Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-10-02
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, October 2, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREEK, BULGARIAN, ROMANIAN PREMIERS TO MEET IN DELPHI
TOMORROW
[02] HOSPITAL DOCTORS DECIDE TODAY ON FURTHER MOBILIZATIONS
[03] BSEC INTERIOR, PUBLIC ORDER MINISTERS MEET IN CORFU
[04] GREEK FM TO PARTICIPATE AT EU GENERAL AFFAIRS COUNCIL
[05] ONE OF GREECE'S MOST REVERED WRITERS, LILI ZOGRAFOU, DIES AT
AGE OF 76
[06] GREECE TO HAVE WORLD'S THIRD OLDEST POPULATION BY THE YEAR
2020
[07] GREEK PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT MEETS WITH ITALIAN, BELGIAN
COUNTERPARTS
[08] GOVERNMENT MEETING ON NATIONAL ISSUES, THE STRIKE ACTION OF
THE DOCTORS AND LOCAL ELECTIONS
[09] BIG LOSSES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE AND IN THE EUROPEAN
STOCK MARKETS
[10] THE CONTRIBUTION OF LILI ZOGRAFOU TO THE GREEK LITERATURE WAS
IMMENSE
[11] TSOCHATZOPOULOS' COMMENTS ON KOSOVO
[12] TSOCHATZOPOULOS DENIED THAT THERE WERE VIOLATIONS OF THE
CYPRIOT AIR SPACE
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[13] UNHCR CALLS FOR URGENT PREVENTIVE ACTION IN KOSSOVO
[14] SECURITY COUNCIL CONDEMNS ATROCITIES IN KOSSOVO
[15] INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF OLDER PERSONS LAUNCHED BY UNITED
NATIONS
[16] RICHARD HOLBROOKE WILL RESIGN AS US ENVOY FOR CYPRUS
[17] THE GREEK UNDERSECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS MET WITH US
MEDIATORS
[18] MALLIAS: GREECE WILL BACK FYROM'S BID FOR EU AND NATO
MEMBERSHIP
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREEK, BULGARIAN, ROMANIAN PREMIERS TO MEET IN DELPHI
TOMORROW
Greece's Prime Minister Kostas Simitis will meet with the
Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov and the Romanian President Emil
Constantinescu in Delphi tomorrow and Sunday, in order to discuss
bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the three
countries, as well as the situation in the Balkan region.
According to Bulgarian government press releases, the
tripartite meeting will contribute in balancing inter-state
relations between the Balkan countries for the promotion of
economic cooperation and for stability in the Balkans.
Other issues to be discussed by the three leaders will be the
combating of organized crime and plans for the enlargement of the
European Union and NATO.
[02] HOSPITAL DOCTORS DECIDE TODAY ON FURTHER MOBILIZATIONS
After having met with the Minister of Health Kostas Gitonas
yesterday, hospital doctors are to decide today on the course of
their mobilizations.
The physicians have accepted, on principle, the Minister's
proposal to form a joint committee that will draw the overtime and
in-hospital duty schedules for the upcoming year, as well as his
commitment that the doctors will be paid their due overtime as
soon as the schedule is drawn.
Meanwhile, state prosecutors in Athens and Thessaloniki filed ex
officio proceedings yesterday against any striking public doctor
who took part in the occupations of the public hospital buildings
and have also ordered the police that they ensure the unhindered
access by patients and personnel.
[03] BSEC INTERIOR, PUBLIC ORDER MINISTERS MEET IN CORFU
The third meeting of interior and public order ministers from
the Black Sea Economic Cooperation pact (BSEC) countries is
currently underway in Corfu where the participants representing
the 11 BSEC member-countries are expected to sign a law
enforcement agreement.
Specifically, the agreement concerns combating organized
crime, the illegal cultivation, production, processing and
trafficking of drugs, the illegal trafficking of arms, illegal
international economic activities, money laundering, smuggling,
illegal immigration, as well as the sexual exploitation of women
and children, the counterfeiting of banknotes, the illegal
trafficking of works of historical and cultural heritage, crimes
in the hi-tech sector, including crimes carried out through
electronic computers and the trafficking of people and human
organs.
Greek Public Order Minister George Romeos said that "this
multipartite agreement is important because it strengthens
Greece's position in Black Sea countries and the Balkans..."
