Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-04-05
Macedonian Press Agency
[01] PASOK LEADER 'GIVES IT ALL' AT THESSALONIKI RALLY
[02] RAU: TURKEY DOES NOT MEET THE PRECONDITIONS FOR EU ACCESSION
[03] POLITICAL SPRING LEADING MEMBERS BACK PASOK
[04] THE GOVERNMENT GUARANTEES THAT OTE WILL REMAIN UNDER STATE CONTROL
[05] CLOSE RACE FOR THE TWO MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES
[06] RAU: REPARATIONS ARE IMPOSSIBLE BUT ' GOODWILL GESTURE IS POSSIBLE
[07] MARGINAL LOSSES OF 0.01% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[08] CRIME IS ON THE DECLINE IN GREECE
[09] OECD CLASSIFIED REPORT ON GREEK ECONOMY OPENS
[10] COLLAPSED BUILDING OWNERS PROPERTY SEALED
[11] BOMB EXPLODES AT MIELE STORE IN THESSALONIKI
[12] MOVING HUMANITARIAN INTEREST ON BEHALF OF THE GREEK EMBASSY IN TIRANA
[13] NATIONAL BANK BUYS STOPANSKA MAJORITY STAKE
[14] ENCOURAGING FIGURES ON UNEMPLOYMENT
[15] DESMOND TUTU AWARDED ATHENAGORAS PRIZE
[01] PASOK LEADER 'GIVES IT ALL' AT THESSALONIKI RALLY
Thessaloniki, 5 April 2000 (10:53 UTC+2)
Addressing a massive rally held in Thessaloniki last night, a city
which has traditionally thrown its support to the conservative main
opposition party of New Democracy, Prime Minister and ruling PASOK
party leader Costas Simitis expressed his confidence that the present
government will emerge victorious in Sunday's parliamentary elections.
Deemed as the most significant stop of his campaign trail, Mr. Simitis
stressed that Thessaloniki is the capital city of the Balkans, and can
serve as a point of reference therein since Greece is a force of peace,
cooperation and development throughout the region.
PASOK envisages the city as the hub of financial and economic services
in the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean, according to Mr. Simitis, who
also pledged that the city will soon be endowed with a significant
transportation system, including a subway in four years, vast tourism
and athletic facilities and a research and technology center.
The Premier lashed against New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis, who
had held his party's rally in Thessaloniki the previous night, and
stated that the main opposition's pledges for "less state" would lead
to chaos.
"What does New Democracy's 'less state' mean? It means that in place of
the social state we will find the merciless, iron hand of the market.
"Whatever we built over four years can be overturned in a few months
with the liberal prescriptions of New Democracy's
apprentice-magicians." Mr. Simitis stated.
Pointing out that the ruling party has achieved a great number of
national victories, Mr. Simitis underlined that the following four-year
term will be focused on employment, social cohesion and welfare.
The Premier also referred to repatriated Greeks from Pontus, stating
that the state's policy is to provide them with dignified conditions
for assimilating into the motherland.
A.F.
[02] RAU: TURKEY DOES NOT MEET THE PRECONDITIONS FOR EU ACCESSION
Thessaloniki, 5 April 2000 (18:30 UTC+2)
Turkey can belong to Europe but at this moment it does not meet the
preconditions for EU accession, stated German president Johannes Rau
responding to questions posed by students of the German School in
Thessaloniki. The German president underlined that in the Helsinki EU
Summit meeting the European states together with Greece recognized
Turkey as a candidate state for EU accession but there should be
certain negotiations with the country before it becomes a member of the
European Union.
Mr. Rau pointed out that in Europe there is freedom of expression, the
human rights and international law are respected and the death penalty
has been abolished, meaning that the situation in Turkey is different.
He said that there has been progress in Turkey but it is not enough and
the necessary preconditions still are not present for its accession
into the European Union, adding that it is up to Turkey itself to meet
those preconditions.
[03] POLITICAL SPRING LEADING MEMBERS BACK PASOK
Athens, 5 April 2000 (18:14 UTC+2)
Right-wing Political Spring party leading members from across Greece
announced that they back governing socialist party of PASOK in the
April 9 parliamentary elections.
In a meeting today that was held in the presence of Ms. Vaso
Papandreou, Political Spring former candidate Pantelis Maravelias
stated to the prime minister that after a mature thought the leading
members of the party decided to back PASOK and the prime minister and
expressed the hope that this fact will give a special impetus to this
crucial election race.
From his side, prime minister Kostas Simitis stated that the presence
of the leading members of Political Spring shows that PASOK's intention
for wider cooperation has become a reality.
