Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-06-16
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, June 16, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] HARMONIOUS COOPERATION BETWEEN THE PATRIARCHATE AND THE
CHURCH OF GREECE
[02] VENIZELOS' LETTER ON THE PARTHENON MARBLES
[03] TSOCHATZOPOULOS: RISK OF SERIOUS CRISIS IN THE WIDER BALKAN
REGION
[04] ARCHBISHOP IAKOVOS IS DISPLEASED WITH THE ROLE OF THE US AND
NATO IN THE BALKANS
[05] NEW NATIONAL BANK OF GREECE BRANCHES IN THE BALKANS
[06] THE TOTAL VALUE OF THE GREEK INVESTMENTS IN BULGARIA IS 60.2
MILLION DOLLARS
[07] A DELEGATION OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS MET WITH THE
GREEK PRESIDENT
[08] THREE WEEKLY FLIGHTS WILL LINK THESSALONIKI WITH SOFIA
[09] KARAMANLIS-MARTENS MEETING
[10] KLINTON UNSUCCESFULLY PRESSURES SIMITIS OVER EURO-TURKISH
RELATIONS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[11] THE EU SUMMIT MEETING IN CARDIFF ENDS TODAY
[12] MILOSEVIC WILL COME TO THE NEGOTIATING TABLE
[13] BRILL: WASHINGTON CONTINUES ITS EFFORTS FOR PROGRESS IN THE
CYPRUS ISSUE
[14] THE TALKS ON THE TEXT OF CONCLUSIONS REACHED IN CARDIFF
CONTINUE
[15] THE FIRST GREEK FIGHTER JETS LANDED AT THE AIR BASE OF PAPHOS
IN CYPRUS
[16] HANDJISKI: FYROM-GREEK RELATIONS EXCELLENT
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] HARMONIOUS COOPERATION BETWEEN THE PATRIARCHATE AND THE
CHURCH OF GREECE
The total and harmonious cooperation between the Ecumenical
Patriarchate and the Church of Greece was confirmed by a statement
signed by Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos and Archbishop
Christodoulos of Athens and All of Greece who met in Fanar.
They agreed on the establishment of an Ecumenical
Patriarchate delegation office in Athens and the creation of a
joint representation in Brussels, while it was also agreed that
Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos will visit Greece.
[02] VENIZELOS' LETTER ON THE PARTHENON MARBLES
A letter that includes the Greek positions on the Parthenon
Marbles was delivered to the British Ambassador to Athens by
culture minister Evangelos Venizelos.
The minister calls for the establishment of an international
inquiry committee that will examine the sculptures and will
consider their return to Greece in view of the 2004 Olympic Games
in Athens.
[03] TSOCHATZOPOULOS: RISK OF SERIOUS CRISIS IN THE WIDER BALKAN
REGION
Greek minister of defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos, speaking in
the meeting of the lasting parliamentary committee on foreign
affairs and defense that was held in Didimoticho north-eastern
Greece, expressed fears that in case of a failure in the dialogue
over Kossovo there will be a risk of a serious crisis in the wider
Balkan region.
Mr. Tsochatzopoulos referred to NATO and stressed that the
peace and security of a whole region can not be put at risk in
order to secure the rights of a minority. The Greek minister of
defense stated that those rights can be secured only through
dialogue and decisions reached by international organizations with
the consent of all the parties involved.
Mr. Tsochatzopoulos also referred to general security issues
in the region of Thrace, north-eastern Greece and in eastern
Aegean that need to be dealt with during a critical period, as he
characterized it, marked by tensions and crisis conditions that
create strong concern.
[04] ARCHBISHOP IAKOVOS IS DISPLEASED WITH THE ROLE OF THE US AND
NATO IN THE BALKANS
Former Archbishop of North and South America Iakovos in an
interview to the Thessaloniki newspaper "Angelioforos" expressed
discontent for the role the United States and NATO play in the
Balkans.
Archbishop Iakovos stated that he is not satisfied neither
with the role of the United States nor with the role of the
western allies as it develops in the Balkans. He said that the
Balkans must be left alone to develop their history as they did
for centuries and added that easy accusations are being made
against Serbia.
The Archbishop said that the Balkans are not a third world
region, they have their own history and many times were the
victims of the big powers who wanted access to the Aegean, adding
that Germany has its own responsibilities over this. He said that
the road to cooperation will open not through nationalism but
through diplomacy and strong trade relations.
