Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 05-08-29

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

CONTENTS

[01] OIL PRICES TOP THE 70-DOLLAR A BARREL MARK

[02] GREEK-CZECH COOPERATION

[03] MINISTER OF DEVELOPMENT STATEMENTS AFTER THE MEETING WITH THE FINNISH

[04] AVRAMOPOULOS-PEKKARINEN STATEMENTS

[05] THE GREEK MINISTER OF DEFENSE VISITS CHINA

[06] THE GREEK PRESIDENT TO VISIT HORTIATIS

[07] KARAMANLIS ON THE EU COURSE OF TURKEY AND FYROM

[01] OIL PRICES TOP THE 70-DOLLAR A BARREL MARK

Oil prices in the Singapore market topped the 70-dollar mark early this morning, as hurricane Katrina is dangerously close to the oil installations in the south United States.

Specifically, oil prices for the October delivery contracts reached .80 a barrel this morning before dropping to .75 at 05.15 (Greek time). Prices are up by .62 compared to last Friday when oil prices closed at .13 in the New York stock market. However, later on prices recovered and stayed over the 70-dollar a barrel mark.

[02] GREEK-CZECH COOPERATION

Trade transactions, cooperation in the sector of tourism, the EU fiscal prospects for the years 2007-2013 as well as the EU enlargement and the issue of Turkey are on the agenda of the talks Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has in Prague within the framework of his formal visit to the Czech capital.

Mr. Karamanlis has meetings with Czech President Vaclav Klaus and his Czech counterpart Jiri Paroubek.

The Greek government delegation arrived in Prague yesterday and is made up of Minister of State Thodoris Rousopoulos, Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Valinakis and Deputy Minister of Finance Christos Folias.

[03] MINISTER OF DEVELOPMENT STATEMENTS AFTER THE MEETING WITH THE FINNISH MINISTER

Finnish Minister of Trade and Industry Mauri Pekkarinen, also responsible for tourist issues, visited Minister of Tourism Dimitris Avramopoulos at the ministry building today in the presence of Minister of Development Dimitris Sioufas.

Mr. Sioufas stated that the meeting with the Finnish Minister of Trade and Industry was very productive as always and among the issues discussed were the prospects for further bilateral cooperation in the sector of tourist development.

Mr. Sioufas stated that the goal is to make Greece a tourist destination of choice for many and different categories of visitors all year long, stressing that the initial positive indications are already being recorded during the current tourist season with increased numbers of arrivals from all over the world.

He stressed that Finland deserves praise because it managed to turn many of its relative advantages into competitive advantages and Greece can benefit greatly from its experience.

[04] AVRAMOPOULOS-PEKKARINEN STATEMENTS

The potential and prospects for further cooperation in the sector of tourism between Greece and Finland were discussed in the meeting Tourist Development Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos had with Finnish Trade and Industry Minister Mauri Pekkarinen in the Ministry of Tourism building in Athens today in the presence of Minister of Development Dimitris Sioufas.

In statements made after the meeting, Mr. Avramopoulos pointed out that Greece is one of the top tourist destinations for the Finns. He mentioned that over 150,000 Finns visit Greece every year and the goal is to further increase that number.

On his part, Mr. Pekkarinen also stressed that Greece is one of the top destinations for the Finns and underlined that Greece will continue to be an attractive destination in the future because the successful way in which it hosted the Olympic Games favors such a development.

[05] THE GREEK MINISTER OF DEFENSE VISITS CHINA

Minister of Defence Spilios Spiliotopoulos is on a formal visit to China and today will meet with his Chinese counterpart Cao Cangchuan.

The Greek Minister of Defence has already visited the biggest air industry in China, the Xi'an Air Industry Group Company, with over 20,000 employees, and was briefed on its activities. He also had talks with the region's military commander.

Mr. Spiliotopoulos visited the Shanghai province where he was formally received by the local military commander while he toured the local Navy Base.

In the meetings, Mr. Spiliotopoulos referred to the close friendship ties shared by Greece and China, two countries with great ancient history and long cultural tradition. He also referred to bilateral cooperation prospects in the military and industry sectors.

On the sidelines of the visit to Shanghai, Mr. Spiliotopoulos met with Greek language professor Mrs. Chiu Khai, who teaches the Greek language and culture to Chinese Military Academy officers, within the framework of a program funded by the Greek Ministry of Defense.

[06] THE GREEK PRESIDENT TO VISIT HORTIATIS

Hellenic Republic President Karolos Papoulias will attend the events commemorating the Hortiatis Holocaust committed on September 2, 1944 when a total of 149 people were massacred by the Nazis.

Mr. Papoulias will be in Hortiatis, near Thessaloniki, next Friday, September 2 and will attend the memorial service at St. Georgios church. Afterwards, Mr. Papoulias will lay a wreath at the Monument for the Holocaust Victims.

[07] KARAMANLIS ON THE EU COURSE OF TURKEY AND FYROM

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis send a message to two recipients today, both Turkey and FYROM, in statements he made after the meeting with Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek within the framework of his formal visit to Prague.

Referring to Turkey's EU course, Mr. Karamanlis stated that the Greek strategy is firm, stressing that Greece supports Turkey's European prospect, however all new developments are being taken under consideration.

He added that Turkey must meet all criteria on its way toward Europe stressing that Turkey through its recent statement which accompanied the signing of the Customs Union Protocol has created problems that have to be dealt with within the framework of the European Union.

The Prime Minister also stated that Turkey cannot create vagueness regarding the essence and meaning of the Customs Union Protocol and in addition it must implement the Protocol with all the EU member states.

The Prime Minister also referred to the relations with FYROM by saying that the FYROM government has not responded positively to the UN Secretary-General initiative for a mutually acceptable solution to the name issue and showed no willingness for cooperation. This is a parameter that needs to be weighted and will be taken into account when the European prospect of the country in question will be examined.

On Greece's part, stressed Mr. Karamanlis, the talks on FYROM's EU accession course cannot proceed.

The Prime Minister also mentioned that he had a very useful meeting with his Czech counterpart Mr. Paroubek and discussed major issues such as, the course of the European integration and the ratification of the European Constitutional Treaty, as well as fiscal issues for the period 2007-2013.

Mr. Karamanlis also stated that the excellent level of bilateral relations was confirmed, thanked Mr. Paroubek for the hospitality and the meaningful talks and invited him to visit Athens.

On his part, the Czech Prime Minister stated that they had a very significant and good discussion mentioning that they examined fiscal issues for the period 2007-2013. He also stated that Greece and the Czech Republic share the same views on the European Union and its social and political character.

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