Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-11-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Tuesday

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

[03] Public order minister at UK conference for Balkan organised crime

[04] KYSEA council OKs 'Centaur' tank purchase

[05] UN plan for Cyprus a starting point of negotiations, Simitis says

[06] Greece to build military hospital, naval base in Albania

[07] Public order minister at UK conference for Balkan organised

[01] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Tuesday

Scattered cloud is forecast in all parts of the country. It may rain in the Ionian and on the mainland, especially overnight. The morning will be misty, especially on the mainland. Winds variable, light to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 06C to 18C; in the west from 10C to 19C; and in the rest of the country from 09C to 22C. Temperatures in Athens between 12C and 20C; and in Thessaloniki from 06C to 19C.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 0.998

Pound sterling 0.637

Danish kroner 7.485

Swedish kroner 9.083

Japanese yen 122.8

Swiss franc 1.486

Norwegian kroner 7.362

Cyprus pound 0.576

Canadian dollar 1.572

Australian dollar 1.783

[03] Public order minister at UK conference for Balkan organised crime

LONDON (ANA - L. Tsirigotakis) - Organised crime was a problem imported into Greece that created the most serious problems in the countries in which it originated, preventing their reconstruction and democratic development, Greek Public Order Minister Mihalis Chrysohoidis said on Monday.

Chrysohoidis was taking part in a London conference on dealing with organised crime in the Balkans.

The minister noted that there were many aspects to organised crime in the Balkan region, many of which had become a problem in Greece. Among them he listed the trade in women and children, drugs and money laundering.

All these activities undermined democracy and international cooperation to combat these phenomena had to be further developed, he stressed.

[04] KYSEA council OKs 'Centaur' tank purchase

The Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence on Monday decided that no new orders for arms and weaponry would be made apart from one for 'Centaur' troop transport vehicles in 2003, after being briefed by Prime Minister Costas Simitis on the results of the NATO summit held in Prague last week, government spokesman Christos Protopapas said.

Outlining the decisions made at the Prague summit regarding the changes to NATO's structure and mission, the prime minister stressed that Greece would not be making any new arms purchases unless these were absolutely necessary.

The 250-million-euro troop transporter purchase would cover a need for flexible operations capacity in the Aegean and would be decided on in cooperation with the finance ministry, Simitis said.

He stressed that the budget would be closed and that there were no margins for more increases.

Announcing the overall results of the KYSEA meeting, Defence Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said it had ratified four existing arms equipment programmes ordered by the Armed Forces for 2001-2005 with a total cost of 2.1 billion euros, versus the four billion euros originally requested. He said the offset benefits for the four programmes involved would come to 100 per cent.

The first of these was the purchase of 32 troop transport helicopters, four medi-copters and six specialised helicopters from a European consortium comprised of German, French, Italian and Dutch companies. He said the total cost of the programme was 659 million euros with an option for four more choppers.

Secondly, the council approved the purchase of 12 'Apache' attack helicopters, with an option for four more, costing 683 million euros, a third programme for refitting six S-type frigates assigned to the Skaramanga Shipyards and the French-Dutch consortium Thales and a fourth programme costing 451 million euros for a new corvette to be built by the Elefsina shipyards in cooperation with the British shipyards Vospur, with the option to buy one more.

[05] UN plan for Cyprus a starting point of negotiations, Simitis says

Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Monday evening said that the United Nations' SG Kofi Annan's plan for the resolution of the Cyprus problem is a starting point for negotiations, which then should concern the issues of substance.

Speaking to a meeting of ruling PASOK Executive Bureau, Simitis stressed that the negotiations should concern issues that are related to the functionality and viability of the solution, with the confrontation of the governance problems of the state and of the future life of the island's residents.

The Annan proposals, Simitis said, should also be examined under the light of Cyprus' accession to the European Union, adding that the accession bridges the differences, limits the subordination of the Turkish Cypriot community to Turkey and strengthens common interests of the two communities.

Simitis disagreed with those that believe that there should be no negotiations at this point and that the Greek side should not rush, since, as he said, it is not certain that a resolution would arrive some day, stressing that the Turks have colonized the island and nothing precludes that they would not continue the effort to overturn the demographics of the island.

[06] Greece to build military hospital, naval base in Albania

Greece and Albania signed three defence-related agreements here on Monday, with all three pacts expanding Athens support for its northwestern neighbours efforts to modernise its armed forces and related infrastructure.

The Greek armed forces will build, supply and initially staff a new military hospital in the southern Albanian town of Gjirokaster. The facility will, in turn, be staffed by Albanian military physicians expected to be trained by Greeces defence ministry.

The total budget for the facility and training totals 1.47 million euros, with the hospital expected serve the entire community when completed.

Meanwhile, Athens has agreed to train Albanian officers at a multinational operations centre in northern Greece (Kilkis), which annually trains 40 military cadres for peace-keeping missions.

Moreover, both countries defence ministers agreed -- in principle -- to begin construction of a naval base in Durres, central Albania, for use by that countrys armed forces. Greek Defence Minister Yiannos Papantoniou and his Albanian counterpart Panteli Majko will sign the final agreement next month in Tirana, according to reports.

The project carries a cost of 5.5 million euros, all expected to be financed by the Greek defence ministry. Work is scheduled to start in 2003 and be completed in 2005. Under provisions of the bilateral agreement, Greek naval vessels will be allowed to use the new base.

[07] Public order minister at UK conference for Balkan organised

LONDON (ANA - L. Tsirigotakis) - Organised crime was a problem imported into Greece that created the most serious problems in the countries in which it originated, preventing their reconstruction and democratic development, Greek Public Order Minister Mihalis Chrysohoidis said on Monday.

Chrysohoidis was taking part in a London conference on dealing with organised crime in the Balkans.

The minister noted that there were many aspects to organised crime in the Balkan region, many of which had become a problem in Greece. Among them he listed the trade in women and children, drugs and money laundering.

All these activities undermined democracy and international cooperation to combat these phenomena had to be further developed, he stressed.

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