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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-12-08

Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.


MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, December 8, 2000

SECTIONS

  • [A] NATIONAL NEWS
  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS TITLES
  • [01] PM: JOBLESSNESS WILL BE TACKLED BY DEVELOPMENT
  • [02] EXHIBITION OPENS ON SANTORINI'S ANCIENT MURALS
  • [03] UNICEF HOLDS LOVE TELETHON FOR STREET CHILDREN
  • [04] UNIONS CALL YESTERDAY'S MASS STRIKE "A SUCCESS"
  • [05] "THESSALONIKI MONEY SHOW 2000" OPENS TOMORROW
  • [06] GERMANY TO COMPENSATE NAZI VICTIMS IN GREECE
  • [07] BALKAN MAYORS MEET FOR FRIENDSHIP, COOPERATION
  • [08] PRAYER SERVICE HELD TODAY FOR BRIG. SAUNDERS
  • [09] COMMISSION PROPOSES MARITIME SAFETY MEASURES
  • [10] BUSINESS DELEGATION TO VISIT ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT
  • [11] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT FYROM NEXT WEEK
  • [12] OVER 2,000 TONS OF RICE MISSING FROM FARMING SILOS
  • [13] EXPRESSION OF INTEREST CALL FOR O.A. STAKE TODAY
  • [14] INFLATION WAS AT 4.2% IN NOVEMBER
  • [15] MARGINAL LOSSES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
  • [16] THE CULTURAL ROLE OF THE GREEKS IN PLOVDIV
  • [17] THE 8TH WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE PAN-MACEDONIAN ASSOCIATIONS WILL BE HELD IN 2001
  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
  • [18] THE GREEK LANGUAGE WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE ITALIAN HIGH SCHOOLS EXAM MATERIAL
  • [19] US INTEREST IN HOLDING A MELINA MERCOURI FESTIVAL
  • [20] A GREEK BUSINESSMAN WAS HONORED FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUNGARIAN ECONOMY
  • [21] THE "15" ARE SATISFIED WITH THE AGREEMENT ON THE EU-TURKEY PARTNERSHIP RELATION
  • [22] SIMITIS' PRESS CONFERENCE IN NICE, FRANCE

  • NEWS IN DETAIL

    [A] NATIONAL NEWS

    [01] PM: JOBLESSNESS WILL BE TACKLED BY DEVELOPMENT

    A necessary precondition for job creation is to accelerate growth, Prime Minister Costas Simitis stated in response to the Macedonian Press Agency's question pertaining to the country's high unemployment figures and the national plan to combat joblessness.

    Presently in Nice, France, where he is attending the European Union's Summit Conference, Mr. Simitis stated that unemployment is indeed a problem for the country, but, he added, an increase in the workforce often means a simultaneous increase in production, employment, and unemployment.

    "There is a number of unemployed persons, such as women or those coming from the farming sector, who are just now entering the new labor market. There is a great supply of jobs, and this will be addressed through a high pace of economic and social growth is achieved and maintained. We are trying for accelerated growth rates and we will take additional employment measures. "

    Furthermore, the Premier referred to Turkey, in response to MPA's question regarding his statement that Turkish Premier Bulent Ecevit is turning a page, and stated that if Turkey accepts its new relation with the EU, then this relation has to proceed within this framework. This means turning a page."

    The Nice Summit, which got underway yesterday, will feature discussions on the EU's enlargement, institutional reform, the Intergovernmental Conference, unemployment, public health and taxation policies as well as environment, safety of food and foreign policy issues.

    It features the attendance of the EU's heads of state and government and their counterparts from the 13 candidate countries for accession. Mr. Ecevit participated for the first time in yesterday's Conference, since it was enacted in 1998.

    The Conference will also review the possibility of other countries participating in the conference, such as countries from the western Balkans and the countries of the European Free Trade Zone.

    [02] EXHIBITION OPENS ON SANTORINI'S ANCIENT MURALS

    An exhibition of ancient Aegean painting is to open at Larissa's Modern Arts Center today, featuring 41 exact reproductions of ancient murals found in prehistoric Akrotiri, an ancient city being excavated in the district of Thera at the island of Santorini.

    The exhibition will run through February 10, 2001.

    According to archaeological reports, the murals were painted in 1620 BC, shortly before the city was destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption.

    [03] UNICEF HOLDS LOVE TELETHON FOR STREET CHILDREN

    Greece's public television channel NET and UNICEF will hold a love telethon for street children on Monday, December 11, which is officially designated as Street Children Day for this year.

    According to UNICEF, hundreds of millions of children have to live, work and survive on city streets around the world, becoming easy prey to every kind of abuse and exploitation.

