Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-06-19
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, June 19, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] ATHENS REACTS WITH CALM TO THE TENSION CREATED BY TURKEY
[02] THE GOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE MEETS TODAY
[03] ORIGINAL BUT DIFFICULT THE SUBJECT OF THE ESSAY ON WHICH THE
STUDENTS WERE TESTED TODAY
[04] INCIDENTS IN THE COMMERCIAL BANK GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING
[05] "BOUTARIS" DENIED FYROM PRESS REPORTS THAT IT HAS BOUGHT OUT
THE BITOLA BREWERY
[06] PUBLIC PROSECUTOR PRESSES CHARGES FOR INCIDENTS AT THE
COMMERCIAL BANK
[07] CHRISOHOIDIS: "EMU IS A DIFFICULT BUT NECESSARY PATH"
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[08] CLERIDES' LETTER TO THE UN SECRETARY-GENERAL
[09] MILOSEVIC IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SITUATION IN KOSSOVO
[10] THE UNITED STATES CONDEMNED THE MILITARY FLIGHTS OVER CYPRUS
[11] JAMES RUBIN: THE LANDING OF GREEK AND TURKISH JETS IN CYPRUS
DOES NOT HELP IN THE PEACE EFFORTS
[12] RUGOVA PROPOSED THE CREATION OF AN INDEPENDENT AND NEUTRAL
STATE
[13] SIX TONS OF WEAPONS AND AMMUNITION WERE FOUND IN THE PORT OF
DURRES
[14] KASOULIDIS: "EISENHOWER" IS DIRECTED TO THE ADRIATIC SEA
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] ATHENS REACTS WITH CALM TO THE TENSION CREATED BY TURKEY
Athens and Nicosia react with calm and determination to the
new fabricated tension created by Turkey in Cyprus and the Aegean.
Greek foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos stated that it is
absolutely illegal for Turkey's prime minister Mesut Yilmaz to
send war planes to the occupied northern Cyprus.
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas accused Ankara
that it does not want to contribute to the easing of the tension
in the Greek-Turkish relations and to the efforts aimed at
reaching a solution for Cyprus.
Cypriot minister of defense Yiannakis Omirou stated that the
reinforcement of the occupation forces shows that Turkey has
expansionist aspirations and reiterated that the arrival of Greek
fighter jets in Cyprus is totally legal.
[02] THE GOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE MEETS TODAY
The economic developments and the outcome of the EU Summit
meeting in Cardiff, Wales were discussed today in the joint
meeting of the governmental committee and PASOK's political
secretariat which was presided over by prime minister Kostas
Simitis.
Meanwhile, measures for the speedier decline of inflation are
being examined today by a committee presided over by
undersecretary of development Michalis Chrisochoidis in which
participate undersecretaries of finance Nikos Christodoulakis and
Giorgos Dris.
[03] ORIGINAL BUT DIFFICULT THE SUBJECT OF THE ESSAY ON WHICH THE
STUDENTS WERE TESTED TODAY
The subject of the essay on the role of laughter in people's
lives on which students were tested today was characterized by
literature teachers as original but difficult.
In the university admission exams that started today
participate about 142.000 students and the abstention noted was
very limited. Minister of education Gerasimos Arsenis suggested
calm to both parents and students.
[04] INCIDENTS IN THE COMMERCIAL BANK GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING
The crucial general assembly meeting of the Commercial Bank
shareholders on the future of the Ionian Bank was not held today
due to the incidents that erupted in the Athens central hotel hall
where the meeting was scheduled to take place.
The incidents erupted when the president and the general
director of the Ionian Bank were booed by the Ionian Bank
employees and shortly afterwards Commercial Bank president Mr.
Georgoutsakos was attacked by a group of employees. The general
assembly meeting of the Commercial Bank shareholders was
considered to be of decisive importance for the sale of the Ionian
Bank.
All banks in the country remained closed today after a
decision by the Bank Employees' Union. PASOK's unionists are
opposed to the imminent work reforms and the privatization
program. PASOK's Central Committee secretary Kostas Skandalidis
called on the bank employees' union leaders to abandon the misery
of everyday conflict.
[05] "BOUTARIS" DENIED FYROM PRESS REPORTS THAT IT HAS BOUGHT OUT
THE BITOLA BREWERY
The northern Greek brewery "Boutaris" denied a "Nova
Makedonija" newspaper report according to which, it has bought out
the Bitola brewery.
Speaking to MPA, "Brewery of Northern Greece" general
director Nikolaos Georgopoulos stated that "Boutaris" has
expressed interest but the negotiations have not been completed
yet and no decision has been reached.
"Boutaris" negotiates the purchase of part of the Bitola
brewery, possibly 51%, and its rivals are Australian "Fosters" and
the Swiss group "MTI".
[06] PUBLIC PROSECUTOR PRESSES CHARGES FOR INCIDENTS AT THE
COMMERCIAL BANK
Following a court order, the General Assembly of the
Commercial Bank shareholders is held, since 9pm, at the central
offices of the bank. According to the same resolution, the General
Assembly will be attended by 25 instead of 138 representatives.
