Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-10-12
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, October 12, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PREMIER COMMENTS ON LOCAL ELECTIONS: "WE RECEIVED THE
MESSAGE"
[02] LOCAL ELECTIONS: SECOND ROUND IN THESSALONIKI, MAIN
OPPOSITION LEADS
[03] AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR TO ARRIVE IN ATHENS THURSDAY
[04] ATHENS-HELD CONFERENCE TO ADDRESS COMPUTER MILLENNIUM BUG
[05] US EMBASSY AND CONSULATES CLOSED TODAY FOR COLUMBUS DAY
[06] PREMIER TO LAUNCH INT/L BUSINESS CONFERENCE IN NORTHERN
GREECE
[07] "DYNAMIC MIX - ‘98" CURRENTLY HELD IN GREECE
[08] 466 MAYORS AND 15 PREFECTS WERE ELECTED IN THE FIRST ROUND
[09] THE GOVERNMENT GOT THE MESSAGE SENT OUT BY THE ELECTION
RESULTS
[10] THE CANDIDATES OF PASOK AND ND IN THE PREFECTURE OF
THESSALONIKI WILL BE IN THE SECOND ROUND
[11] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE SCHOOL BOOKS USED IN THE
BALKANS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] GREEK PREMIER TO MEET WITH TURKISH COUNTERPART IN ANTALYA
TODAY
[13] ANTALYA SUMMIT BEGINS, GREEK PM AND FM PRESENT
[14] ANTALYA SUMMIT BEGINS TODAY
[15] MOUNTING PRESSURE ON MILOSEVIC AS NATO AWAITS "ACTIVATION
ORDER"
[16] F.R.Y. DEFENSE MINISTER: NATO WILL NOT INTERVENE
[17] ALBANIAN VICE PRESIDENT: NATO SHOULD HIT SERB TARGETS
IMMEDIATELY
[18] THE SIMITIS-YILMAZ MEETING WILL BE HELD IN ANTALYA THIS
EVENING
[19] THE MILOSEVIC-HALBROOKE MEETING IS IN PROGRESS
[20] CYPRUS WILL BECOME AN EU MEMBER, STATED THE SOCIALIST GROUP
LEADER IN THE EU PARLIAMENT
[21] THE ALBANIAN STATE TELEVISION INFORMS THE PEOPLE ON THE
DEVELOPMENTS IN KOSOVO CONSTANTLY
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PREMIER COMMENTS ON LOCAL ELECTIONS: "WE RECEIVED THE
MESSAGE"
On the aftermath of the yesterday's local elections, where
the conservative main opposition party gained the lead in the
country's three largest municipalities, Prime Minister Kostas
Simitis stated that the results sent messages to the government
and, he said, "we received them and we will evaluate them."
Mr. Simitis added that yesterday's election proved that the
government's policy for self-government and decentralization has
the support of the Greek people.
Yesterday, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said that
regardless of the final results, the government will press on with
its task and will be judged on its total work in the general
elections of the year 2000.
[02] LOCAL ELECTIONS: SECOND ROUND IN THESSALONIKI, MAIN
OPPOSITION LEADS
Ruling PASOK-party candidates are left licking their wounds,
or rolling their sleeves up for the second round, after the main
opposition-backed candidates gained the lead in the country's
three largest municipalities during yesterday's local government
elections -municipal and prefectural.
In Athens, incumbent mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos enjoyed an
unprecedented sweeping victory having earned 55.3% of the votes,
while in Thessaloniki, New Democracy backed candidate Vasilis
Papageorgopoulos amassed 44.4.% of the votes, while the PASOK
candidate Thrasyvoulos Lazarides, gathered 31.3%. In Piraeus, the
main opposition's candidate Agrapides was ahead of the PASOK-
backed candidate Fotiou. Both Thessaloniki and Piraeus are headed
for a second round next Sunday as the winning ticket in these two
cities failed to receive the absolute majority of votes.
Minister of Press and Media Dimitris Reppas stated that
regardless of the final results, the government will press on with
its task.
These elections are the first to take place after the merging
of a multitude of small communities into larger municipal units.
