Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 05-11-30

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

CONTENTS

[01] BIG CHANGES IN PUBLIC UTILITY COMPANIES

[02] PAPANDREOU VISITS BULGARIA

[03] FOREIGN MINISTER MOLYVIATIS ON TURKEY

[04] THE FOREIGN MINISTER TO MEET WITH HIS HUNGARIAN COUNTERPART

[05] THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH US STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL

[06] PARLIAMENTARY IMMUNITY LIFTED FOR FOUR DEPUTIES

[07] AIDS CASES INCREASE STEADILY

[08] GDP INCREASE IN THE THIRD TRIMESTER IN GREECE

[09] EXHIBITION ON BYZANTIUM IN NEW YORK

[10] AUSTRALIAN INITIATIVE FOR THE RETURN OF THE PARTHENON MARBLES

[01] BIG CHANGES IN PUBLIC UTILITY COMPANIES

The government decided major changes in the operation of public utility companies (DEKO).

Minister of Finance and Economy Giorgos Alogoskoufis stated that the reforms will be radical and assured that public enterprises and organizations will be modernized.

New personnel will be hired through the Supreme Council for Personnel Selection (ASEP), a state agency responsible for public employment, even if the public companies in question are in the stock market with the state owning over 51% of the shares. The Minister of Interior clarified that the management of the public utilities companies will be able to ask for the ASEP's assistance when hiring new personnel even if the state is not the majority shareholder.

Main opposition Socialist Party PASOK spokesman Nikos Athanasakis stated that the government speaks about radical reforms whenever it refers to its decisions that hurt the workers either in terms of their income or labor relations.

The government attempts to complete the privatizations and the overturning of the workers rights first implemented by PASOK, mentions a Communist Party statement.

The government draft bill on public utility companies is essentially a war against public property, stated Coalition Party President Alekos Alavanos.

[02] PAPANDREOU VISITS BULGARIA

Main opposition Socialist Party PASOK President Giorgos Papandreou is in Bulgaria to attend the meeting of the Socialist International Committee on SE Europe held today and tomorrow.

Mr. Papandreou will co-chair the meeting with Romanian Socialist Party President and former Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase.

[03] FOREIGN MINISTER MOLYVIATIS ON TURKEY

Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis in an interview with Associated Press expressed the hope that Turkey will respond positively and constructively to the demands leading to EU accession.

I believe that Turkey knows that the road to the final conclusion will be long and hard, stated Mr. Molyviatis, adding that the preconditions Ankara must fulfill mean that Turkey should make certain drastic steps concerning domestic reform.

Mr. Molyviatis also said that the EU process will force Ankara to improve its relations with Cyprus.

[04] THE FOREIGN MINISTER TO MEET WITH HIS HUNGARIAN COUNTERPART

Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis will meet with his Hungarian counterpart Ferenc Somogyi tomorrow, who is on a working visit to Athens.

In a Foreign Ministry statement is mentioned that they will discuss issues of bilateral interest and particularly, the further improvement of bilateral economic relations, as well as issues of European interest such as, enlargement and financial prospects. Also, they will examine issues of international and regional interest with an emphasis on Western Balkans and the Middle East.

[05] THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH US STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL

Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis met with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian Affairs Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo today and discussed the situation in Kosovo.

Meanwhile, Mr. Molyviatis in an interview with the Associated Press warned, in view of his trip to Kosovo and Serbia next week, that peace and stability in the Balkans continue to be shaky.

Mr. Molyviatis stated ahead of his trip to Pristina and Belgrade on December 6-7 that three distinct and, at the same time, interrelated issues expected to be faced in the following months can lead to an explosive situation in the Balkans.

They are the talks during which the final status of Kosovo will be decided, a referendum to be held in April that could lead to Montenegro's independence from Serbia and a new constitution aimed at uniting the ethnically divided Bosnia by next March.

The likely threats encompassed by these problems should not be disregarded particularly in relation to extreme nationalist tendencies and the dominant feelings in the region. The international community should act by taking under serious consideration the need for security and stability in the region, underlined Foreign Minister Molyviatis.

[06] PARLIAMENTARY IMMUNITY LIFTED FOR FOUR DEPUTIES

The parliament's plenary session decided to lift the parliamentary immunity of four deputies in a nominal vote held with the participation of 237 deputies.

