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Tuesday, 23 April 2024
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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 99-06-13Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.Last Update: 23:31 GMT+2SECTIONS
NEWS HEADLINES[A] GREECE[B] BALKANS[C] EUROPE[D] WORLDNEWS IN DETAIL[A] GREECE[01] PAPANTONIOU: IT IS NOT A TIME FOR CELEBRATIONS FOR ANYONEWeb Posted: 23:31 GMT+2Athens, 13/06/1999 (MPA) The message for the government is that more effort is needed, while this is not a time for celebrations for anyone, stated minister of national economy and finance Yiannos Papantoniou. He said that the election results will be taken under consideration and will be examined, adding that the economic policy of the government is effective but its results are not visible yet.Mr. Papantoniou stated that the policy followed will bring the country in the EMU in the year 2000, stressing that stability is being linked with the governing socialist party of PASOK. [02] SPILIOTOPOULOS: THE PEOPLE GAVE THE GOVERNMENT A LOUD SLAP IN THE FACEWeb Posted: 23:31 GMT+2Athens, 13/06/1999 (MPA) The Greeks gave the government a loud slap in the face disapproving its policy and now it is called to see where it did wrong and what changes need to be made, stated right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy press spokesman Aris Spiliotopoulos, adding that the leadership of PASOK should get the message of the Euro-parliament elections.He said that the goal of New Democracy was to be the winner of these elections even with a difference of 1 percentage point as the party had been stuck to the second place for nine years. He also said that being the winner in the Euro-parliament elections it means that the party will be also the winner in the next national elections. [03] THE FIVE CRITERIA BASED ON WHICH THE GREEKS CAST THEIR BALLOTWeb Posted: 23:31 GMT+2Athens, 13/06/1999 (MPA) Five are the criteria based on which the Greeks cast their ballot in the Euro-parliament elections that were held today. Based on an opinion poll conducted by MEGA Channel television, 15% of the voters went to the polls because they wanted to show their support to the European Union policy, while 13% showed their disapproval of the European Union policy.Also, 16.5% of the voters wanted to back the government of prime minister Kostas Simitis, while 19.5% wanted to show their disapproval to the government. Finally, 32% voted because they wanted to back the political party they like. [04] SIMITIS IS THE FIRST CHOICE OF THE PEOPLE FOR THE POST OF THE PRIME MINISTERWeb Posted: 23:26 GMT+2Athens, 13/06/1999 (MPA) Prime minister Kostas Simitis comes first to the preference of 36.4% of the people for the post he occupies, based on an opinion poll that was presented by Star Channel and was conducted with the participation of 9.000 individuals who had just cast their ballot.Right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy Kostas Karamanlis is the choice of 32.1% for the post, while 27% believe that neither of the two is fit to be a prime minister. [05] THE CITIZENS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WENT TO THE POLLS TODAYWeb Posted: 23:00 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 13/06/1999 (MPA) The citizens of the European Union went to the polls today to elect their representatives to the European parliament. The voting was held in 11 countries today as elections had already been held in Britain, Ireland, Holland and Denmark.In Greece, 8.912.902 voters cast their ballot in 18.525 polling stations across the country. The counting of the votes started at 9pm at the same time across Europe. The first results will be made known at 11pm tonight. [06] THE DISTANCE BETWEEN PASOK AND ND IN TERMS OF VOTE PERCENTAGE IS MARGINALWeb Posted: 23:00 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 13/06/1999 (MPA) According to the exit polls results, the distance between the two largest political parties in Greece, namely the governing socialist party of PASOK and the right-wing opposition party of New Democracy, is marginal in terms of vote percentage, as it is estimated to be about 2 percentage points. It is worth noting that the two largest political parties gather about 70% of the votes, while the smaller parties appear to have gained in strength. At 7pm the television stations started giving the first exit polls results on the Euro-parliament elections in Greece.The exit poll conducted by the company V-PRC on behalf of the state New Greek Television, NET, shows with a possible error percentage of 1.4, that PASOK will get 35.3% of the votes, New Democracy 36%, the Communist Party 7.7%, Coalition of the Left 5.6%, Democratic Social Movement 5.9%, Political Spring 2.6% and the Liberals 1.9%. Based on the predictions of MEGA TV Channel, New Democracy will get 35-37% of the votes electing 9 Euro-deputies, PASOK 32.5-34.5% also electing 9 Euro-deputies, the Communist Party will get 8-9% electing 3 Euro-deputies, the Democratic Social Movement 6-7% electing 2 Euro-deputies and Coalition of the Left will get 5.5-6.5% electing 2 Euro-deputies. The ALCO exit poll that was presented by ANT1 television channel gives to New Democracy 34.5-36.5%, PASOK 32.5-34.5%, the Communist Party 7.3-8.3%, Democratic Social Movement 6.1-7.1%, Coalition of the Left 5.3-6.3%, Political Spring 2.4-3.2%, the Liberals 1.6-2.4% and the rest political parties 5.5-7%. The exit poll presented by the television station SKY shows that New Democracy