Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2001-03-30
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, March 30, 2001
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
TITLES
[Á] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT IN THESSALONIKI
[02] ABNA CONVENES IN THESSALONIKI FOR FYROM CRISIS
[03] GREEK, YUGOSLAV PMs TO ADDRESS BALKAN FORUM
[04] GREECE AND LATVIA SIGN COOPERATION PROTOCOL
[05] WORLD LEADERS AT "ECONOMIST" EVENT IN ATHENS
[06] GREEK COAST GUARD OFFICERS HONORED BY DEA
[07] ATHOC CHIEF TO CNN: WE'RE WORKING VERY HARD
[08] SOCIAL POLICY COMMISSIONER IN THESSALONIKI
[09] SCOTLAND YARD TO SOON TURN OVER N17 EVIDENCE
[10] THE EFQM CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD IN THESSALONIKI FOR THE
FIRST TIME
[11] GAINS IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[12] BREAST CANCER AFFECTS 4.500 GREEK WOMEN EACH YEAR
[13] THE GREEK-BULGARIAN RELATIONS IN AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
IN THESSALONIKI
[14] THE 5TH NEW DEMOCRACY PARTY CONGRESS OPENS THIS AFTERNOON
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] JOURNALIST, 2 CIVILIANS, DIE IN KOSOVO MORTAR FIRE
[16] CULTURAL EVENTS DEDICATED TO GREECE IN GENEVA
[17] CONFERENCE OF THE SOUTHEASTERN EUROPEAN DEFENSE MINISTERS IN
SKOPJE
[18] GREEK ASSISTANCE TO BULGARIAN PROJECTS
[19] JOINT EXERCISES BY FIRE-FIGHTERS FROM GREECE, BULGARIA AND
TURKEY
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT IN THESSALONIKI
European Commission President Romano Prodi is arriving in
Thessaloniki today, to attend commemorative events on the 20th
anniversary of Greece's accession to the European Union.
The anniversary celebrations, which get underway tomorrow,
will also be attended by Prime Minister Costas Simitis and
European Parliament President Nicole Fontaine, main opposition
party leader Costas Karamanlis, as well as other dignitaries.
The events will also include three forums: "Greece in Europe-
20 years of future prospects", "Economic and regional development
in Greece and Europe" and "Enlargement and future organization in
Europe."
Mr. Prodi will be proclaimed an honorary citizen of
Thessaloniki, during an extraordinary municipal council meeting
where the Mayor of Thessaloniki Vassilis Papageorgopoulos will
award him the city's Gold Medal of Honor.
It will be the first time the municipal council will be
proclaiming a European Commission president an honorary citizen.
[02] ABNA CONVENES IN THESSALONIKI FOR FYROM CRISIS
The members of the Association of Balkan News Agencies (ABNA)
are presently holding an extraordinary meeting in Thessaloniki, in
order to discuss the present situation in southeastern Europe in
light of the latest developments in FYROM.
The meeting features the participation of the general-
directors from the national news agencies of Anadolu (Turkey), ANA
(Greece), ATA (Albania), BTA (Bulgaria), MIA (FYROM), ROMPRESS
(Romania), Tanjug (Yugoslavia), IHA (Turkey), MOLDPRESS (Moldova)
and MPA (Greece).
The discussion, held under the initiative of the Macedonian
Press Agency and within the framework of ABNA, will focus on the
discovery of initiatives by the region's national news agencies
and their contribution to restoring a climate of peace, security
and cooperation in southeastern Europe.
Moreover, the participants will review issues pending within
the ABNA, such as the operation of its web site, (abna.org), and
the formulation of an improved version of the DIAVLOS program,
which would provide for a multilateral link among all of the
region's national news agencies via the Balkan News Bank.
Presently in operation at the MPA's facilities in
Thessaloniki, the Balkan News Bank provides an archive of news,
photographs sound and video.
[03] GREEK, YUGOSLAV PMs TO ADDRESS BALKAN FORUM
Prime Minister Costas Simitis and his Yugoslav counterpart
Zoran Zizic are to be among the speakers at a Balkan forum to be
held in Thessaloniki on April 2-3, organized by the Association of
Industries of Northern Greece and the Hellenic American Chamber of
Commerce.