The parliament accepting relevant requests made by prosecuting authorities gave permission for indictments to be issued against deputies Petros Madouvalos (independent), Athanasios Papageorgiou (PASOK), Konstantinos Badouvas (New Democracy), and Markos Bolaris (PASOK).

[07] AIDS CASES INCREASE STEADILY

The number of registered HIV cases in 20 EU countries has increased 23% in the past four years, while the overall number of new AIDS cases in the European region under the jurisdiction of WHO was under 72,000 in 2004.

According to new forecasts by the UN program on AIDS, an estimated 2.3 million people in Europe are HIV positive or AIDS patients.

In Greece, according to Thessaloniki Aristotle University assistant professor of medicine and member of the National Reference Center in North Greece, Ioannis Doutsos the HIV positive cases increased about 10% in 2005 compared to 2004.

Mr. Doutsos told ANA-MPA on the occasion of the World AIDS Day tomorrow that a total of 450 new HIV cases were registered in Greece since the beginning of the year.

Based on figures provided by the Ministry of Health, a slight increase of HIV cases was recorded in the two-year period 2003-2004 compared to 2002, while the number of HIV positive cases registered from 1985 until mid 2005 (AIDS cases included) is 7,371.

Mr. Doutsos attributed the increase in the number of AIDS cases to lack of information and because the HIV positive feel so well as a result of the new drugs used that forget to take any protection during sexual contact. He also stressed that the phone sex-lines and the fact that anybody can travel easily to a neighboring country for so-called sex tourism have contributed greatly to the spread of the disease, adding that the number of women affected has also increased.

According to Health Ministry figures, a total of 14 AIDS deaths were recorded in Greece in the first half of 2005 while in the same period of time a total of 248 new HIV cases were registered (AIDS cases included), 179 (72.2%) male and 69 (27.8%) female.

The majority of AIDS cases are being diagnosed between the ages of 25-49 and mainly in the age group of 30-34 (19.4%). The number of children with AIDS remains small in Greece. It is estimated that 62.5% of the 35 children with AIDS got the disease from the mother.

[08] GDP INCREASE IN THE THIRD TRIMESTER IN GREECE

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded an increase of 1.7% in the third trimester of 2005 in Greece while compared to the third trimester in 2004 the increase was 3.7%, according to figures provided by the European Statistics Agency made public in Brussels today.

In the Eurozone and the 25 EU member states, the GDP increased 0.6% compared to the second trimester in 2005.

The highest GDP increase in the third trimester of 2005 compared to the previous trimester was recorded in Lithuania (2.3%), Finland (1.9%) and Greece (1.7%). Compared to the third trimester of 2004, the highest GDP increase was recorded in Lithuania (8.2%), Slovakia (6.2%), Denmark (4.7%) and Greece (3.7%).

[09] EXHIBITION ON BYZANTIUM IN NEW YORK

The exhibition From Byzantium to Modern Greece: Hellenic Art in Adversity, 1453-1830 will be inaugurated at the Onasis Cultural Center in New York on December 14 with Greek art masterpieces from the Benaki Museum in Athens. The exhibition will be open to the public until May 6, 2006.

It is dedicated to a period of the Greek culture that is little known to the wide public as opposed to the international glory of the ancient Greek art and the increased interest in the Byzantine art of medieval Hellenism.

Icons, paintings, woodcarvings, metal work, embroidery, costumes, jewelry, ceramics, rare books, maps, weapons and relics, over 137 objects from the Benaki Museum post-Byzantine collections, recompose the Greek art panorama from the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 until the founding of the modern Greek state in 1830.

The objects have been especially selected to enchant the visitor and promote the high cultural level of the Greek world during a period of time that offered no favorable conditions allowing culture to bloom.

[10] AUSTRALIAN INITIATIVE FOR THE RETURN OF THE PARTHENON MARBLES

Australia is leading an international effort for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens from London's British Museum.

The move is promoted by part of the Australian media offering significant coverage to the meeting held in Athens with the participation of heads of different Committees for the Return of the Marbles and the consequent establishment of a World Committee for the same purpose.

The move for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens has the support of the federal government, the state governments and most of the political and literary world in Australia.

The interest of the Australian media is heightened because the effort is headed by most talked about Australian David Hill who is married to a Greek Australian and has occupied very important positions in the professional arena. Among others, he was the general director of the Australian Radio and Television (ABC) and the president of the Australian Football Federation.

Also, the Australian news agency (AAP) mentions that Australia will head an international effort for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens from the British Museum in London.

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