Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-06-05
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 05/06/1998 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- May inflation stable at 5.3
- FM welcomes CBMs initiative
- Simitis hails work of BSEC
- Defence minister delayed by plane fault
- Yakovlev report due soon
- Illegal immigrant smuggler arrested
- Ex-Bulgarian king visits
- Acropolis Rally begins Sunday
- Weather
- Foreign Exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
May inflation stable at 5.3
Consumer price inflation in May held steady at 5.3 percent year-on-year
from April, the Greek National Statistics Service (GNSS) said today.
Inflation is expected to resume its downward trend in June after absorbing
the impact of a 13.8 percent devaluation when the drachma joined the
European Union's exchange rate mechanism on March 14. "The repercussions of
the devaluation are over and in June it (inflation) will begin its decline,
" GNSS secretary general Nikos Karavitis told journalists.
FM welcomes CBMs initiative
Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said today that Greece would do
everything possible to make even more specific NATO Secretary-General
Javier Solana's announcement on CBMs in the Aegean. Solana yesterday
announced that Greece and Turkey had agreed to fully implement accords
signed in 1988 concerning rules of conduct related to military activities
in the Aegean and, when possible, to supplement them. While describing the
announcement as "quite general", Pangalos acknowledged that it contained "a
number of new elements".
Simitis hails work of BSEC
Prime Minister Costas Simitis described as "particularly important" the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) summit, shortly after the signing of
a charter elevating the five-year-old regional cooperation body to the
status of an official international organisation. Speaking to reporters
after the signing, according to an ANA despatch from Yalta, Simitis said
Greece, the only European Union member of the BSEC would work to strengthen
relations between the organisation and the EU.
Defence minister delayed by plane fault
National defence minister Akis Tsohatopoulos was forced to delay his return
to Athens after a two-day official visit to Slovenia when his C-130
military transport plane developed problems just before take-off from
Ljubljana late last night. The wheel axle beneath the nose of the Greek C-
130 broke as the plane was taking position on the airport runway around
midnight, bringing the nose to rest on the tarmac. Tsohatzopoulos and his
entourage spent the night in the Slovenian capital and are due back later
today.
Yakovlev report due soon
The Greek authorities have completed a report on the December 17 crash of a
Ukrainian Yakovlev-42 aircraft that cost the lives of all 72 people on
board and will be handing it to the Ukrainian and Russian governments
shortly for comments, Transport and Communications Minister Tassos Mandelis
said on Thursday. Mandelis said Russian and Ukrainian experts would examine
the report. He was speaking after relatives of the people killed in the
crash gave a news conference to express their concern over the delay in
the issuing of the report. The Russian airliner crashed into a
mountainside in Pieria west of its destination of Thessaloniki on December
17.
Illegal immigrant smuggler arrested
Greek police said on Thursday they had arrested an Iraqi man thought to be
a central player in the trade in smuggling illegal immigrants and narcotics
from Turkey to Greece. Police said Ali Mohammad, 26, was arrested at the
20th kilometer on the Alexandroupolis-Komotini road, along with two Greek
men and another Iraqi national in a car that was travelling ahead of a
truck carrying 19 Iraqi illegal immigrants.
Ex-Bulgarian king visits
Bulgaria's deposed king Simeon II arrived in Greece today for a visit to
the all-male monastic community of Mt. Athos, only a day after the
Bulgarian constitutional court restored to his family the royal properties
seized in 1947. Simeon was currently sailing the Aegean in a yacht, and
planned to arrive at Mt. Athos tomorrow morning for a three day visit
including the the Zographos Monastery inhabited by monks of Bulgarian
descent, according to sources.
Acropolis Rally begins Sunday
The 45th international Rally Acropolis begins on Sunday at the foot of
Athens' most famous landmark - the "Sacred Rock" - with the participation
of 33 foreign and 72 Greek teams. The main change in this year's rally,
which counts in the world drivers' and makers' championship, will be that
the two overnight stays will be at Delphi rather than Kammena Vourla. The
rally will also have five new special sections, four of which are near
Athens and therefore expected to draw large crowds.
WEATHER
Fair weather will prevail throughout Greece today with the possibility of
scattered showers in eastern Macedonia and Thrace. Winds will be variable,
light to strong. Temperatures in Athens will range between 19-31C, while in
Thessaloniki from 17-31C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Thursday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 298.394
British pound 488.342 Japanese yen(100) 215.700
French franc 50.304 German mark 168.645
Italian lira (100) 17.126 Irish Punt 425.667
Belgian franc 8.177 Finnish mark 55.502
Dutch guilder 149.663 Danish kr. 44.289
Austrian sch. 23.971 Spanish peseta 1.986
Swedish kr. 38.480 Norwegian kr. 40.051
Swiss franc 202.611 Port. Escudo 1.646
Aus. dollar 182.379 Can. dollar 204.927
Cyprus pound 575.043
(M.P.)
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