[03] AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR TO ARRIVE IN ATHENS THURSDAY
Austrian Chancellor Viktor Klima is expected to arrive on an
official visit to Athens on Thursday, as part of a tour of all
European Union capitals.
Mr. Klima, who will be received by Greek Premier Kostas
Simitis, currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.
[04] ATHENS-HELD CONFERENCE TO ADDRESS COMPUTER MILLENNIUM BUG
The Greek Management Association, in cooperation with the
European Council of Management, is to host a conference concerning
the various ways to address the computer millennium bug in the
year 2000.
Minster of the Interior Alekos Papadopoulos and the managing
director of Commercial Bank of Greece, George Michelis are to
address the event, which will be held this Thursday and Friday,
October 15-16, and which will be inaugurated by the British
Ambassador to Athens Sir Michael Llewellyn-Smith.
The conference will present solutions to the millennium bug
applied by international corporations in sectors including
industry and services.
The bug will cause many computers to fail by reading the date
2000 as 1900 because computer software programmers have
abbreviated each year to the two final digits in order to save
computer memory.
The conference is being held under the aegis of the British
Embassy in Athens.
[05] US EMBASSY AND CONSULATES CLOSED TODAY FOR COLUMBUS DAY
The United States embassy in Athens and its general
consulates in both the capital and Thessaloniki, along with all US
federal government agency offices in Greece, will be closed today
in honor of Columbus Day, a national holiday in the US.
[06] PREMIER TO LAUNCH INT/L BUSINESS CONFERENCE IN NORTHERN
GREECE
Prime Minister Kostas Simitis will inaugurate an
international business conference to be held in the northern Greek
city of Alexandroupolis on October 22-25.
Expected to attend the conference are officials from seventy
six countries including ministers, ambassadors, trade attaches and
bank governors.
Among the items on the agenda are energy networks, transport,
telecommunications, small and medium-sized enterprises, and peace
and security in the region.
Moreover, the event will review the prospects for a new
economic area after the year 2000 spanning the Mediterranean,
Balkans and Black Sea.
Greece's Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou, who is
also the head of the conference's organizing committee, has
personally called on the delegates to forge contacts in order to
help expand cooperation in the region.
Organizing the event is the Foundation for Mediterranean
Cooperation, backed by the European Parliament, the European
Investment Bank, the Foundation for Mediterranean Studies and
local authorities in the north.
[07] "DYNAMIC MIX - ‘98" CURRENTLY HELD IN GREECE
The final phase of NATO's exercise "Dynamic Mix '98 is to be
held tomorrow near the northern Greek city of Kilkis, in the
presence of Defense Undersecretary Dimitris Apostolakis.
The exercise is concurrently being held in Italy and Turkey.
The hypothetical scenario of the exercise involves the dispatch of
peacekeeping forces and humanitarian aid.
[08] 466 MAYORS AND 15 PREFECTS WERE ELECTED IN THE FIRST ROUND
Fifteen prefects and 466 mayors were elected in the first
round of the local administration elections held in Greece
yesterday.
There will be a second round of voting in the municipality of
Thessaloniki where Vasilis Papageorgopoulos, from the right-wing
main opposition party of New Democracy got 44.3% of the votes and
Thrasivoulos Lazaridis, backed by the governing socialist party of
PASOK, got 31.3%.
Spiros Vougias, who had the support of the Coalition of the
Left and the Environmentalists, got 15% of the vote and suggested
to his followers to vote by conscience. According to statements he
made to MPA, he will not meet with Mr. Papageorgopoulos or Mr.
Lazaridis.
From his side, Mr. Lefteris Konstantinidis, who was backed by
the Democratic Social Movement, stated that in the second round he
will vote for the candidate backed by PASOK, namely Thrasivoulos
Lazaridis but added that he can not commit his voters to do the
same.
[09] THE GOVERNMENT GOT THE MESSAGE SENT OUT BY THE ELECTION
RESULTS
The government got the message of the elections but this
message must be received by everyone, stated acting government
spokesman Yiannis Nikolaou, who clarified that no government
reshuffle is being considered.
He stressed that the government remains firm in its basic
political choices (EMU etc) but it got the message sent out by the
electorate and will take it under consideration. He called on
right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy to stop gloating
over the defeat of its rivals because there is still a second
round of voting in many regions and stressed that the socialist
governing party of PASOK remains a dominant force in the local
administration, backing the whole institution and leading it to
new paths.
