Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 06-03-07

Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] ORDERS TO INTENSIFY WORK

[02] MEETING OF THE TRANSPORT MINISTERS OF GREECE AND ROMANIA

[03] STYLIANIDIS INAUGURATED THE CONSULAR OFFICE IN BITOLA

[04] FOREIGN MINISTER BAKOYIANNIS TO MEET WITH HER TURKISH COUNTERPART

[05] THE GREEK WINES WON 135 AWARDS IN THE 6TH INTERNATIONAL WINE

[06] PRESIDENT PAPADOPOULOS IN ATHENS

[07] ORDERS FOR THE INTENSIFICATION OF THE GOVERNMENT WORK

[08] STYLIANIDIS TO INAUGURATE THE CONSULAR OFFICE IN BITOLA

[09] CHILDREN IN THE STREETS

[01] ORDERS TO INTENSIFY WORK

I want to thank the Greek people for their support to the government, stated Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis after the cabinet meeting today during which he gave clear orders for the intensification and promotion of the government work on the occasion of the second anniversary of his term in office. According to four recent opinion polls, ruling party of New Democracy has a slight lead over main opposition Socialist Party PASOK.

Prime Minister Karamanlis and Parliament President Anna Psarouda Benaki discussed at Maximos Mansion in Athens the planning of the parliamentary work as well as tomorrow's ceremony on the 50th anniversary of the women's suffrage honoring the women's vote and participation in the Greek Parliament.

[02] MEETING OF THE TRANSPORT MINISTERS OF GREECE AND ROMANIA

Transport Minister Michalis Liapis expressed Greece's strong investment interest in Romania in the sector of telecommunications and other sectors in the meeting with his Romanian counterpart Zsolt Nagy who is on a formal visit to Athens.

Mr. Liapis stated after the meeting, which he characterized as very useful and constructive, that investments have already been made in Romania by the Greek Telecommunications Organization, OTE, reaching 1 billion euros, while in the next 3 years OTE is expected to invest another 500 million euros to update and develop Romtelecom where OTE is the majority shareholder. Meanwhile, the mobile phone company Cosmote is expected to invest 400 million euros to further develop Cosmorom. The Greek minister also briefed Mr. Nagy on OTE's intention to proceed with the trading of Romtelecom in international stock markets.

They also examined the situation in the sector of electronic communications in both countries under the light of the EU regulatory framework on electronic communications and the efforts to incorporate the European standards in view of Romania's imminent EU accession.

The Greek side briefed the Romanian delegation on the preparatory work and contacts made with the UN Secretary General within the framework of the 1st Internet Governance Forum to take place in Athens.

Also, Mr. Liapis accepted an invitation by Mr. Nagy to visit Romania and the date of his visit will be determined through the diplomatic route.

[03] STYLIANIDIS INAUGURATED THE CONSULAR OFFICE IN BITOLA

Overcoming the difficulties of past years we came here to build a new bridge, a bridge between states, markets and people, stated Deputy Foreign Minister Evripidis Stylianidis inaugurating the Greek Office of Consular, Economic and Trade Affairs in Bitola in the presence of FYROM Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Hasanovic, Greek consul general Dimitris Papandreou and local officials.

The consular office aspires to facilitate this effort, strengthen Greece's firm strategic position, and support the European prospect of western Balkans and this country, added Mr. Stylianidis, stressing that borders crossed by trade are not crossed by armies.

Mr. Stylianidis also mentioned that Greek investments in FYROM have reached 850 million euros creating 20,000 jobs, while stressing that over 45,000 people cross the Greek-FYROM borders on a monthly basis.

In goodwill and with a joint effort, we will reach mutually acceptable solutions that will benefit both sides, said Mr. Stylianidis, adding that this is symbolized by his presence in Bitola today.

His FYROM counterpart stated that the Greek consular office will contribute to the materialization of the interests of both sides, adding that it is a display of Greece's will to contribute to his country's accession into the EU.

Mr. Hasanovic stated that the FYROM Foreign Ministry is open for any bilateral cooperation, underlining that cooperation will show that we are good friends and that you have friends at your northern borders.

Greece's ambassador to Skopje Dora Grosomanidou stated that with the operation of the new consular office a bridge of friendship and cooperation is being built again in the region after 80 years.