    The live telethon will start at 6:00 p.m. and continue until the early hours of the next morning, with a number of guest stars and celebrities appearing.

    Organizers have made great efforts to involve and sensitize young people to the plight of street children, with dozens of schools and citizens' groups contributing to the events, which will be covered by NET and ET1 reporters in Greece and all over the world. Bank accounts for those wishing to contribute are: National Bank of Greece: 169/480020-64 Commercial Bank of Greece: 031/80191081 CITIBANK: 5502346484 Agricultural Bank of Greece: 017-04004416-70

    [04] UNIONS CALL YESTERDAY'S MASS STRIKE "A SUCCESS"

    The country came to a standstill yesterday, as the Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), Greece's largest union, declared a nationwide 24-hour work stoppage in protest to labor reforms planned by the state.

    The strike, which was hailed as a "success" by GSEE, affected practically all civil service sectors, state-owned utilities, banks, the post office and even public hospitals. News organizations and other media also conducted a work stoppage between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

    Public transportation came to a halt, although state-run Olympic Airways conducted one flight per route. Railway employees and passenger shipping workers also joined the strike.

    Keynote rallies were held in Athens, Thessaloniki and other major cities, while the protests were joined by the Civil Servants Supreme Administrative Council (ADEDY).

    GSEE is demanding the withdrawal of the state's bill on employment and labor relations, which includes the regulation concerning the retirement after 35 years of work.

    [05] "THESSALONIKI MONEY SHOW 2000" OPENS TOMORROW

    Themed after "the new business fields, new employment opportunities and modern technologies in the sector of waste management", the Money Show 2000 is set to begin in Thessaloniki tomorrow.

    The two-day conference is held under the auspices of the Greek-German Chamber of Trade and Industry in cooperation with the Region of Central Macedonia, the Association of Northern Greek Industrialists, Organotechnica and Ericsson Hellas.

    Featuring a range of financial services with more than 250 speakers appearing at the event's demonstrations and forums, the conference will also have a presentation of state-of-the-art technology on waste management and recycling.

    To be held at the city's Hyatt Regency Hotel, this year's Money Show aims to surpass previous attendance records, which reached more than 10,000 visitors on a per day basis.

    According to the organizers, the Thessaloniki Money Show will also be held abroad as of next year, starting with New York. It will later take place in London, Frankfurt and Tokyo.

    [06] GERMANY TO COMPENSATE NAZI VICTIMS IN GREECE

    Germany's "Memory, Responsibility and Future Foundation" plans to provide compensation to about 5,000 Greeks who were either taken to concentration camps or had their businesses taken over by the Nazis during World War II.

    Those eligible for the compensation, which ranges from GRD 850,000 to 1.7 million, will have to prove that they were treated as slaves, human guinea pigs in concentration camps, or had their businesses taken over during the Third Reich. One of the eligibility requirements is that applicants have not already received related compensation.

    The German foundation, represented in Athens by the International Migration Organization (DOM), has already raised one trillion drachmas and expects to raise another trillion in donations from companies and individuals who benefited from their slave labor.

    Applicants have to submit their forms for evaluation by August 11 to DOM's Greek department (6 Dodecanisou St, Ano Kalamaki, Attica).

    So far, DOM has received over 1,000 applications from Greece and Cyprus. Most of the applicants, aged between 71 and 94, have asked for damages for working without pay at companies such as BMW and Siemens. Others were used as human guinea pigs, while there are two applications from businessmen whose companies were taken over by the Nazis.

    [07] BALKAN MAYORS MEET FOR FRIENDSHIP, COOPERATION

    The 1st International Meeting for Friendship and Cooperation is to get underway in Thessaloniki today, where thirty mayors from the Balkans will meet to discuss cooperation in culture, tourism and sports.

    Held under the initiative of the Thessaloniki Municipality, with the aim of creating a Balkan Inter-Municipal Cities Network, the conference will start at 6:30 p.m. at the city's Macedonia Palace Hotel.

    The conference will be attended by the mayors of large cities from Greece, Turkey, FYROM, Albania, Romania, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as by European Commission officials.

    The participants will review opportunities of enforcing policies for the perennial development of Balkan cities, in relation with the present European reality. Specifically, the topics of discussion will include common routes for economic growth through the European Union, transfer of technological know- how in local administration matters, and cooperation in the sectors of culture, tourism and sports.

    Thessaloniki's Mayor Vasillis Papageorgopoulos will officially inaugurate the event, while the Mayor of Athens Dimitris Avramopoulos will also salute the delegates.

    [08] PRAYER SERVICE HELD TODAY FOR BRIG. SAUNDERS

    A prayer service was held in Athens this morning in memory of British Brigadier Stephen Saunders who was assassinated last June by the notorious November 17 terrorist organization.

    Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis and British Ambassador David Madden laid wreaths this morning near the point where Brig. Saunders was shot dead.

    [09] COMMISSION PROPOSES MARITIME SAFETY MEASURES

    Maritime safety was among the topics discussed during the European Union's Summit Conference in Nice, according to Prime Minister Costas Simitis, in light of the European Commission's proposals for tighter controls on maritime traffic and the creation of a European maritime agency to prevent marine accidents and disasters.

    According to confirmed reports, the Greek government will fervently support every initiative aimed at protecting the marine environment, ensuring maritime safety and safeguarding human life in the sea, all in close cooperation with the European Commission and the European Presidium and Parliament.

    The Commission's proposal calls on all of the EU's 15 member- states to adhere to new monitoring and standardization of all seagoing vessels which will be carried out by a new maritime agency. The said agency will inspect ships to assess whether they meet EU safety rules, while it will also be responsible for coordinating accident investigations.

    In addition to the agency, the Commission also plans to introduce the mandatory use of "black boxes", similar to those used in aircraft, as well as requiring that ships have automatic transmitters so vessels that are in distress may easily be located.

    A special EU compensation fund is also proposed which would provide victims of sea-accidents - such as oil spills - access to restitution of up to one billion euro.

    However, EU officials said they expected resistance from the shipping industry, as well as from oil companies and some EU member states.

    [10] BUSINESS DELEGATION TO VISIT ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT

    A large delegation of Greek businessmen, representing trade and industry chambers from Crete, is to conduct a visit to Alexandria, Egypt, tomorrow.

    According to the chairman of Alexandria's Chamber of Trade and Industry Moustafa Al Naggar, the size of the Greek delegation confirms the level of economic collaboration enjoyed by the two countries. A protocol of bilateral cooperation is expected to be signed.

    [11] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT FYROM NEXT WEEK

    A memorandum of understanding and a military cooperation agreement will be signed in Skopje on Sunday between the Defense Ministers of Greece and FYROM, Akis Tsochatzopoulos and Ljuben Paunoski, respectively.

    According to press reports in FYROM, the Greek Defense Minister will be received by the President of FYROM Boris Traijkovski on Monday, as well as by the country's Premier Ljubco Georgievski and new Foreign Minister Srdzan Kerim. Mr. Tsochatzopoulos will also visit Skopje's military hospital.

    The Defense Minister will be accompanied by a delegation of representatives from the Hellenic Arms Industry who will hold talks with the dean of FYROM's military academy and will visit the metal industry of Skopje.

    [12] OVER 2,000 TONS OF RICE MISSING FROM FARMING SILOS

    Thessaloniki's prosecutor is investigating reports that 2,500 tons of rice are missing from the silos of the city's Association of Farming Copartnerships, amounting to a loss of 250 million drachmas.

    According to local press reports, the massive amount of missing rice was part of an overall quantity weighing about 45,500 tons which had been amassed since 1997 for the Ministry of Agriculture for exporting purposes.

    According to the report filed with the prosecutor by an Association board member, the shortage was discovered as soon as exports were completed last May and was confirmed by Ministry experts.

    [13] EXPRESSION OF INTEREST CALL FOR O.A. STAKE TODAY

    An invitation for the expression of interest in the purchase of a majority stake of Greece's Olympic Airways is expected to be announced today, amid rumors that the state is looking to sell up to 60-65% of the ailing air carrier.

    The deadline for the tenders is January 30, and all bids will have to be submitted to Credit Suisse First Boston. Interested buyers are expected to have the bid reports by the end of this month.

    The next step in the privatization process is expected to follow in mid-march when Credit Suisse First Boston and the ministries of National Economy and Transportations are expected to release the short list and the Privatization Committee will then select the best offer.

    [14] INFLATION WAS AT 4.2% IN NOVEMBER

    Inflation was high in November with the consumer prices index at 4.2%.

    However, this increase can not be attributed to the oil price hikes alone as price increases were recorded and in other sectors as well such as, cigarettes and alcohol drinks.

    [15] MARGINAL LOSSES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

    Marginal losses of 0.15% were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today and the general index was at 3.736,40 points, while the volume of transactions was at 81.3 billion drachmas.

    Of the stocks trading today, 151 recorded gains, 188 had losses and 25 remained unchanged.

    [16] THE CULTURAL ROLE OF THE GREEKS IN PLOVDIV

    The Greek language was the dominant language in Plovdiv's market until the end of the 19th century in spite of the fact that the Greek community was not large in numbers. The Greeks controlled, however, most of the craft guilds throughout the 19th century whenever they had not formed their own in the different professions according to historian Xanthippi Kotzagiorgis, who addressed the "Thessaloniki-Plovdiv" Conference organized in Thessaloniki by the Cultural Society of Businessmen in Northern Greece.