The foreign ministers of three Balkan countries will also
speak at the meeting, namely Albania's Paskal Milo, FYROM's Srgjan
Kerim and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's Goran Svilanovic,
who will discuss the topic "Southeastern Europe: Political
Stability as a Prerequisite for European Cohesion".
National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou will also be
joined by four of his counterparts, namely from F.R.Y., Cyprus,
Albania and FYROM, who will review the latest developments in
their countries' economies, under the scope of Greece's Balkan
Reconstruction Plan.
Other speakers include Bodo Hombach, the Balkan stability
pact coordinator, and senior U.S. State Department official James
Swiggart, director of the Office of South Central European
Affairs.
According to the organizers, the event aims at serving as the
platform for peace in the Balkans and an exchange of ideas on
social and economic development in the region.
[04] GREECE AND LATVIA SIGN COOPERATION PROTOCOL
Greece and Latvia signed a protocol of cooperation in the
sectors of education, economic relations, technical know-how and
dual taxation issues, during a joint ministerial meeting held
yesterday in Athens.
Greece's Deputy National Economy Minister Yiannis
Zafiropoulos and Latvian Economic Minister Aigars Kalvitis chaired
the ministerial session, where participants addressed bilateral
economic issues and discussed future plans for their development.
The protocol includes issues such as tourism, construction,
agriculture, transport, information systems, industry and
education, while it also includes Greece's decision to grant 10
million dollars worth of credit line to Latvia.
[05] WORLD LEADERS AT "ECONOMIST" EVENT IN ATHENS
An international conference to be held by the magazine "The
Economist" in Athens on April 3-4, will be attended by Prime
Minister Costas Simitis and other leaders, among them the former
president of the United States George Bush.
The international event will focus on the theme "Leadership
Strategy at the Dawn of the 21st Century".
Other leaders expected to attend are former president of the
former Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, Palestinian President
Yasser Arafat, former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres, former
Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, Yugoslav President
Vojslav Kostunica and FYROM Premier Ljubco Georgievski, Albanian
Premier Ilir Meta, Secretary General of the Council of the
European Union and High Representative for Common Foreign Policy
and Security Policy (CFCP), Brussels, Javier Solana, and others.
Among the participants representing Greece will be Foreign
Minister George Papandreou, National Defense Minister Akis
Tsochatzopoulos, National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou,
leader of the main opposition party of New Democracy Costas
Karamanlis and the party's honorary president Constantine
Mitsotakis and Bank of Greece Governor Loukas Papademos.
[06] GREEK COAST GUARD OFFICERS HONORED BY DEA
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has
honored 32 Greek Coast Guard officers who completed a two-week
course in counter-narcotics work at sea.
In a ceremony held at the Merchant Marine Ministry, US
Ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns saluted counter-narcotics
cooperation between the US and Greece as one of the great
strengths of the two countries' relationship.
The purpose of the seminar was to train coast guard officials
in modern methods of counter-narcotics work.
Minister of Merchant Marine Christos Papoutsis, stressed that
the Greek government is very sensitive on the issue of counter-
narcotics and will in no way allow the country to become a
corridor for drug trafficking from east to west.
Greek counter-narcotics work played a major role in the
interception of drug cargoes aboard the ships China Breeze in 1999
and the Suerte in 2000.
[07] ATHOC CHIEF TO CNN: WE'RE WORKING VERY HARD
Greece will be thoroughly ready for the Olympic Games of
2004, the president of the Athens Organizing Committee (ATHOC)
Yanna Aggelopoulos-Daskalaki stted during an interview with CNN.
Referring to the course of preparations on projects related
to the Games, Ms. Aggelopoulos-Daskalaki stated that 72 percent of
the overall athletic facilities have been completed, while she
also stressed that a special plan is presently underway for the
Games' security.
"We're all working very hard since we feel that the Games are
returning to their birthplace," she stated.