[10] THE CANDIDATES OF PASOK AND ND IN THE PREFECTURE OF
THESSALONIKI WILL BE IN THE SECOND ROUND
The candidate backed by the governing socialist party of
PASOK for the post of the prefect of Thessaloniki Kostas
Papadopoulos will try and form alliances with the candidates who
were excluded from the second round of voting that will be held
next Sunday, October 18. Speaking to MPA, Mr. Papadopoulos stated
that he is satisfied with the election results.
Christos Koskinas, the candidate backed by the right-wing
main opposition party of New Democracy, speaking to MPA referred
to the small lead he has over Kostas Papadopoulos and said that he
has already started efforts to reach a cooperation agreement with
the candidates who were left out of the second round.
[11] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE SCHOOL BOOKS USED IN THE
BALKANS
Important conclusions derived from scientific research on the
way neighboring peoples are being presented in the Balkan school
books, will be presented in the international conference on the
issue that will be held in Thessaloniki on October 16, 17 and 18.
The conference is organized by Thessaloniki's Aristotle
University School of Philosophy.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] GREEK PREMIER TO MEET WITH TURKISH COUNTERPART IN ANTALYA
TODAY
Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis is to meet with his
Turkish counterpart Mesut Yilmaz this evening, on the sidelines of
the Balkan Summit held in Antalya, Turkey.
Also this evening, Mr. Simitis will meet with his Bulgarian
counterpart Ivan Kostov and the President of Serbia Milan
Miludinovic.
During his address at this morning's meeting among the
leaders, Mr. Simitis referred to the Kossovo crisis and tabled
specific proposals for its resolution.
The Minister of Press and Media Dimitris Reppas, told the
Macedonian Press Agency that Greece will not allow NATO aircraft
overflights in its national airspace.
Mr. Reppas stressed that only two NATO bases will be used n
Greece.
[13] ANTALYA SUMMIT BEGINS, GREEK PM AND FM PRESENT
The two-day second summit of heads of states and governments
from south-eastern Europe began today in Antalya, Turkey, with
Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis and Foreign Minister Theodoros
Pangalos present.
Bilateral talks among the Balkan leaders are expected to
begin this afternoon, although a meeting between Mr. Simitis and
his Turkish counterpart Mesut Yilmaz has yet to be finalized.
The Summit meeting, which constitutes a continuation of last
year's summit held in Crete, is held under a dark cloud of a
potential NATO air strike against Serb military targets at Kosovo.
The first step towards establishing an across-the-board level of
cooperation among the Balkan states was taken at the Crete summit,
premised on the belief that "what unites these countries is
greater than what divides them."
The highlight of last year's Summit was also the meeting
between Serb President Slobodan Milosevic and Albania's then-
Premier Fatos Nano, the first such meeting in the past 50 years.
Neither of the two men will be in Antalya as Mr. Milosevic is
dealing with a hard task at home, while Mr. Nano recently resigned
from the premier's post.
Also absent from the Summit are FYROM's President Kiro
Gligorov and Albania's newly-elected Premier Padeli Majko.
[14] ANTALYA SUMMIT BEGINS TODAY
The second summit meeting of heads of states and governments
from south-eastern Europe is to begin today and tomorrow in
Antalya, Turkey. The meeting, which constitutes a continuation of
last year's summit held in Crete, is held under a dark cloud of a
potential NATO air strike against Serb military targets at Kosovo
.
Prime Minister Kostas Simitis is expected to meet with his
Turkish counterpart Mesut Yilmaz on the sidelines of the
conference tomorrow, while the foreign ministers of both Greece
and Turkey, Theodoros Pangalos and Ismael Cem respectively, are
also expected to hold talks.
[15] MOUNTING PRESSURE ON MILOSEVIC AS NATO AWAITS "ACTIVATION
ORDER"
International pressure is mounting on Serb President Slobodan
Milosevic as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is literary on
the brink of a military intervention.
US special envoy Richard Holbrooke is pressing on with his
efforts to mediate for a peaceful resolution to the Kosovo crisis,
having held marathon talks with Mr. Milosevic last night.