    Ms. Kotzagiorgis pointed out that the Greeks living in the city were the protagonists in the transformation procedure through which Plovdiv reached a cosmopolitan economic and spiritual level, as they controlled most of the retail and wholesale trade as well as other business activities and the early forms of the industrial organization and production.

    The dynamism of the Greeks was also evident in the sector of the education of the Greek community children. There were Greek schools in Plovdiv as early as the late 18th century but a real education explosion took place in the second and third decade of the 19th century.

    [17] THE 8TH WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE PAN-MACEDONIAN ASSOCIATIONS WILL BE HELD IN 2001

    The preparations for the 8th World Conference of the Pan- Macedonian Associations and the 55th Conference of the US-Canada Pan-Macedonian Associations continue at a quick pace. The conferences will be held at the "Alexander the Great" Foundation in Litochoro, northern Greece on July 12 -16.

    Already, the organizing committee members had contacts with Greek government officials to brief them on the planning and the course of the conferences that are expected to make the "Alexander the Great" Foundation a reference point for the young Greeks living abroad and for the Greeks of the Diaspora in general.

    [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

    [18] THE GREEK LANGUAGE WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE ITALIAN HIGH SCHOOLS EXAM MATERIAL

    The Greek language will be included in the exam material on which the Italian high school students will be tested.

    According to Italian press reports, the Greek language will be the second course on which the classical studies' high school students will be tested in the maturita diploma finals.

    [19] US INTEREST IN HOLDING A MELINA MERCOURI FESTIVAL

    Washington's National Gallery has expressed interest in holding a film festival dedicated to Melina Mercouri in the fall of 2001 to take place within the framework of the presentation under the title "Dynamic Women". The American interest was expressed after a proposal by the Greek embassy in Washington.

    Meanwhile, the Greek embassy considers holding supplementary events dedicated to Melina Mercouri that can take place during the festival such as, a symposium on the Parthenon Marbles and a photo exhibition.

    [20] A GREEK BUSINESSMAN WAS HONORED FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUNGARIAN ECONOMY

    Greek businessman Panos Zeritis, president of the Greek industry group under the same name to which Hungary's largest paper industry "RISZKEY" belongs, was honored with the Golden Cross of the Officers medal in Budapest yesterday.

    This important distinction is awarded to personalities of an international prestige and was delivered to Mr. Zeritis by the Hungarian president.

    The distinction was awarded to the Greek businessman for his contribution to the development of the Hungarian economy, his very positive participation in the privatization process and his meaningful contribution to the strengthening of the Greek- Hungarian relations.

    [21] THE "15" ARE SATISFIED WITH THE AGREEMENT ON THE EU-TURKEY PARTNERSHIP RELATION

    The leaders of the European Union attending the EU Summit meeting in Nice, France expressed their satisfaction for the agreement on the EU-Turkey partnership relation and called on Ankara to present to the European Commission its plan for its adjustment to the European standards.

    Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis clarified that the EU- Turkey partnership relation text is a framework in which Turkey must move in its effort to make the necessary adjustments for its EU candidature to be promoted.

    Mr. Simitis expressed Greece's satisfaction because in the Nice Summit conclusions' text the European Council reaffirms its support to the efforts made by the UN secretary-general for the solution of the Cyprus problem. Also, all parties involved are called to assist in the solution of the problem.

    [22] SIMITIS' PRESS CONFERENCE IN NICE, FRANCE

    Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis in a press conference he gave in Nice, France today referred to a number of important issues that were discussed in the European Council.

    Speaking about western Balkans, the prime minister stated that the European Council in Nice offers to the countries in the region a prospect of participation in the EU and added that there will be no border changes in the region.

    Mr. Simitis also said that the EU undertakes its own initiatives concerning the rapid intervention force and promotes the issue with its own means in consultation with NATO. He also said that the EU has its own foreign and defense policy and its own means to promote those policies.

    The prime minister stated that the "15" assessed the progress made in the Balkan issues and added that the comments made on the conclusions reached in the Zagreb Summit between the EU and the western Balkan states were positive. He said that the EU gives an emphasis to the support of democracy, regional cooperation, the easing of the tensions, the implementation of international law and the inviolability of the existing borders.

    Meanwhile, the developments in Nice are dramatic. The afternoon meeting of the EU leaders was canceled as a result of the strong differences in their views concerning the Inter- governmental conference, while the formal dinner was also canceled. French president Jacques Chirac, who is presiding in the European Council, undertook to meet separately with each one of the 14 European leaders in an effort to reach a settlement.


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