TSOCHATZOPOULOS-PAPANTONIOU

[02] CONSENSUS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

[03] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS WRAPS UP HIS VISIT TO BULGARIA

[04] MARGINAL GAINS IN THE ASE

[05] THE GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS

[06] THE INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF COMMUNIST AND LABOR PARTIES WAS COMPLETED

[07] GREECE TO BE ELECTED NON-PERMANENT MEMBER IN THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL

[01] INQUIRY COMMITTEE ON TSOCHATZOPOULOS-PAPANTONIOU

The proposal by governing party of New Democracy for the establishment of an inquiry committee to investigate the defense supplies when opposition party of PASOK was in power was passed in Parliament with 184 votes in favor.

The proposal made by PASOK received 134 votes and was rejected. A yes vote was given to both proposals by independent Parliament deputies Stelios Papathemelis, Stefanos Manos and Andreas Andrianopoulos and the Parliament deputies of the Communist Party and Coalition of the Left.

The committee will be made up of 13 New Democracy deputies, 9 PASOK deputies, one from the Communist Party and one from Coalition of the Left and its findings will be submitted within 2 months.

The committee will investigate two cases concerning the contracts for the supply of 50 military vehicles and 6 radars promoted when Akis Tsochatzopoulos and Yiannos Papantoniou were Ministers of Defense. Both have stated that this is a plot by New Democracy in its effort to penalize the country's political life.

[02] CONSENSUS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Opposition party of PASOK President Giorgos Papandreou launched a strong attack on the government addressing his party's Parliament deputies this morning.

The leader of the main opposition party criticized strongly the way the government handled the issues of the economy, education and foreign affairs accusing Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis of indifference.

Regarding the election of the new Hellenic Republic President, he said that it should be a consensus election after consultations with the political parties.

[03] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS WRAPS UP HIS VISIT TO BULGARIA

Greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos wraps up his three-day formal visit to Bulgaria today. This morning, Mr. Stephanopoulos departed from Sofia to visit the city of Varna.

The Greek President will visit Metropolite Cyril of Varna and Preslava and afterwards, he will visit the city's Archaeological Museum and inaugurate an exhibition. He is also scheduled to visit the Monastery of Aladza.

At noon today, Mr. Stephanopoulos was scheduled to hold a meeting with Greek-Bulgarian Friendship Presidents in Varna and later in the afternoon he will return to Athens.

[04] MARGINAL GAINS IN THE ASE

Marginal gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +0.07% at 2401.04 points, while the volume of transactions was at 79,2 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 121 had gains and 132 had losses, while the value of 151 stocks remained unchanged.

[05] THE GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS

The Greek government believes that the continuous violations of the Greek national airspace by Turkish jets are not consistent with the good climate in bilateral relations, stated Greek government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos.

Mr. Rousopoulos called on Turkey to limit the moves that cause tensions for the benefit of good bilateral relations.

[06] THE INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF COMMUNIST AND LABOR PARTIES WAS COMPLETED

An exchange of views on the international situation took place in the international meeting of Communist and Labor Parties on the Resistance to the imperialist aggressiveness - struggle fronts and alternative solutions completed in Athens yesterday.

The participants presented important experiences from the development of the peoples' struggle and the mass movements of the Communist and Labor Parties. In the meeting participated 64 political parties and 15 sent messages and written interventions.

All speakers expressed the view that the dogma of preemptive strike and preemptive war, developed by the United States and adopted by the EU, Australia and Russian Federation for the sake of combating terrorism, is especially dangerous for all peoples and world peace.

[07] GREECE TO BE ELECTED NON-PERMANENT MEMBER IN THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL

Greece has reached the doorstep of the UN Security Council, given the fact that it is expected to secure a non-permanent member seat for the period 2005-2006 in Friday's vote.

Candidates for a seat in the UN Security Council are also, Argentina, Denmark, Japan and Tanzania to replace Angola, Germany, Spain, Pakistan and Chile. The UN Security Council members are being elected by the UN General Assembly, which numbers 191 members.

A diplomatic source in the UN headquarters, maintains that based on all indications until now, no UN member-state has expressed opposition to Greece's bid for a seat in the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member.

Greece's stabilizing role in the region and the successful Olympic Games held in Athens are important factors in the continuous improvement observed in Greece's image at international level.

The candidate states for a seat in the UN Security Council as non-permanent members are elected for a two-year term and usually have no opponent because they are chosen in advance based on the region they belong to. For the record, one third of the UN Security Council seats belong to the five permanent members (United States, Britain, France, Russia, China), which have a veto right. Algeria, Benin, Brazil, the Philippines and Romania, whose term began in January 2004, will remain in the Security Council until the end of 2005.

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