Apart Greece, the countries represented in Corfu are Albania,
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia,
Turkey and Ukraine.
[04] GREEK FM TO PARTICIPATE AT EU GENERAL AFFAIRS COUNCIL
Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos will travel to Luxembourg
next week in order to participate at the European Union's General
Affairs Council, to be held Monday and Tuesday.
Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou will represent
Greece during the second day of the proceedings, where the Council
will discuss issues related to the European Conference.
The EU Council will also discuss "Agenda 2000", the Russian
economic crisis, preparation of the EU-Ukraine summit and the
harmonization of candidate members' national legislation with the
acquis communautaire.
Also, issues to be discussed included the Balkan region and
the European Commission's report on the screening process for the
six candidate-countries, including Cyprus.
Mr. Papandreou said Greece's position is harmonious with
that of the EU's presidium and Commission, namely, that accession
talks should start on those chapters which are already prepared.
[05] ONE OF GREECE'S MOST REVERED WRITERS, LILI ZOGRAFOU, DIES AT
AGE OF 76
One of Greece's most revered female writers, Lili Zografou,
died this morning at the university hospital of Crete, the island
where she was born, after having suffered a stroke. She was 76
years old.
Much like her book heroes, Ms. Zografou had lived an
interesting life, while her -often- radical ideas and
existentialist concerns were frequently dispersed throughout her
writings.
Her first appearance in the literary world was through the
short-stories anthology "Agapi", published in 1950.
Twenty-one yeas later (1971) Ms. Zografou showed her
penmanship in essay-writing, publishing "Elytis, o Heliopotis",
although her most significant essay is deemed to be her book
"Nikos Kazantzakis, a tragic".
She wrote 24 books, many of which were translated in foreign
languages and enjoyed dozens of reprints.
In her book "Occupation: Prostitute", which was republished
37 times, Ms. Zografou wrote: "I'm not giving attitude, style,
literature. I do not write essays. I register the events and
symptoms of my era. Everything I write has happened. Either to me
or to others. I've wasted myself for years now watching everything
and everyone. Life flows through me, saturating me with its
ugliness, filling me with anguish with its organized injustice,
humbling me with my inability to react, to productively revolt,
defend our mass humiliation.
"If I were twenty years old again, I would climb the
mountains, be a rebel, a pirate, open the eyes of those who suffer
their fate without protest, all those who turn a willful blind
eye. No, my revolution wouldn't be against the status quo and its
systems, it would be against those who tolerate it..."
Having written consistently through the years that followed,
her last work, "Love was late one day" was published in 1994.
[06] GREECE TO HAVE WORLD'S THIRD OLDEST POPULATION BY THE YEAR
2020
Greece will have the world's third oldest population by the
year 2020 due to its declining birth rate and increasing life
expectancy, according to the World Health Organization.
The organization has reported that 22 years from now there
will be over one billion people over the age of sixty in the
world, nearly double the current number.
The "oldest" countries that year will be Japan and Italy,
each with 31 percent of their populations being at least 60, it
said.
They will be followed by Greece, Switzerland and Finland,
each at 28 percent.
[07] GREEK PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT MEETS WITH ITALIAN, BELGIAN
COUNTERPARTS
The President of the Hellenic Parliament Apostolos Kaklamanis
met with his Italian counterpart Luciano Violante yesterday
evening in Athens, the first Italian parliament president to
visit Greece.
Mgrs. Violante and Kaklamanis discussed the need to
strengthen the role and the relations among the parliaments of
Mediterranean countries and the need to strike a balance between
north and south, in the framework of the European Union.
Mr. Kaklamanis also briefed his Italian counterpart on
Turkey's aggression towards Greece and the Turkish occupation of
Cyprus's northern part.
In turn, Mr. Violante pointed out that Europe needs to
contribute to the strengthening of the democratic institution in
Turkey, searching for and supporting that country's democratic
elements.
Moreover, Mr. Kaklamanis met with the speaker of the House of
Belgium Frank Swaelen, with whom he discussed the cooperation
opportunities between the two Assemblies, within the framework of
the European fulfillment.