[08] SOCIAL POLICY COMMISSIONER IN THESSALONIKI
Greek European Union Social Policy Commissioner Anna
Diamantopoulou is to arrive in Thessaloniki today, where she will
give an address entitled "Employment and social cohesion in
Europe".
Ms. Diamantopoulou yesterday signed a decision on the
ratification of the Greek operational program "Training and
Vocational Preparation", which includes EU backing for all Greek
regions amounting to 1.9 billion euro, corresponding to 8.6
percent of the Community Support Framework's (CSF) total funding
for Greece.
The program aims at promoting equal opportunities for access
to the labor market for all, linking training and employment,
developing and promoting enterprise, improving women's access to
the labor market and strengthening training infrastructures.
[09] SCOTLAND YARD TO SOON TURN OVER N17 EVIDENCE
Scotland Yard officials working with the Greek authorities on
the terrorist assassination of London's military attache in Athens
last June, are to present their conclusions in six weeks.
According to the Athens radio station"Sky", the results of
"Operation Digest" follow a full revision of all available
evidence from 26 years of urban guerrilla attacks in Greece.
The British detectives combed through the Greek files on the
November 17 terrorist organization, which claimed responsibility
for the shooting of Brigadier Stephen Saunders, from the very
beginning, using state-of-the-art methods and technology that was
not available before.
One of the key conclusions is that 17N uses different teams
to execute specific tasks, with one group, for example, carrying
out shooting missions and another for attacks with the anti-tank
missiles the organization stole from the Greek Army.
[10] THE EFQM CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD IN THESSALONIKI FOR THE
FIRST TIME
The conference of the European Quality Prize Winners will be
held for the first time in Thessaloniki and is expected to attract
the interest of hundreds of Greek businessmen.
The conference will be held on May 16 co-organized by the
European Fund for Quality Management and the Greek Business
Management Society (central Macedonia department).
The representatives of the participating Greek companies will
have the opportunity to meet with the prize winning companies and
discuss with them the methods that led them to the highest level
of productivity and effectiveness.
[11] GAINS IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
Significant gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange
today. The general index rose to +1.03% at 3.044,55 points, while
the volume of transactions was very small at 156.26 million Euro
or 53.24 billion drachmas.
Of the stocks trading today, 174 recorded gains and 147 had
losses, while the value of 50 stocks remained stable.
[12] BREAST CANCER AFFECTS 4.500 GREEK WOMEN EACH YEAR
Breast cancer affects 4.500 women in Greece each year and
according to the scientists attending the 1st Conference of
Gyniatrics, that takes place in Thessaloniki under the presidency
of Aristotle University obstetrics and gynecology professor
Ioannis Bondis, cancer can be beaten if women are well-informed.
Breast cancer in Greece is responsible for most deaths in
Greece after lung cancer and therefore, mammography is necessary
for women over the age of 40, who want to trace cancer at its
early stages. If the tumor is traced at its early stage and has a
diameter smaller than 1 cm it has been proven that there is a 90%
chance for the patients to live for more than 20 years.
Based on epidemiology data, just 15% of the breast cancer
cases in Greece are diagnosed at their early phase, while in the
United States the percentage is larger than 50%. However, it has
been proven that breast cancer affects the Greek female population
less compared to the female populations in northern and central
Europe.
[13] THE GREEK-BULGARIAN RELATIONS IN AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
IN THESSALONIKI
The proceedings of the 7th international conference on the
"Political, spiritual and cultural relations between the Greeks
and Bulgarians from the 18th to the 20th century", organized by
the Balkan Studies Institute in cooperation with the Balkanology
Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, opened in
Thessaloniki today.
The communication of scientists from the two countries and
the exchange of views are the main goals of the conference,
according to statements made to MPA by Balkan Studies Institute
director and Aristotle University assistant professor Ioannis
Mourelos, who expressed great concern for the developments in
FYROM.
[14] THE 5TH NEW DEMOCRACY PARTY CONGRESS OPENS THIS AFTERNOON
The 5th New Democracy party congress will open in Athens this
afternoon with the participation of 4.500 delegates.
