Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 05-09-19

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

CONTENTS

[01] REFORMS WILL CONTINUE

[02] STRONG CRITICISM BY PASOK

[03] MOLYVIATIS-GUL MEETING IN NEW YORK

[04] JACQUES LACARRIERE DIED ON SATURDAY

[05] AIR RAID SIRENS WILL SOUND TOMORROW

[06] CABINET MEETING UNDER PRIME MINISTER KARAMANLIS

[07] MOLYVIATIS-BURNS MEETING

[01] REFORMS WILL CONTINUE

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis outlined the policy to be followed by the government with an emphasis on reforms and changes addressing the cabinet council meeting today.

Mr. Karamanlis stressed that changes and reforms continue in all sectors stressing that a specific course of action is being followed.

The Prime Minister underlined that the policy followed is based on changes through dialogue, understanding and cooperation. But there is no time to waste and the confrontation with the forces of inertness or the pressures exerted by established interests will not lead to a compromise. It is our responsibility to proceed with the changes and reforms we have pledged to implement. We know where we stand, we know what the difficulties are and what we have to do and this is exactly what we are doing, stressed the Prime Minister.

[02] STRONG CRITICISM BY PASOK

Main opposition Socialist Party PASOK leader Giorgos Papandreou launched strong criticism on the government policy and the Prime Minister in the press conference he gave yesterday within the framework of the 70th Thessaloniki International Trade Fair.

Mr. Papandreou accused the Prime Minister of following wrong course for the country and suggested the implementation of a new leadership model.

Mr. Karamanlis asks for proposals by PASOK because his own party has none, stated Mr. Papandreou characteristically, and accused Mr. Karamanlis of implementing neo-liberalism that led the country on a difficult course.

[03] MOLYVIATIS-GUL MEETING IN NEW YORK

Turkey's European course, the Cyprus issue, bilateral relations and the imminent visit of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to Ankara were discussed by Greek Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul in the 45-minute meeting they had at the Turkish permanent mission office at the UN headquarters in New York last Sunday.

After the meeting, Mr. Molyviatis stated that regarding the Cyprus issue they discussed the prospect for a possible restart of the UN secretary-general efforts aimed at reaching a solution to the problem.

[04] JACQUES LACARRIERE DIED ON SATURDAY

French author and essayist Jacques Lacarriere who loved ancient Greece and had translated the works of many classics died on Saturday at the age of 79 from complications after surgery.

He had expressed the wish to be cremated and his ashes be scattered over Greece.

Greece bids farewell to a real friend, a tireless ambassador of the Greek civilization, mentioned Prime Minister and Culture Minister Costas Karamanlis in his statement on the occasion of his death.

Lacarriere more than fulfilled the Isocratic criterion for his participation in the Greek education as through his prolific work as an author has invited his readers around the world to meet and love Greece, both ancient and modern, pointed out Mr. Karamanlis.

[05] AIR RAID SIRENS WILL SOUND TOMORROW

Civil Defense electrically operated air raid sirens will sound tomorrow at 10:00 am in the regions of Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace and the islands of eastern Aegean.

The sirens will sound for about a minute within the framework of the military exercise Parmenion 2005.

[06] CABINET MEETING UNDER PRIME MINISTER KARAMANLIS

The cabinet council meets under the presidency of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

Mr. Karamanlis is expected to reiterate to his government ministers that the policy of reforms and tougher fiscal policy are a priority. He will give them guiding lines and ask for a speedier pace in the implementation of the government work.

Mr. Karamanlis will also set a meeting with Minister of Finance and Economy Giorgos Alogoskoufis and Minister of Transportation and Communications Michalis Liapis to reach a decision on the future of Olympic Airlines.

[07] MOLYVIATIS-BURNS MEETING

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza stated that the United States share a true strategic cooperation with Greece. He made the statement after the meeting of Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis yesterday with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns at the UN headquarters in New York on the sidelines of the 60th UN general assembly meeting.

Mr. Bryza referred to the issues discussed in the meeting, like bilateral relations, Turkey's European course, the situation in the Balkans (Kosovo), the FYROM name issue, Iran, security issues in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, pointing out that Greece is a country that has a lot to teach on Democracy and Freedom and the US cooperates with it on the region of the Middle East.

Regarding the FYROM name issue, the US official stressed that the US backs the efforts by UN special mediator Matthew Nimetz and pointed out that he is not aware if Mr. Nimetz is preparing a new proposal adding that a proposal is already on the table and it should be discussed.

Mr. Bryza reiterated that the United States will support any agreement that will result from Mr. Nimetz's mediation.

The issue of the FYROM name will be discussed both in Mr. Molyviatis' meeting today with Mr. Nimetz and in the meeting of Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Valinakis with Mr. Bryza next Friday in Washington.

On Ankara's European prospect, Mr. Bryza stated that the United States want Turkey's full EU accession pointing out that there should be no obstacles to the opening of Turkey's EU accession negotiations with the European Union.

On the Cyprus issue, he stated that after October 3 efforts for the solution of the Cyprus problem must get underway, reiterating that the US government will offer full backing to the UN secretary-general.

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