Meanwhile, the Public Prosecutor's Office in Athens pressed
charges for illegal violence and grand damages, after today's
riots, which occurred during the General Assembly of the Bank,
while an investigation was ordered for the arrest of the
responsible for the incidents. The incidents were condemned by the
Greek government as well as by the opposition.
[07] CHRISOHOIDIS: "EMU IS A DIFFICULT BUT NECESSARY PATH"
Greek deputy minister of Development Mihalis Chrisohoidis,
addressing the Trade Association of Thessaloniki, today, described
the participation of the national currency in the Exchange Rate
Mechanism as an event of great importance.
Mr Chrisohoidis stressed that this shows important steps of
progress in the Greek economy as well as the determination of the
Greek government to achieve convergence with EU economies.
He, also, underlined that the government pays particular
attention to the introduction of structural changes within the
economy and added that the European Monetary Union is a difficult
path but the only one that could strengthen the European economic
and social model against other social models, which exist around
the world.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[08] CLERIDES' LETTER TO THE UN SECRETARY-GENERAL
Cypriot president Glafkos Clerides sent a letter to UN
secretary-general Kofi Annan with concrete proposals aimed at
setting a timetable for the demilitarization of Cyprus, according
to Cypriot government spokesman Christos Stilianides.
Meanwhile, US ambassador to Nicosia Kenneth Brill met with
Cypriot ministers of foreign affairs and agriculture Yiannakis
Kasoulides and Kostas Themistokleous.
Mr. Brill stressed, when was called to comment on the landing
of Turkish and Greek fighter jets in Cyprus, that the militarizing
of the Cypriot problem will not help anyone and added that this
week's events were not helpful and undermine the efforts of all
those who try to promote a political solution. He said that
tension in the region has risen without a reason and stressed that
this has to stop.
[09] MILOSEVIC IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SITUATION IN KOSSOVO
The British undersecretary of foreign affairs, who presides
over the European Council, accused Yugoslav president Slobodan
Milosevic of being personally responsible for the actions of the
Serb security forces in Kossovo.
The accusations were made during his speech in the European
Parliament where the crisis in Kossovo was discussed in detail.
[10] THE UNITED STATES CONDEMNED THE MILITARY FLIGHTS OVER CYPRUS
The flights of Greek and Turkish fighter jets over Cyprus
were condemned by the US Department of Defense and a US Pentagon
spokesman announced the scheduled arrival of a US aircraft carrier
to eastern Mediterranean in the following days.
US Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon referred to the flights
of fighter jets stressing that they have a destabilizing effect in
the region, while at the same time he underlined that the US want
a solution to be found for the Cyprus problem.
[11] JAMES RUBIN: THE LANDING OF GREEK AND TURKISH JETS IN CYPRUS
DOES NOT HELP IN THE PEACE EFFORTS
Actions such as, the landing of Greek and Turkish fighter
jets in Cyprus do not help in the efforts for the promotion of
peace in Cyprus, stated US State Department spokesman James Rubin.
Mr. Rubin stated that the US view is that the recent activity
undertaken by the Turkish and Greek jets does not help in the
promotion of peace and called on Greece and Turkey to stop those
actions.
On Richard Halbrooke's appointment to the position of the US
ambassador to the UN, Mr. Rubin commented that it is too early to
say if someone else will replace him as US presidential envoy to
Cyprus.
Meanwhile, Mr. Halbrooke in a speech he delivered recently,
blamed Ankara for the deadlock in Cyprus and stated that it will
be very difficult to have a two-zone, two-community federation in
Cyprus in the near future.
[12] RUGOVA PROPOSED THE CREATION OF AN INDEPENDENT AND NEUTRAL
STATE
Leader of ethnic Albanians in Kossovo Ibrahim Rugova
suggested the creation of an independent and neutral state in
which the Serbs will enjoy all their rights during his meeting in
Pristina with Russian embassy adviser in the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia Mr. Yakov Gerasimov.
Meanwhile, Yugoslav foreign minister Mr. Yovanovic wished
that the dialogue between the Serb leadership and the ethnic
Albanians in Kossovo will bring results, stressing that there is
no other way to solve the crisis.
[13] SIX TONS OF WEAPONS AND AMMUNITION WERE FOUND IN THE PORT OF
DURRES
Customs authorities in the Albanian port of Durres discovered
and seized 6 tons of weapons and ammunition hidden in a truck with
Italian number plates.
No details were given to publicity by the Albanian
authorities but the Albanian newspapers mention citing police
sources that according to well-founded suspicions, the cargo was
destined for Kossovo's Liberation Army.
[14] KASOULIDIS: "EISENHOWER" IS DIRECTED TO THE ADRIATIC SEA
Cypriot Foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulidis stated that the
US Embassy assured him that the American aircraft carrier
"Eisenhower" flies towards the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, but its
direction is the Adriatic Sea, due to the Kosovo crisis.
Mr Kasoulidis, in statements he made after a closed-doors
conference of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee,
stressed that there is a bid for the creation of an artificial
crisis and thus "we are obliged to be aware of intentions and
respond in the same way".
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