[05] NEW NATIONAL BANK OF GREECE BRANCHES IN THE BALKANS
The National Bank of Greece will soon have new branches in
Albania, Bulgaria and Romania further expanding its already wide
network.
Also, affiliated brokerage firms will open in Bulgaria and
Romania very soon, while dealing rooms are scheduled to open in
all the Balkan states.
[06] THE TOTAL VALUE OF THE GREEK INVESTMENTS IN BULGARIA IS 60.2
MILLION DOLLARS
The value of the 1.279 direct Greek investments that were
made in Bulgaria before the end of 1997 is 60.2.million dollars,
according to the Bulgarian Foreign Investment Agency.
Greece has the sixth place among the foreign investors in
Bulgaria competing with economic giants such as the United States
and Germany that occupies the first place.
It should be noted that the Greek investments make up 4.81%
of the overall capital invested by the 15 EU states which have
greater presence in Bulgaria.
[07] A DELEGATION OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS MET WITH THE
GREEK PRESIDENT
A delegation of American university professors met in Athens
today with Greek president Kostis Stephanopoulos.
Their talks focused on the strengthening of the education
ties between Greece and the United States, while it was announced
that a Center of Studies for south-eastern Europe and a Research
Institute named after Konstantinos Karamanlis will be established
at the initiative of a US university.
[08] THREE WEEKLY FLIGHTS WILL LINK THESSALONIKI WITH SOFIA
Starting on June 29 three weekly flights will link
Thessaloniki with Sofia. Bulgaria's national airline BALKAN
AIRLINES will undertake alone the risk and will serve the
passengers of this specific destination even though it is aware
that it will be a loss-making venture.
The official announcement was made in a press conference in
Thessaloniki today by the regional Director of the airline,
responsible for its flights to central and eastern Europe, Mr.
Marian Marinov, who stated that the decision was reached because
of the great need for this specific round-trip destination.
[09] KARAMANLIS-MARTENS MEETING
The leader of the main opposition party of New Democracy,
Kostas Karamanlis, had a meeting today, in Strasbourg with the
leader of the "European People's Party" in the European
Parliament, the Vilfried Martens.
After the meeting, mr Martens underlined that the Cyprus EU
membership process should never be a hostage to Turkey's
intransigence.
Regarding that statement, mr Karamanlis stressed that it
expressed the "prevalent tendency", despite different views
expressed by the British conservatives, "who are more cautious"
and despite the fact that they did not take a firm position during
the EU Summit in Cardiff (which was not attended by the French
president Jacques Chirac).
[10] KLINTON UNSUCCESFULLY PRESSURES SIMITIS OVER EURO-TURKISH
RELATIONS
US president Bill Klinton, during a telephone discussion he
had late last night with Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis,
expressed the request that the Greek government should change its
position concerning the Euro-Turkish relations.
Mr Klinton asked for the Greek consencus so that a new
perspective for the relations between EU and Turkey be
established.
Mr Simitis, at a press conference he gave, described the EU
Summit in Cardiff as particularly successful for Greek interests
and added that it was an interim conference which focused on the
developments in the European Union, praised the Greek economic
progress and the course towards the fight against unemployment and
promoted the reform procedure within the EU.
Regarding the talks he had with mr Klinton, the Greek prime
minister said that he received a phonecall by the American
president who called on Greece to consent to a wording which would
be positive and encouraging for the Euro-Turkish relations and
pledged that, in that case, the US would exert pressure on Turkey
to procced to consessions.
Mr Simitis rejected that eventuality and stressed that the
Euro-turkish relations should abide by the principles of the
Louxembourg Summit, adding that, during the discussion, he
reiterated that there should be no rephrasing of the Louxembourg
resolutions and that another solution should be reached in the
future.
Responding to questions by journalists, the Greek premier
pointed out that mr Klinton seemed to wish for a text that would
satisfy Turkey because-as he said-under normal circumastances, the
American president would not call the Greek prime minister but he
would resort to other forms of action in order to express his
stance and stressed that great attention should be drawn to that
matter.
However, mr Simitis expressed optimism about the Greek
foreign policy and said that it is based on the moral position
concerning international relations.
Mr Simitis, also, said that mr Klinton referred to Cyprus and
its relations with the EU predicting, without elaborating, that
there would be tension in the area, to which mr Simitis responded
that in that case Turkey would bear full responsibility.
Moreover, the Greek prime minister underlined that he made it
clear to mr Klinton that the only dispute between Greece and
Turkey is the continental shelf issue which could be resolved
through the Hague Tribunal, but Turkey rejected that perspective.