[04] THE GOVERNMENT GUARANTEES THAT OTE WILL REMAIN UNDER STATE CONTROL
Athens, 5 April 2000 (18:14 UTC+2)
Minister of national economy Yiannos Papantoniou visited the Greek
Telecommunications Organization, OTE, building in Athens today and
characterized the organization as a model public company.
The minister also announced that the government guarantees that OTE
will remain under state control, underlining that the Greek character
of the organization is secured, while he clarified that the state will
remain in control of the national health system as well.
[05] CLOSE RACE FOR THE TWO MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES
Athens, 5 April 2000 (18:14 UTC+2)
The suspense for the leading members of the two main political parties
has reached its peak regarding the outcome of the April 9 parliamentary
elections as any prediction is ruled out because the race is very close
for the two main political parties and the number of the undecided
voters is still considerable.
ALKO opinion poll company director Kostas Panagopoulos stated to the
Athens radio station "Alpha News 98.7" that it is the most uncertain
election race experienced in Greece after the restoration of democracy
in the country in 1974.
Meanwhile, right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy spokesman
Aris Spiliotopoulos launched an attacked on the government stating that
it falsifies reality by using misleading ads, while he maintained that
the pensioners have suffered a considerable cut in their purchase power
in the period 1996-1999.
[06] RAU: REPARATIONS ARE IMPOSSIBLE BUT ' GOODWILL GESTURE IS POSSIBLE
Thessaloniki, 5 April 2000 (18:14 UTC+2)
Germany is not willing to pay reparations to the Greek relatives of
Nazi victims during WWII but it can make a goodwill gesture, according
to German president Johannes Rau, who visited Thessaloniki today. Mr.
Rau also said that the war reparations issue is complicated and he can
not give a response himself as he does not represent neither the
government nor the opposition of his country.
Mr. Rau arrived at the Airport of Thessaloniki where he was welcomed by
minister of Macedonia-Thrace Yiannis Magriotis and Thessaloniki's
prefect Kostas Papadopoulos. The German president visited the German
School and responded to questions posed by its students.
Responding to the question if Germany is willing to appeal to the
European Court in case the Greek courts rule that it must pay
reparations, Mr. Rau stated that the problem will be solved through
talks between Greece and his country. At the same time, he reminded
that the Greek side can not have claims anymore based on the treaty it
had signed with Germany in 1960. He said that the reparation talks
concern the forced labor and added that on that issue there could be a
goodwill gesture.
To the question on what will happen if the government that will be
elected on April 9 persists on the issue of reparations, Mr. Rau
responded that he believes that the Greek government with Karamanlis or
Simitis as the prime minister will not persist on the issue and will
accept a goodwill gesture.
To the question if there will be a problem in the European Union in
case there is a change in the Greek government, Mr. Rau responded that
the EU is strong to tolerate any change of government.
In the German president's itinerary during his stay in Thessaloniki was
not included a visit to the Monument for the city's 50.000 Jews or to
the region of Hortiatis, outside Thessaloniki, where over 200 Greeks
were executed during WWII.
Thessaloniki's Jewish Community president Andreas Sefiha commenting on
this pointed out that the German president did not have the courage to
pay homage to the thousands of the city's Jews who were the victims of
the Nazis.
[07] MARGINAL LOSSES OF 0.01% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
Athens, 5 April 2000 (18:13 UTC+2)
The Athens Stock Exchange had marginal losses today of 0.01% at
4.813,02 points and the volume of transactions reached 147 billion
drachmas.
According to stock market analysts, it is very impressive that the
general index had losses in spite of the fact that the majority of the
secondary indexes had gains or just marginal losses.
[08] CRIME IS ON THE DECLINE IN GREECE
Athens, 5 April 2000 (18:13 UTC+2)
According to statistical data provided by the Greek ministry of public
order, which are published on the Athens newspaper "TO VIMA", the crime
linked to foreigners is on the decline since the start of the year.
In the first two months of 2000, the involvement of foreigners in
crimes dropped by 5% compared to the same period in 1999 as from 37% it
dropped to 32%.
Also, on the decline is the so-called small-medium crime and this is
attributed to the increase of the police foot patrols, the mass
deportations of illegal immigrants and the new measures adopted by the
ministry of public order for the more effective control of illegal
immigration.
However, Greek Police officers and ministry officials continue to
believe that the problem remains big as one out of three perpetrators
is a foreigner.
According to the figures provided, the foreigners arrested for murders
in 1999 were 92 and their number was increased by 20 compared to 1998,
while the number of Greeks in this crime category dropped from 203 to
184 in the same period of time.