Following the meeting, Mr. Holbrooke did not comment on the
details of his negotiations, which he characterized as intense. He
announced that will meet with the Serb President anew today.
[16] F.R.Y. DEFENSE MINISTER: NATO WILL NOT INTERVENE
The Defense Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Pavle Bulatovic opined yesterday that NATO will not act on its
threats to strike against Serb military targets in Kosovo, since
the policy exercised by Yugoslavia will soon lead to the peaceful
resolution of the crisis.
"Nothing can warrant the potential attack of Serb forces by
NATO," Mr. Bulatovic stated, stressing that such strike will not
facilitate the peace process but, on the contrary, will worsen the
situation and harm the stability not only in Kosovo but in the
wider Balkan region as well.
[17] ALBANIAN VICE PRESIDENT: NATO SHOULD HIT SERB TARGETS
IMMEDIATELY
Albania wants NATO to strike Serb targets in Kossovo
immediately, as the country's Vice President Ilir Mehta told the
Macedonian Press Agency, adding that such strike would force Serb
President Slobodan Milosevic to put an end to the bloodshed in
the region.
According to Mr. Mehta, Albania is capable of carrying out a
significant role in resolving the Kossovo crisis.
Moreover, Mr. Mehta stressed that his government is convinced
that all the efforts exerted by the international community for
resolving the issue peacefully have gone astray.
"The Albanian government sees that Belgrade, instead of
reacting positively to the pressures of the international
community, provokes episodes at the Albanian-Yugoslav borders,
thereby intensifying the tension."
He concluded that the Albanian military forces are in a state
of readiness in order to face any episodes that might erupt in the
border region.
On the same note, Albanian's Minister of Defense Luan
Hidaraga also stated "we hope NATO's intervention takes place as
soon as possible."
[18] THE SIMITIS-YILMAZ MEETING WILL BE HELD IN ANTALYA THIS
EVENING
The meeting of prime minister Kostas Simitis with his Turkish
counterpart Mesut Yilmaz will be held at 7.30pm this evening on
the sidelines of the Balkan states summit meeting in Antalya,
Turkey.
Prime minister Simitis is scheduled to meet this afternoon
with his Bulgarian counterpart Ivan Kostov and Serb president
Milan Miludinovic. In the morning meeting of the Balkan leaders
held earlier, Mr. Simitis referred to the Kosovo problem and made
specific proposals for its solution.
According to a statement made by Greek government spokesman
Dimitiris Reppas, in response to a question by MPA, Greece will
not allow to NATO aircraft to use its air space, adding that only
the two NATO bases will be used in Greece.
[19] THE MILOSEVIC-HALBROOKE MEETING IS IN PROGRESS
The new meeting of US mediator Richard Halbrooke with
Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade is still in
progress.
Meanwhile, in Brussels the political representatives of NATO
are expected to decide today if there will be air strikes against
targets in Yugoslavia.
The Russian foreign minister stated that in the case of a
NATO military intervention in the region he will encourage other
countries to use force too in order to solve their differences.
[20] CYPRUS WILL BECOME AN EU MEMBER, STATED THE SOCIALIST GROUP
LEADER IN THE EU PARLIAMENT
The Socialist Group leader in the European Parliament and
Labor Party Euro-deputy Ms. Pauline Green, expressed the certainty
that Cyprus will become a member of the European Union. The
statement was made after the meeting she had with Cypriot
president Glafkos Clerides.
Ms. Green attributed the problems created by certain EU
member-states to the international "game" which is aimed at
exerting pressures for the solution of the Cyprus problem.
[21] THE ALBANIAN STATE TELEVISION INFORMS THE PEOPLE ON THE
DEVELOPMENTS IN KOSOVO CONSTANTLY
The Albanian state television informs the Albanian citizens
constantly on the developments in Kosovo and the likelihood of a
military operation by NATO forces against Serb targets.
Albanian minister of defense Luan Haidaranga expressed the
hope that the NATO armed intervention will take place as soon as
possible. Meanwhile, Albanian government deputy prime minister
Ilir Meta stated to MPA that the Albanian government is certain
that all the efforts made by the international community for a
peaceful solution of the problem have been wasted.
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