The congress proceedings will open with the speech of
Organizing Committee president and former prime minister Tzanis
Tzanetakis followed by party leader Kostas Karamanlis.
Right-wing main opposition party spokesman Theodoros
Rousopoulos underlined that New Democracy is the first political
party to broadcast live its congress on the Internet
(www.ndsynedrio.gr).
No party leadership issue will be raised in the congress.
There will be a vote on the Executive Committee proposal
concerning the broadening of the Central Committee membership,
while tomorrow a discussion will be held on a government draft
program and the party charter. On Sunday, a vote will be held for
the election of the Central Committee members and the party
congress will end with the speech of party leader Kostas
Karamanlis.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] JOURNALIST, 2 CIVILIANS, DIE IN KOSOVO MORTAR FIRE
A British cameraman and two Kosovar civilians were killed
yesterday in a mortar attack near the village of Krivenik, close
to the FYROM-Kosovo border.
According to KFOR, the NATO-led peacekeeping force stationed
in the Yugoslav province, another 19 were wounded in the afternoon
attack, which fell near KFOR soldiers.
The Associated Press in London has confirmed that one of its
Prishtina-based cameramen, Kerem Lawton, 30, was killed in the
bombardment, while the two dead civilians were said to be
villagers from Krivenik, aged 19 and 33.
According to KFOR spokesman Richard Heffer, a KFOR patrol saw
a group of men walking through the border area. When the patrol
approached them a mortar shell fell within 300 meters of the
troops.
The spokesman of FYROM's Defense Ministry Georgki Tredafilov
denied that his country's forces fired the deadly rounds.
[16] CULTURAL EVENTS DEDICATED TO GREECE IN GENEVA
A number of cultural events dedicated to Greece, under the
title "Greek Spring", are underway in Geneva.
The events will continue throughout the month of April and
will take place at the CAC Voltaire conference center, where the
Geneva Cinema Club is based.
Within the framework of the events there will be Greek film
screenings, music events and photo exhibitions.
[17] CONFERENCE OF THE SOUTHEASTERN EUROPEAN DEFENSE MINISTERS IN
SKOPJE
The defense ministers from southeastern Europe will be in
Skopje next Thursday to examine the geopolitical situation in the
region, the phenomenon of the creation of new crisis hotbeds, the
political control of the armed forces and the prospects for
regional and cross-border cooperation.
The meeting will be attended by the defense ministers of
Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, FYROM, Yugoslavia, Romania,
Croatia, Slovenia, Ukraine as well as, Italy, Sweden and the
United States. The proceedings will also be attended by
representatives of the United Nations, NATO, the European Union
and OSCE.
[18] GREEK ASSISTANCE TO BULGARIAN PROJECTS
Greece will offer free economic assistance of 54.3 million
Euro to Bulgaria for the materialization of projects within the
framework of the program it has drawn up for the reconstruction of
the Balkans. The funds must be used in the period 2001-2005 and by
early May Bulgaria should suggest a framework agreement on the way
these funds will be used.
Greek national economy ministry general secretary Minas
Stavrakakis and Bulgarian undersecretary of economy Kristo
Michailovski met in Sofia and discussed ways in which the
assistance can be used. According to the Bulgarian official, the
materialization of the first project will start in two months.
It should be noted that, according to the Greek program for
the reconstruction of the Balkans Athens will offer free economic
assistance of 543 million Euro to the countries in the region.
Specifically, Albania will receive about 51 million Euro, FYROM
46.8 million Euro, Romania 72.5 million Euro and Yugoslavia 241
million Euro.
[19] JOINT EXERCISES BY FIRE-FIGHTERS FROM GREECE, BULGARIA AND
TURKEY
Fire-fighting forces from Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey
conducted joint exercises near the Bulgarian city of Svilengrad.
In today's last drill that was watched by Bulgarian president
Petar Stoyanov and other officials, the fire-fighters had to put
out a fire at an oil reservoir that was the result of an
earthquake.
The Bulgarian president congratulated them for their
effective cooperation and wished similar cooperation among
politicians for the Balkans to become a peaceful region with
countries that share friendly relations.
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