will get 35-37%, PASOK gets 33.8-35.8%, the Communist Party 7- 8.1%, Coalition of the Left 5.2-6.1%, Democratic Social Movement 5.5-6.7%, Political Spring 2.4-3.2% and the Liberals 2.2-3%. Finally, the exit poll presented by the Star Channel gives 34.5% to PASOK, 36.1% to New Democracy and 8.2% to the Communist Party. [07] UK TRADE MISSION ARRIVES ON VISIT TO GREECE TODAYWeb Posted: 12:57 GMT+2Athens, 13/06/1999 (MPA) A group of companies from the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom is embarking on a four-day general trade mission to Athens today.The visiting companies include representatives of the education sector and manufacturers of security and fire protection equipment, plastics, metal and components and machinery, combustion instrumentation, weighing scales and woven fiber furniture. A.F. [08] STATE TO AUCTION T-BILLS WORTH GRD25 BILLION ON TUESDAYWeb Posted: 12:57 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 13/06/1999 (MPA) The finance ministry will auction three- month Treasury bills on Tuesday, June 15, worth 25 billion drachmas, according to a ministry statement.The auction will be held through the market's primary dealers and the ministry will pay a 0.15 percent commission. Also, National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou has approved a plan to offer staff members of the Athens Stock Exchange shares in the bourse as part of a flotation of the SA company. According to the plan, ASE's employees will be offered a 0.50-0.65 percent stake in the company's total equity at a preferential price of 12,000 drachmas per share. A.F. [09] OLYMPIC AIRWAYS STARTS FLIGHTS TO PRAGUE TOMORROWWeb Posted: 12:57 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 13/06/1999 (MPA) Greece's state-owned airline Olympic Airways, will be starting flights to Prague tomorrow, June 14, in cooperation with Czech Airlines."Prague is a destination with growing tourism and its position in the geographical triangle Vienna-Budapest-Prague allows travelers to visit two or three cities in one trip," a spokesperson for the Greek airline company stated. The airline has scheduled daily flights, except on Wednesdays. A.F. [10] SMALL SCALE EXERCISE «PROMETHEUS ‘99» GETS UNDERWAYWeb Posted: 12:57 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 13/06/1999 (MPA) The annual, small-scale exercise code- named "Prometheus '99" got underway yesterday in Polykastro, Kilkis within the framework of 'Cooperation for Europe' program.Participating in the ten-day exercise are units from Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania, while Turkey will be participating with staff officers only. The exercise's main objective is to enhance the effectiveness of staff commands and troops in carrying out operations in support of peace. A.F. [11] VOTING PROCESS GETS UNDERWAY, BUT NOT WITHOUT HITCHESWeb Posted: 12:57 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 13/06/1999 (MPA) The voting process for the election of the country's 25 deputies in the European Parliament got underway at 7 a.m., but not without hitches. Members of the returning board failed to show up at many voting centers in Thessaloniki and Athens including the one where Premier Costas Simitis is to cast his vote at.In Thessaloniki, six voting centers were short staffed due to absences, while two other centers were flooded from last night torrential rain. The residents of Corinthia's region of Agia Paraskevi are refusing to vote, which is mandatory, thereby expressing their opposition to the "Kapodistria" plan which calls for the merger of municipalities and communities. A.F. [12] EU VOTERS TO ELECT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES TODAYWeb Posted: 12:57 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 13/06/1999 (MPA) European Union voters are taking to the polls today in order to elect their representatives in the European Parliament.In Greece, voting began at 7 a.m. and will conclude at 7 p.m. According to an EC directive, the ballots will be opened at 9:00 p.m., although exit polls will begin to air at 7 p.m. The first official reports will be given at 11 p.m. The precise number of the country's registered voters is 8.912.901 (4.353.685 men, 4.559.216 women). In spite of the feverish speeches and rallies, the Europarliament elections have been marred by public indifference in the past, as the country's abstention rate in the last European election, June 1994, amount to 28.78 percent. Today's elections are being held in 11 EU member-states, since voting already took place earlier in the week in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands and Denmark. A.F. [B] BALKANS[13] GREECE IS A LEADER IN HUMANITARIAN AID TO YUGOSLAVIAWeb Posted: 14:27 GMT+2Prishtina, 13/06/1999 (MPA) With the Yugoslav government having signaled the "go-ahead", convoys of humanitarian aid proceeded into Yugoslavia within the framework of the tripartite initiative of Greece, Austria and Switzerland.According to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass, a convoy of seven trucks is to embark from Skopje today for Prishtina, taking a detour through Serbia. A.F. [14] GREEK FM MEETS WITH YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT MILOSEVICWeb Posted: 12:57 GMT+2Belgrade, 13/06/1999 (MPA) Greece's Foreign Minister George Papandreou held talks with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on Friday during his visit to Belgrade, the first visit by a foreign minister in the Yugoslav capital Belgrade since the end of the