Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-11-25

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

CONTENTS

[01] INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

[02] THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH TO VISIT THE VATICAN

[03] THE ACTING GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE "ELEFTHEROTIPIA" NEWS REPORT

[04] BIG GAINS IN THE ASE

[05] KARAMANLIS-BALKENENDE TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION

[06] STEPS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF METRO AND UNDERWATER TUNNEL

[01] INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

The majority of women who visited the advise centers for abused women had at least a high school diploma and were between 31 and 50 years old, according to figures provided by the Greek General Secretariat for Equality on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

According to the figures available from the advice centers operating in Athens and Piraeus, 67% of the abused women are married and 64% are between the ages of 30 and 50.

Also, 7 out of 10 women who asked for support had an average to higher education, while 1 out of 3, who were the victims of domestic violence, had been abused by their spouse before they got married with him and half of them stayed in a relationships with their abuser for more than 16 years.

For the record, a great number of women worldwide do not ask for help to stop the physical or other violence they suffer because they chose tolerance and silence either because they fear social stigma or because they find it difficult to admit to themselves that they are victims.

The government will also be judged from the measures taken to deal with phenomena like the violence against women, stated Minister of Interior Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece characterized the violence against women as flatness of civilization and unchristian behavior.

[02] THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH TO VISIT THE VATICAN

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will arrive in Italy tomorrow with a special Olympic Airlines' flight to receive from Pope John Paul B' himself the holy remains of Saints John Chrisostomos and Grigorios Theologos and accompany them to the seat of the Christian Orthodox Church.

The Ecumenical Patriarch will receive the holy remains in a special ceremony to take place in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.

The Vatican decision to return the holy remains of the Great Fathers of the Christian Orthodox Church to the Fener, Istanbul is regarded as a major event for Christianity.

[03] THE ACTING GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE "ELEFTHEROTIPIA" NEWS REPORT

Acting government spokesman Vangelis Antonaros clarified today that the document to which the Athens daily Eleftherotipia refers concerning the US anti-missile systems TPQ-37 supply has no relation whatsoever with the document concerning the contract on the Russian anti-missile systems TOR-M1.

Mr. Antonaros stated that the two documents are different. The arbitrary signature of former Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos is on the document mentioned by the newspaper. Mr. Tsochatzopoulos in essence erased the context of the document by not taking into account the negative opinion of the military leadership on the supply of the US anti-missile systems and proceed arbitrarily to draw up a contract.

On the other hand, the second document, said Mr. Antonaros, gives authorization for a legal contract. A negotiation for better terms got underway but the contract was not signed because the government demanded a legal guarantee, which was not included in the first document.

[04] BIG GAINS IN THE ASE

Big gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +2.37% at 2635.43 points, while the volume of transactions was relatively small at 151,9 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 225 had gains and 73 had losses, while the value of 118 stocks remained unchanged.

[05] KARAMANLIS-BALKENENDE TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis had a telephone communication today with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, currently holding the rotating EU Presidency.

Acting government spokesman Vangelis Antonaros announced that they discussed issues concerning the preparation of the December 17 EU Summit meeting as well as issues concerning Turkey and Cyprus.

Responding to relevant questions during the press briefing, Mr. Antonaros stated that the Prime Minister outlined the firm Greek positions concerning Turkey's European prospect, underlining the fulfillment of all criteria and preconditions necessary for the European course of Turkey, which will have to respect all EU rules.

Asked to comment on whether the Greek side has raised the issue of veto, namely, Turkey's EU accession course to stop if it does not recognize the Cypriot Republic, Mr. Antonaros responded that consultations are still underway.

The acting government spokesman refused to respond to a question on the Greek stance in case Turkey does not meet the criteria, by saying characteristically that he does not respond to hypothetical questions.

Responding to the question to what criteria he refers to, he clarified that he refers to the Copenhagen criteria and to those included in the recent European Commission report.

Finally, asked to comment on what was the stance of the Dutch Prime Minister toward the remarks made by his Greek counterpart, Mr. Antonaros observed that each EU Presidency records the positions of each party to reach its own proposals.

[06] STEPS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF METRO AND UNDERWATER TUNNEL

Thessaloniki Mayor Vasilis Papageorgopoulos appeared optimistic that in 2005 contractors will undertake the construction of Thessaloniki's metro and underwater tunnel.

A total of five companies are expected to submit technical and economic proposals on the metro, while other five companies Greek and foreign have expressed interest in the construction of the underwater tunnel.

Mr. Papageorgopoulos stated that there is mobility on behalf of the responsible government ministers and expressed satisfaction.

The Mayor of Thessaloniki also presented the 2005 municipal budget made up of 264 million euros.

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