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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-06-09
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, June 9, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] IONIAN BANK EMPLOYEES DETERMINED TO CONTINUE STRIKE
[02] GREEK CULTURE MINISTER TO ASK FOR RETURN OF PARTHENON MARBLES
[03] GREECE'S SOCCER TEAMS PREPARE THEIR LINE UPS
[04] REPPAS: NO KOSSOVO REFUGEES IN NORTHERN GREECE
[05] UNESCO COMMITTEE SHOULD EXAMINE THE PARTHENON MARBLES
[06] PPEAL OF THE IONIAN BANK MANAGEMENT AGAINST THE EMPLOYEES WAS
DISCUSSED IN COURT
[07] LBANIANS LIVING IN GREECE WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN PROTEST
RALLIES
[08] CHILDREN ARE THE MOST OBESE IN EUROPE
[09] PANGALOS-CEM FORESEE A "QUIET SUMMER" IN THE AEGEAN SEA
[10] PAPANDREOU TO MPA:KOSOVO IS A TORPEDO FOR THE BALKANS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[11] UNITED STATES, EU SLAP SERBIA WITH INVESTMENT BAN
[12] BALKAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN ISTANBUL
[13] DELEGATION OF DIPLOMATS VISITS WESTERN KOSSOVO
[14] RICHARD HOLBROOKE: TURKISH SIDE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CYPRUS
ISSUE
[15] UNITED NATIONS HOLDS DRUG SUMMIT
[16] S-300 MISSILES HAVE BEEN DELIVERED IN CYPRUS, RUSSIAN PRESS
REPORTS
[17] WORLD CUP BEGINS IN FRANCE TOMORROW
[18] THE GREEK AIRPORTS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE PILOTS' "BLACK
LIST"
[19] TURKEY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CRISIS IN CYPRUS
[20] THE BALKAN FOREIGN MINISTERS SUMMIT ENDED WITHOUT A
RESOLUTION ON KOSSOVO
[21] A SERB SOLDIER WAS KILLED IN KOSSOVO
[22] EVENTUALITY OF A NATO INTERVENTION IN KOSOVO
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] IONIAN BANK EMPLOYEES DETERMINED TO CONTINUE STRIKE
Striking workers at the state-run Ionian Bank are determined
to press on with their strike unless the government promises to
safeguard their jobs in light of the Bank's proposed
privatization.
Ionian, which is due to undergo a majority stake sale by its
parent Commercial Bank this summer, has been the subject of a
crippling strike action by unions and employees opposed to
privatization and the proposed sale of the bank.
Striking Ionian workers, who have already been issued with a legal
warning by the bank's management, warning them of disciplinary
action if they do not return to work, have vowed to continue their
strike action.
Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas has stressed that the
Ionian sale will proceed as planned, via a majority stake sale
through the Athens stock exchange after approval from Commercial
Bank's shareholders on June 19.
[02] GREEK CULTURE MINISTER TO ASK FOR RETURN OF PARTHENON MARBLES
Greek culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos is to ask for the
return of the Parthenon Marbles which are housed in the British
Museum, after the recent disclosure that the Museum's staff caused
irreparable damage to the monuments by scraping away their
original paint and weathered patina.
The scandal, hushed up for 60 years, was revealed by William
St Clair, a world expert on the Marbles. According to Mr. St.
Clair , British Museum curators in the late Thirties scrubbed many
of the 2,500-year-old marbles with metal scrapers in an attempt to
make them look whiter.
Mr. Venizelos stated that following the recent disclosure, a
basic argument for the maintenance of the Marbles at the British
Museum, that supposedly they are being protected, has fallen
apart, since it damaged the museum's reputation and undermined
Britain's "moral authority" for retaining the marbles.
In an interview with CNN, Mr. St Clair stated that he
believed the historic surfaces of
80 per cent of the Parthenon marbles, removed to Britain by Lord
Elgin in 1801, have been lost forever.
The Greek embassy in London said the episode was "shameful"
and "outrageous".
Peter Ainsworth, United Kingdom's shadow culture minister, said
the discoveries were "extraordinary" and he wanted an urgent
assessment made of the new evidence. Mr. St Clair, a former senior
Treasury official, said that Chris Smith, the Culture Secretary,
should order an immediate independent inquiry.