According to mr Simitis, the US president was not pleased by
the Greek position. However, the Greek premier pointed out to him
that his assessment about the turkish policy is wrong and Turkey
should receive a strong answer by the international community so
as to change its tactics, concluding that, at this phase, there is
no decision that could promote the Euro-Turkish relations.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[11] THE EU SUMMIT MEETING IN CARDIFF ENDS TODAY
The consultations, held within the framework of the EU Summit
meeting in Cardiff on Greece's objective for no written
recognition of the upgrading of the relations between Turkey and
the EU, are of great importance.
Greece's goal is for Turkey to be taken off the list with the
candidate for EU membership states and to be no reference on the
EU funding of Turkey that could make inactive Greece's veto on the
EU funds directed to Ankara. Also, it aims at winning the
inclusion of an addition to the British EU presidency text of
conclusions that will mention that the 15 EU leaders had excluded
Turkey's candidature in the Luxembourg Summit under certain
conditions.
[12] MILOSEVIC WILL COME TO THE NEGOTIATING TABLE
Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic agreed to come to the
negotiating table with the ethnic Albanians in Kossovo, stated
Russian president Boris Yeltsin after the talks he had with his
Yugoslav counterpart in Moscow.
Meanwhile, Kossovo's Liberation Army announced that it is
willing to negotiate with Yugoslavia if Belgrade meets a number of
its demands.
US president Bill Clinton in a telephone conversation he had
earlier with Mr. Yeltsin called on the Russian president to exert
all his influence on Milosevic in order to persuade him to stop
the military operations in Kossovo. It should be noted that Russia
has distanced itself from the policy followed by NATO in this Serb
province.
[13] BRILL: WASHINGTON CONTINUES ITS EFFORTS FOR PROGRESS IN THE
CYPRUS ISSUE
US ambassador to Nicosia Kenneth Brill reiterated today that
Washington continues its efforts for progress in the solution of
the Cyprus issue and the improvement of the Greek-Turkish
relations and Turkey's relations with the European Union.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting he had in Nicosia
today with Cypriot president Glafkos Clerides, he also stated that
at the moment there are no plans for a new visit of US
presidential envoy Richard Halbrooke to Cyprus.
The US ambassador said that the United States have a multi-
faceted diplomacy that deals with many issues related with each.
[14] THE TALKS ON THE TEXT OF CONCLUSIONS REACHED IN CARDIFF
CONTINUE
Greece gives a battle in Cardiff to stop the inclusion of an
article in the text of conclusions reached in the Summit of the 15
EU leaders, that will welcome the promotion of Turkey's European
prospect.
According to the text of conclusions under discussion in the
Summit, the European Council calls on the EU presidency, the
European Commission and the responsible Turkish authorities to
continue the harmonization of the Turkish legislation with the
regulations of the European Union, while it also calls on the
European Commission to report every progress achieved in the next
association council as it happens with the countries which are
candidates for membership in the European Union.
Meanwhile, the withdrawal of the term according to which,
Turkey was referred to as the 12th in line for EU accession, was
characterized as very positive step.
The draft text of conclusions also welcomes the EU accession
process that opened for Cyprus on March 30.
[15] THE FIRST GREEK FIGHTER JETS LANDED AT THE AIR BASE OF PAPHOS
IN CYPRUS
The first four Greek fighter jets landed at the new air base
of Paphos in Cyprus today. Cypriot ministry of defense spokesman
Andreas Harides stated that the arrival of the aircraft is part of
the implementation of the joint defense agreement by Cyprus and
Greece and aims at confirming the readiness of the base.
Mr. Harides stated that four F-16 fighter jets landed at the
base this morning, while a C-130 transport plane arrived
yesterday. The military planes are scheduled to return to Greece
this afternoon.
It should be reminded that Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf
Denktash had warned when the construction of the air base was
completed that he would "break the wings" of any Greek fighter jet
that will try to use it.
[16] HANDJISKI: FYROM-GREEK RELATIONS EXCELLENT
FYROM Foreign minister, Blagoj Handjiski, underlined today
that the relations between his country and Greece present an
excellent progress in all sectors, especially the political one,
since there were several contacts at all levels, even at the
senior level with the meeting held between FYROM president Kiro
Gligorov and Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis in Crete.
Mr Handjiski, also, stressed that any disputes concerning the
official name of Skopje should not have a negative effect on
bilateral relations.
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