The new consular office opened three months ago and has already issued a total of 5,500 visas, according to figures provided by the Greek ambassador.

[04] FOREIGN MINISTER BAKOYIANNIS TO MEET WITH HER TURKISH COUNTERPART

Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyiannis will meet with her Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul on the sidelines of the informal meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers to take place in Salzburg, Austria on March 10-11.

According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos in the meeting of the two Foreign Ministers that will probably take place on Friday afternoon will be examined the course of the Greek-Turkish relations, Turkey's European course and the Cyprus issue.

On the likelihood for Mr. Gul to be invited to visit Athens, Mr. Koumoutsakos stated that according to the diplomatic protocol, if there will be a visit by one of the two ministers it will be the Turkish Foreign Minister's turn to visit Greece.

Responding to a question by a reporter on whether Greece wants Turkey not just to implement the Customs Union Protocol but ratify it as well, Mr. Koumoutsakos pointed out that for Athens and all EU partners signing means implementation.

[05] THE GREEK WINES WON 135 AWARDS IN THE 6TH INTERNATIONAL WINE COMPETITION IN THESSALONIKI

Greece won a total of 135 awards in the 6th International Wine Competition in Thessaloniki organized by the Wine Producers Association of the Northern Greece Vineyard in cooperation with HELEXPO DETROP-OENOS on March 2-4. The Greek participations numbered 468 and the medals won were 2 grand gold, 34 gold and 99 silver.

Thirty six distinguished sommeliers from Greece and abroad oenologists and wine journalists tasted 617 samples from Greece and 13 countries: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, United States, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Portugal.

The formal announcement of the competition results and the award ceremony will take place in Athens on Saturday, March 11 while on March 12 wine-lovers and professionals will have the opportunity to taste the award winning wines in a special event to take place in the Oenorama 2006 exhibition in EKEP Metamorphosis, Athens.

[06] PRESIDENT PAPADOPOULOS IN ATHENS

Cyprus Republic President Tassos Papadopoulos who is on a visit to Athens will discuss with Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis developments in the Cyprus issue in the light of his recent meeting with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

President Papadopoulos will also meet with Hellenic Republic President Karolos Papoulias and political party leaders.

The leaders of Cyprus political parties AKEL and DHSY agree with Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyiannis that the Annan Plan as is belongs to history.

[07] ORDERS FOR THE INTENSIFICATION OF THE GOVERNMENT WORK

Clear orders to intensify and promote the government work are expected by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis in the cabinet meeting today two years since New Democracy came to power and according to four recent opinion polls has a slight lead over main opposition Socialist Party PASOK.

Prime Minister Karamanlis and Parliament President Anna Psarouda Benaki discussed at Maximos Mansion in Athens the planning of the parliamentary work as well as tomorrow's ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the women's suffrage honoring the women's vote and participation in the Greek Parliament.

[08] STYLIANIDIS TO INAUGURATE THE CONSULAR OFFICE IN BITOLA

Deputy Foreign Minister Evripidis Stylianidis launched a two-day visit to FYROM today during which he will have contacts aimed at strengthening bilateral economic relations between Greece and FYROM, while he will also inaugurate the Greek Office of Consular, Economic and Trade Affairs in Bitola.

During the visit, -the first one by a member of the Greek government after a long period of time- will be examined HiPERB

issues (Hellenic Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans) as well as development and business issues.

The Deputy Foreign Minister will inaugurate the Office of Consular, Economic and Trade Affairs in Bitola this afternoon in the presence of FYROM government officials and afterwards, he will have meetings with FYROM Transport Minister Mr. Mehazi and Greek businessmen active in the country.

[09] CHILDREN IN THE STREETS

Over 50,000 children, 6-14 years of age, work or live in the streets in Albania, according to an investigation by a non governmental organization in the country, the Center for the Protection of the Children's Rights.

According to the investigation, 9.8% of the children, belonging to the mentioned age group, are victims of economic exploitation and the problem, according to the center officials, is that there is no state legislation against child labor.

The investigation showed that the main reasons leading to child labor in Albania are poverty, the lack of a strong education system and the attitude of families.

The center officials predict that the specific category of children is most likely to be involved in organized crime when they grow older.

Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article