In an attempt to head off criticism, the museum immediately
promised to hold an international seminar of scholars, restorers
and marble experts to consider the damage.
[03] GREECE'S SOCCER TEAMS PREPARE THEIR LINE UPS
Panathinaikos has entered the transfer craze for good since,
as of the season coming up, it will feature Croatia's Aliosa
Asanovic while rumor has it that it also has its eye set on Real
Madrid's Davor Suker and two Peruvian players.
As for AEK, it's trying to entice Christos Kostis to stay in
for another four years for 160 million drachmas a year.
The transfer targets in PAOK are still the same, namely
Frousos and Katsiabis, while, as far as foreign players are
concerned, Aris will take its pick after the World Cup's close.
[04] REPPAS: NO KOSSOVO REFUGEES IN NORTHERN GREECE
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas stated today that
there are no refugees from Kossovo in northern Greece and added
that until now no special measures have been adopted along the
borders.
Responding to the question on the likelihood to send a
military force to the region of Kossovo, the Greek government
spokesman stated that no such issue has been raised, adding that a
decision will be made if NATO decides to send forces there.
[05] UNESCO COMMITTEE SHOULD EXAMINE THE PARTHENON MARBLES
The Greek minister of culture stated that Greece wants a
special committee to examine the condition of the Parthenon
Marbles, through UNESCO or another non governmental organization.
Mr. Venizelos also suggested the permanent cooperation of
Greek museums with the British one for the return of the marbles
by the year 2004 under the form of permanent lending. Those
proposals will be included in a letter addressed to the British
minister of culture.
The decision to send a letter to his British counterpart was
reached after the accusations made by British historian William
Sengler for bad maintenance and destruction of the Parthenon
Marbles in the British Museum.
Mr.Venizelos stated that the letter will include the strong
protest of the Greek side, Greece's demand for a fact-finding
committee of experts and the proposal for a solution that will not
reproduce old discussions on the history or the legal basis of the
issue.
Meanwhile, the British Museum has pointed out, after the row
that was caused, that the wrong techniques had been used for the
preservation of the marbles 60 years ago and decided to call for
the establishment of an international committee to examine the
damage caused on the marbles.
[06] PPEAL OF THE IONIAN BANK MANAGEMENT AGAINST THE EMPLOYEES WAS
DISCUSSED IN COURT
An Athens court discussed today the appeal of the Ionian Bank
management against the bank employees requesting that their
strike, which will continue until tomorrow, be characterized as
illegal.
The court is expected to issue its ruling tomorrow. The
Ionian Bank employees will discuss this afternoon the proposal for
the extension of the strike until June 19, when the general
assembly meeting of the Commercial Bank shareholders will take
place to decide the sale of the Ionian Bank.
[07] LBANIANS LIVING IN GREECE WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN PROTEST
RALLIES
The Albanians living in Greece will not participate in the
protest rallies on the situation in Kosovo that will be held
tomorrow, according to president of the Association of Albanians
living in Greece Taki Dutsi. The decision was reached even though
the State Protest Council of Albania has issued an appeal to make
June 10 a World Protest Day.
Protest rallies are scheduled to take place in Pristina,
Tirana, Skopje and in other cities around the world where
Albanians live, calling for the intervention of NATO to stop the
bloodshed in Kosovo.
[08] CHILDREN ARE THE MOST OBESE IN EUROPE
The most obese children in Europe are found in Greece. They
mostly eat fattening junk food and their diet lacks fruit,
vegetables and a complete breakfast, based on a research conducted
by Greek and foreign scientists.
According to the same research, 100% of the children with
obese parents become themselves obese, while the same happens to 8
out of 10 children with an overweight parent.
Among the environmental factors that contribute to child
obesity are the dietetic habits of the family and specifically,
the consumption of sweets and pasta.
[09] PANGALOS-CEM FORESEE A "QUIET SUMMER" IN THE AEGEAN SEA
Foreign ministers of Greece, Theodoros Pangalos, and Turkey,
Ismail Cem, expressed the hope, today at Instanbul, that Greek-
Turkish relations, which- as they said- are already moving in a
positive direction, will have a "quiet summer".
Mr Pangalos stressed that bilateral relations have improved
within the framework of NATO and the confidence-building measures,
noting that this will ensure "quieter nights this summer, with
less excitement".
