Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-11-01

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Greece tailing EU states in organ availability for transplants

[02] FM and EU commissioner discuss immigration

[03] Greek-US pact on legal regime for US military activity here tabled in

[04] FM meets with US ambassador; Grossman in Athens on Mon.

[05] Greece, Bulgaria re-affirm close ties; Athens again backs Sofia's EU

[06] ND leader sends condolences to Italian PM for quake victims

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[08] Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy on Saturday

[09] ASE ends week 0.82 percent higher

[01] Greece tailing EU states in organ availability for transplants

Greece is tailing the European Union member-states in organ availability for transplants, according to data released on Friday at the Inter-Balkan Medical Conference organised in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, by the Court Procedure Studies Research Institute in cooperation with Athens Medical Center.

The growing disparity between the availability and the need for donor organs is reflected on the long list of the Greek Transplant Organisation currently numbering 1,100 candidates with one year survivability, while of the 200 liver transplants required annually for an equal number of patients no more than 20 are available, according to the data.

[02] FM and EU commissioner discuss immigration

Foreign Minister George Papandreou and European Union Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou on Friday discussed the issue of immigration, in the framework of the EU, as well as the Greek EU presidency in the first half of 2003.

Papandreou said ''the promotion of the positive aspects of immigrants' accession to our societies and their participation in our economies and societies were issues we discussed because the Greek presidency is preparing, we hope, initiatives capable of being promoted during the Brussels summit as well, at the Lisbon process and, of course, the Thessaloniki summit.''

Diamantopoulou said on her part ''immigration is currently one of the biggest problems in all the countries of Europe. Immigration has many dimensions and at present we have in our hands considerable studies on the social repercussions of immigration.''

[03] Greek-US pact on legal regime for US military activity here tabled in House

A ?Comprehensive Technical Agreement? (CTA) between Athens and the US government outlining the legal regime of US military activities both on and off bases in Greece (first part), as well as a reciprocal agreement for Greek military personnel in America (second part), was tabled in Parliament on Friday.

The agreement, signed by the two countries on the sidelines of a NATO conference in Brussels last year, covers issues ranging from visa-less travel for military-affiliated civil personnel, special ID cards issued by Greek authorities for such individuals, to using the Souda Bay (Crete) airbase as a point of entry and departure for military aircraft, supplies and accompanying US personnel ?during the execution of missions approved by the Hellenic Republic?, as stated in the agreement.

The agreement had been amongst the topics discussed during a June 2001 meeting in Thessaloniki between US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his then Greek counterpart Akis Tsohatzopoulos.

[04] FM meets with US ambassador; Grossman in Athens on Mon.

Foreign Minister George Papandreou met with US ambassador in Athens Thomas Miller on Friday for a half-hour meeting, as talks revolved around the Iraq crisis, the Cyprus issue and the upcoming general elections in Turkey.

Other topics included Greeces upcoming EU presidency in the first half of 2003 as well as the Unions security and defence policy.

Asked about recent press speculation citing a comprehensive Cyprus solution, Miller said that a step-by-step procedure should exist.

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman, meanwhile, will arrive on Monday for talks with Papandreou. Statements to the press are expected after the early afternoon meeting.

[05] Greece, Bulgaria re-affirm close ties; Athens again backs Sofia's EU prospects

Greece on Friday reiterated its support for neighbouring Bulgarias European Union and NATO accession prospects, as Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gothas arrival in Athens this week marked his first official visit here.

?Greece backs Bulgarias European prospects and proposes that Bulgarias EU accession date be in 2007 ... Each country that desires EU membership must strive to meet the targets set by the EU...? Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis told reporters after talks with his Bulgarian counterpart.

?Greece believes all of the Balkan countries must participate in the Euro-Atlantic structure, because this is what ensures stability in the region, cooperation and peace,? he added. ?We hope that during the Greek EU presidency in the first half of 2003 Bulgaria will be able to finalise, if not all, most of the negotiation chapters.

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha said bilateral trade is developing along ?normal and satisfactory? lines, noting that Jan.-Aug. trade so far in 2002 has the reached the US$640-million mark, whereas throughout 2001 it totaled $860 million.

Regarding Bulgarias NATO prospects, Simitis said an upcoming alliance summit in Prague should yield positive results.

The long-delayed Burgas-Alexandroupoli crude oil pipeline, announced in the mid 90s amid heightened expectations but still on the drawing boards today, was also discussed in the two prime ministers meeting, with Simitis later announcing that a deal was worked out along the lines of equal participation amongst the three participating countries Russia, Bulgaria and Greece.

[06] ND leader sends condolences to Italian PM for quake victims

Main opposition New Democracy party leader Costas Karamanlis addressed a letter of condolences to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday for the victims of the killer earthquake which struck the neighbouring country.

Among others, Karamanlis said in his letter ''both I and the Greek people are shocked by the tragedy which struck the friendly country of Italy. At this time I wish to express to you and the families of the victims my warmest condolences. You should be aware that the Greeks, having themselves recent memories of respective disasters, are joining their prayers with yours for the finding of survivors of the killer earthquake.''

In a related development, Education Minister Petros Efthymiou addressed the following message of condolences to his Italian counterpart Leticia Moratti.

''On behalf of the entire educational community of Greece, we express the most profound sorrow, great sympathy and the greatest solidarity to the families of the victims, children, parents and teachers, from the disastrous earthquake in San Giuliano. I am also conveying my personal sympathy to you for this ordeal of the friendly Italian people.''

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.005

Pound sterling 0.641

Danish kroner 7.491

Swedish kroner 9.161

Japanese yen 122.5

Swiss franc 1.472

Norwegian kroner 7.427

Cyprus pound 0.575

Canadian dollar 1.565

Australian dollar 1.805

[08] Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy on Saturday

Partly cloudy weather throughout the country. Winds light and variable and northerly moderate in the Aegean. In the north, temperatures will range from 3C to 20C; in the Ionian from 8C to 23C; and in the Aegean from 11C to 22C. Light cloud in Athens with temperatures between 11C and 22C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures between 6C and 20C.

1

[09] ASE ends week 0.82 percent higher

Greek stocks ended lower the last trading session of the week following Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation's share price drop and falling international stocks markets.

The general index ended 0.53 percent lower at 1,775.81 points with turnover a low 72.6 million euros.

The Retail, Publication and Wholesale sectors scored the biggest percentage gains of the day (3.08 percent, 2.47 percent and 1.04 percent, respectively), while the Telecommunications, Base Metals and Textile sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses (1.89 percent, 1.38 percent and 1.34 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 0.57 percent while the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 0.56 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 0.38 percent higher.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 152 to 132 with another 76 issues unchanged.

The general index ended the week 0.82 percent higher.

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