[08] GOVERNMENT MEETING ON NATIONAL ISSUES, THE STRIKE ACTION OF
THE DOCTORS AND LOCAL ELECTIONS
The issues of national importance, the strike action of the
hospital doctors and the preparation of the governing Socialist
Party in view of the local elections on October 11, were discussed
in the joint meeting of the Governmental Committee and the
Political Secretariat of the governing party of PASOK that was
presided over by prime minister Kostas Simitis.
Specifically, preparations were made for tomorrow's meeting
of prime minister Simitis with the presidents of Bulgaria and
Romania in Delphi, while Greece's positions in the EU General
Affairs Council meeting that will be held in Brussels on Monday,
were outlined.
In Monday's meeting, France and Italy are expected to repeat
an attempt to bring up for discussion the issue of Turkey's
funding by the EU. Greek foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos and
government spokesman Dimitris Reppas made it clear that Greece
insists in its firm position on the issue.
[09] BIG LOSSES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE AND IN THE EUROPEAN
STOCK MARKETS
The general price index in the Athens Stock Exchange came
close today to the limit that dictates the interruption of
transactions.
The crisis in the international stock markets has created a
climate of insecurity and panic in Athens and as a result the
index dropped below the 1.900 units limit. The general price index
closed with a loss of 7.32%.
A considerable loss was recorded in all the European stock
markets in spite of the resignation of the heads of the biggest
European bank, the Swiss UBS Bank. The loss recorded was 3-6%.
[10] THE CONTRIBUTION OF LILI ZOGRAFOU TO THE GREEK LITERATURE WAS
IMMENSE
Lili Zografou is a leading figure in the pantheon of Greek
writers. The great novel and essay writer left her last breath
this morning at the age of 76 in the University Hospital of Crete
where she was taken last Friday suffering a stroke.
The work of Lili Zografou is characterized by the explosive
and often provocative style of her writings. She wrote 24 books
and many of them were translated into different languages.
[11] TSOCHATZOPOULOS' COMMENTS ON KOSOVO
Greek minister of defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos did not rule
out the likelihood of a NATO military intervention in Kosovo in
case there is no political solution in the region.
Mr. Tsochatzopoulos clarified that there is no NATO decision
yet on a military intervention and issued a last minute appeal for
a direct and unconditional dialogue between president Milosevic
and the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
Mr. Tsochatzopoulos stated that the massacres of civilian
population can not continue, while measures should be taken for
the 200.000 refugees inside and outside Yugoslavia in view of the
heavy winter ahead.
[12] TSOCHATZOPOULOS DENIED THAT THERE WERE VIOLATIONS OF THE
CYPRIOT AIR SPACE
Greek minister of defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos denied the
information according to which, Turkish fighter jets violated the
Cypriot air space during yesterday's military parade in Cyprus.
The statements were made by Mr. Tsochatzopoulos at the
Airport of Larnaca this morning just before his departure for
Thessaloniki.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[13] UNHCR CALLS FOR URGENT PREVENTIVE ACTION IN KOSSOVO
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary
Robinson, has called for urgent preventive action and conclusion
of an agreement to increase the number of United Nations observers
in the Kossovo province of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
In a statement made yesterday, Ms. Robinson said that her
office had been seeking to increase the number of monitors on the
ground in Kossovo where security forces reportedly massacred
defenseless civilians over the weekend. She said that a stronger
presence would also assist in ascertaining the facts of events
such as the killings this weekend. Ms. Robinson also underscored
the need for independent investigation by experts, including
international forensic specialists, into violent deaths resulting
from armed actions and into reported massacres.
Recalling that just over a week ago the Foreign Minister of
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia agreed that a Memorandum of
Understanding to allow such an increase should be finalized, Ms.
Robinson said the time had come to conclude this agreement.
"The time has also come to address at the political level the
unacceptable suffering of the people driven from their homes in
Kossovo," she added.
Ms. Robinson said that once again, the international
community had been shocked and outraged by massacres of civilians
in Kossovo. The women, children and elderly men shot through the
head and mutilated in the Drenica area over the weekend, she
pointed out, had apparently been trying to escape the violence and
intimidation associated with the continuing operations by the
Yugoslav security forces.
The Human Rights Commissioner said that these killings were
particularly reprehensible because they were evidence that despite
expressions of international concern and official assurances that
civilians would be respected, atrocities were continuing in
Kossovo.