bombings on Thursday.Following the talks, Mr. Papandreou stated that he underlined to his interlocutors the need for total compliance by all parties to the peace proposals because the deployment of the international security force would provide peace and stability to all, Serbs and Albanians living in Kosovo. Moreover, Mr. Papandreou, stressed the necessity for Yugoslavia's entrance to the European family, adding that if Belgrade moved in the right direction and met certain criteria such as democratic changes and reforms, it would be supported by all European countries as its place is in Europe. In turn, Mr. Milosevic's office said in a statement that during the talks they both agreed that the handling of all outstanding problems in Kosovo by the United Nations was the only correct way to overcome the war crisis in the region. Mr. Milosevic said that "Yugoslavia for the past ten years opposes and defends itself against efforts to destabilize the Balkans, and will continue to do so, since all Balkan peoples and countries should decide their fate by themselves". He added that Yugoslavia's primary aim was to resolve all humanitarian problems caused by the bombings, with priority given to those most in need. Referring to his talks with Serb opposition leader Vuk Draskovic, Mr. Papandreou said that he was a protagonist in reform efforts. The Greek foreign minister also had talks with his Yugoslav counterpart Zivadin Jovanovic and with Serb President Milan Milutinovic. A.F. [C] EUROPE[15] TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CLINTON AND YELTSINWeb Posted: 23:00 GMT+2Moscow, 13/06/1999 (MPA) US president Bill Clinton and Russian president Boris Yeltsin will have a telephone communication in order to lift the deadlock that was created with the deployment of Russian and NATO forces in Kossovo. The negotiations of Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov with US assistant secretary of state Strobe Talbott will continue on the same issue.However, as it was announced the Russian and the British soldiers who are in Pristina have agreed to "split" the zone of their responsibility around the airport of the Kossovo capital. [16] TALBOTT-IVANOV TALKS END ON UPBEAT NOTEWeb Posted: 14:27 GMT+2Moscow, 13/06/1999 (MPA) US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov have ended their talks on an upbeat note.According to the French news agency AFP, Mr. Talbott stated that "All in all I'm very satisfied and hopeful coming out of these talks that I just had here at the foreign ministry this morning. "Ivanov and I agreed on some quite important points that should be incorporated into a solution on those issues and problems that are still outstanding. "We exchanged important and promising ideas about how to move this process forward," he added. A.F. [17] EUROPARLIAMENT ELECTIONS MARRED BY LOW VOTER TURNOUTWeb Posted: 12:57 GMT+2Brussels, 13/06/1999 (MPA) As the 300 million voters in the European Union are set to choose a new European Parliament today, the election is marked by voter indifference, with observers predicting record low turnout.According to the French news agency AFP, first indications out of Britain and the Netherlands, which held their voting on Thursday along with Denmark and were followed by Ireland on Friday, show that fewer than 30 percent of registered voters bothered to cast their ballots. Scores of voters across the EU have indicated they will not vote because they are not informed of the issues at stake. Few seem to consider the European Parliament useful and many associate it with sleaze and corruption after a string of scandals, the AFP reported. A.F. [D] WORLD[18] FBI SENDS TEAM IN KOSOVO TO ASSIST IN WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATIONWeb Posted: 14:27 GMT+2Washington, 13/06/1999 (MPA) The Federal Bureau of Investigation plans to send forensic experts to Kosovo to assist in an international investigation of reported war crimes by Yugoslav forces, CNN reported yesterday.FBI Director Louis Freeh stated that the first contingent of 25 FBI personnel was scheduled to fly to Europe on Saturday and will begin to investigate alleged massacre sites in Kosovo once those sites can be secured by NATO peacekeepers. "The FBI will use its entire range of resources to gather any evidence of atrocities in Kosovo and present any such findings to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia," Mr. Freeh said in statement. A.F. [19] CLINTON AND YELTSIN TO TALK ON THE PHONE REGARDING KOSOVOWeb Posted: 12:57 GMT+2Washington, 13/06/1999 (MPA) United States President Bill Clinton and his Russian counterpart Boris Yeltsin are to hold a telephone conversation in order to alleviate the dead end noted in the development of Russian and NATO forces in Kosovo.Russia's Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov is to continue his negotiations with US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott who stated that "what we have heard at a senior responsible level is that no further Russian deployment will take place in Kosovo unless it is part of an agreement" with the West. According to official reports, the Russian and British troops assigned to Prishtina have agreed to share the zone of responsibility near the city's airport. A.F. Complete archives of the Macedonian Press Agency bulletins are available on the MPA Home Page at http://www.mpa.gr/ and on the U.S. mirror at http://www.hri.org/MPA/Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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