[09] OECD CLASSIFIED REPORT ON GREEK ECONOMY OPENS
Thessaloniki, 5 April 2000 (13:57 UTC+2)
A classified report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) presents a package of measures for the Greek
economy, among them market liberalization and competition development,
incentives for new activities and jobs, greater degree of
decentralization, updating the public administration sector and an
expert committee to the premier.
According to the Athens daily "Imerisia", the report - to be published
at the end of the year - will include proposals to strengthen the
country's economic development and to establish strong "management" at
all levels, ranging from local administration to the state government.
The report is said to emphasize structural reforms which need to be
"expedited" and deepen.
Following a series of contacts held by an OECD delegation late last
month in Athens with state officials and representatives from the
private sector, the Organization concluded that the country lacks
conditions of competitiveness.
A.F.
[10] COLLAPSED BUILDING OWNERS PROPERTY SEALED
Athens, 5 April 2000 (12:06 UTC+2)
A temporary seal has been placed by the courts on the property of an
owner and builder Athens, on whose land an apartment building collapsed
in the September 7 devastating earthquake, killing 16 residents.
The seal follows a suit filed by relatives of the deceased which will
be heard on May 22.
A.F.
[11] BOMB EXPLODES AT MIELE STORE IN THESSALONIKI
Thessaloniki, 5 April 2000 (11:54 UTC+2)
A makeshift bomb exploded at the German firm "Miele" store in
Thessaloniki, causing extensive material damages to the premises.
According to the police report, the unknown culprits placed gas
canisters at the store's entrance, destroying the facade.
Police speculate that the attack could be related to the arrival of
German President Johannes Rau in Thessaloniki.
A.F.
[12] MOVING HUMANITARIAN INTEREST ON BEHALF OF THE GREEK EMBASSY IN TIRANA
Tirana, 5 April 2000 (18:14 UTC+2)
The humanitarian interest showed by the Greek embassy in Tirana in the
drama of an Albanian citizen is promoted by the Albanian newspaper
"Koha Yone".
According to the newspaper, young Luan Laha from Gramci died from
frostbite in his effort to enter Greece illegally from the prefecture
of Kozani, in the north-west, in February 1995. His father Zaho Laha
expressed the wish to bring his son's remains to Albania and the only
institution that showed interest on the issue was the Greek embassy in
Tirana.
The Greek embassy's press office called the "Koha Yone" offices and
asked for assistance in the effort to locate the father of the young
Albanian who died in Greece and the consul general asked for a meeting
with him.
The newspaper accused the Albanian foreign ministry of indifference in
the demand of the dead man's father and concluded by writing that the
Greek embassy in Tirana is more interested in the case than the
Albanian foreign ministry itself.
[13] NATIONAL BANK BUYS STOPANSKA MAJORITY STAKE
Skopje, 5 April 2000 (11:58 UTC+2)
The National Bank of Greece bought a 65 percent stake of FYROM's
largest commercial bank Stopanska Banka yesterday, earmarking the start
of a wider reform of the banking sector.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the
International Finance Corporation (IFC) purchased a further 10 percent
each.
A.F.
[14] ENCOURAGING FIGURES ON UNEMPLOYMENT
Brussels, 5 April 2000 (18:13 UTC+2)
The unemployment rate was steady at 9.5% in the Euro-zone countries in
the month of February compared to the revised unemployment percentage
in January, according to the European Union statistics agency,
Eurostat.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in all EU member-states was at 8.8% in
February, while last year the unemployment rate in all 15 EU
member-states was at 10.3% and in the 11 Euro-zone countries was at
9.5%.
Luxembourg had the smallest unemployment rate at 2.2%, followed by
Holland at 2.7%, Austria 3.5% and Denmark 4.9%, while the biggest
unemployment rate was recorded in Spain at 15.2%.
In Greece, the available figures show that 10.3% of the active
population is outside the job market.
[15] DESMOND TUTU AWARDED ATHENAGORAS PRIZE
Chicago, 5 April 2000 (14:18 UTC+2)
The President of the Council of Greeks Abroad (SAE) Andrew Athens was
the keynote speaker at a recent ceremony where this year's Athenagoras
Prize for Human Rights was bestowed upon the Archbishop of South Africa
Desmond Tutu.
Established in 1986, the Prize is named after Ecumenical Patriarch
Athenagoras who served as the Archbishop of America from 1930-48.
Archbishop Tutu was honored for his fight against apartheid and
human/religious rights struggles.
A.F.
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