[14] SECURITY COUNCIL CONDEMNS ATROCITIES IN KOSSOVO
The United Nations Security Council, which convened yesterday
after reports of atrocities committed against Kossovo's Albanians,
have issued a statement wherein they wholly condemn these acts.
In the statement the SC calls on Serb President Slobodan
Milosevic to punish those responsible for the killings.
On Monday UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to issue a
report stating whether or not the Yugoslav security forces have
ceased their operations in the region.
[15] INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF OLDER PERSONS LAUNCHED BY UNITED
NATIONS
The United Nations launched the International Year of Older
Persons yesterday under the theme "towards a society for all" at
its Headquarters in New York.
According to the United Nations Population Division, which
defines older persons as those 60 years and older, one of every 10
persons now falls under that category. By the year 2050, one of
five will be 60 years or older; by 2150, it will be one of three
persons. The older population itself is aging. Currently, persons
80 years and older constitute 11 per cent of the population aged
60 and above. By the year 2050, 27 per cent of the older
population will be over 80 years old.
The impact of the world's aging population growth on socio-
economic policies and the culture of societies is already
presenting problems to governments. To help meet the challenge,
the United Nations General Assembly decided in 1992 to observe the
International Year of Older Persons in 1999. The objective of the
Year is to raise awareness of the fast- changing demographic
picture of older persons globally.
"A society for all ages is one that does not caricature older
persons as patients and pensioners," said Secretary-General Kofi
Annan. "Instead, it sees them as both agents and beneficiaries of
development."
In a speech opening the commemorative events yesterday, the
Secretary- General said that having turned 60 himself less than
six months ago, he was now counted among the statistics on aging.
"I am an older person," he observed. From this perspective, he
said, he had seen the "great potential of an age of aging."
The Secretary-General was presented with a commemorative
poster from the American Association of Retired Persons and a
special greeting card from the Dutch National Committee on Aging.
[16] RICHARD HOLBROOKE WILL RESIGN AS US ENVOY FOR CYPRUS
The special presidential envoy for Cyprus Richard Holbrooke
is to resign from his post as soon as his UN ambassador
appointment is approved, according to a White House spokesperson,
who also stated that Mr. Holbrooke will continue to work on the
issue.
"President Bill Clinton is looking for a replacement for Mr.
Holbrooke, but we have nothing else to announce for now," Mr.
Philip Crowley said yesterday.
Mr. Holbrooke, who was scheduled to meet with Turkish Cypriot
leader Rauf Denktash within the framework of US efforts to
alleviate the current impasse, is expected to visit the area
before the end of this year.
[17] THE GREEK UNDERSECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS MET WITH US
MEDIATORS
Greek undersecretary of foreign affairs Yiannos Kranidiotis
met in New York today with US mediators for Cyprus Richard
Halbrooke and Thomas Miller. Their talks focused on the
developments in the Cyprus issue.
Mr. Halbrooke characterized as positive the statement made by
UN secretary general Kofi Annan on the opening of separate talks
by his special envoy to Nicosia with Cypriot president Glafkos
Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash. Mr. Kranidiotis
pointed out that the Greek side regards this statement as part of
the efforts made for the easing of the tensions, the armaments
cuts and Cyprus's demilitarization.
Later, Mr. Kranidiotis had a meeting with EU mediator for
Cyprus Sir David Hanney.
[18] MALLIAS: GREECE WILL BACK FYROM'S BID FOR EU AND NATO
MEMBERSHIP
Greece's intention to back FYROM's request to enter the
European Union and NATO was expressed by head of Greece's liaison
office in Skopje ambassador Alexandros Mallias.
In an interview with the Skopje newspaper "Nova Makedonia",
under the headline "The Balkans look like Benelux", Mr. Mallias
stated characteristically regarding FYROM's wish to become part of
the European and the Euro-Atlantic structures, that the stability,
territorial integrity and independence of FYROM are very important
for the whole region and Greece will make every effort within its
power to assist in the country's accession into the EU and NATO.
Responding to the question on whether Greece's economic
infiltration in the Balkans aims at a greater political influence
in the region, Mr. Mallias stated that Greece's cooperation with
all the Balkan states takes place on an equal basis.
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