Mr Cem, while conceding problems between Greece and Turkey,
underlined that bilateral relations are gradually improving and
expressed the hope for "better days in the future".
[10] PAPANDREOU TO MPA:KOSOVO IS A TORPEDO FOR THE BALKANS
Greek Alternate Foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou, in an
exclusive statement to the Macedonian Press Agency, stressed that
the situation in Kosovo is a torpedo for the Balkans and the
people of the area, adding that the person mainly responsible for
the current developments in the Serbian province is the Yugoslav
president Slobodan Milosevic.
Mr Papandreou underlined that the Kosovo problem is not an
internal affair for Yugoslavia because it concerns human rights as
well as stability in the wider Balkan area. Mr Papandreou, also,
noted that the consequences for Greece, which strives to help the
Balkans out of the deadlock, will be grave, as there will be a
refugees' wave and a breakdown in the development of Northern
Greece.
Mr Papandreou underlined that Greece calls on all sides to
abide by the ceasefire principle so that the dialogue will re-open
and the delivery of humanitarian help for the refugees will be
possible.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[11] UNITED STATES, EU SLAP SERBIA WITH INVESTMENT BAN
After the European Union slapped an investment ban on
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on Monday over his use of
force in Kossovo, the United States government has announced its
own economic sanctions against Mr. Milosevic's government, in
protest the use of violence by the Serb authorities against the
province's ethnic Albanians.
``We do believe sanctions can have an influence,'' State
Department spokesman James
Rubin said. ``Being able to impose and suspend them at will is a
way to influence President
Milosevic.''
European Union Foreign Ministers have agreed to a ban on new
investments in Serbia, and a freeze on the republic's assets
abroad, while NATO defense ministers are to weigh military options
on Thursday, including the possible dispatch of a preventative
force to Kossovo's external borders. The six-power Contact Group
is also due to discuss Kossovo at a meeting in London on Friday.
[12] BALKAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN ISTANBUL
The two-day conference of Balkan Foreign Ministers started in
Istanbul yesterday, where top diplomats from nine Balkan
countries have gathered for talks dominated by the Kossovo crisis.
With Greece being represented by Foreign Minister Theodoros
Pangalos, the Foreign Ministers participating at the conference
are from Albania. Bulgaria, FYUROM, The Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, Romania and Turkey.
Delegations from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia are also
attending the conference under observer-status.
In his address, Mr. Pangalos stated that the issue of human
rights is not an internal affair of any country and, referring to
Kossovo, added that human rights need to be respected in the
region,. Albeit stressing his opposition on imposing sanctions on
Yugoslavia.
"The best thing (to happen) would be to allow this country
(Yugoslavia) in the United Nations and the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe," he stated.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem condemned violence by all
sides and said the flow of refugees was causing ``serious
problems'' for neighboring countries.
But Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic, in an apparent
reference to Kossovo,
said his country opposed any interference in its internal affairs.
``The Albanians of Kossovo are threatened by a massacre
similar to that of Bosnia,'' Albanian Foreign Minister Paskal Milo
told the meeting.
``Many villages are demolished, hundreds of innocent women
and children have been killed
and thousands of terrorized refugees have abandoned their
houses.''
[13] DELEGATION OF DIPLOMATS VISITS WESTERN KOSSOVO
Sixty diplomats - supervised by Yugoslav authorities- visited
western Kossovo on Sunday and reported evidence of heavy clashes
but cautioned against premature judgment of what happened.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees liaison office in
Tirana said about 10,000 refugees had arrived from Kossovo over
the past 10 days, although international institutions said the
flood had begun to tail off.
[14] RICHARD HOLBROOKE: TURKISH SIDE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CYPRUS
ISSUE
In an interview with the "Los Angeles Times", U.S. diplomat
Richard Holbrooke
stated that the Turkish side bears full responsibility for the
Cyprus crisis.
In the article, the Mr. Holbrooke stressed that the current
situation at the island does not contribute to peace,
characterized the ongoing issue of the island as a dangerous
problem and stressed that the matter must be resolved.
Moreover, Mr. Holbrooke holds the Turkish side as responsible
for the failure of talks between the two sides, since it refused
to take up in dialogue unless the occupied territory was
recognized and demanded that the Cypriot government withdraw its
accession bid from the European Union.
When asked if peace in Cyprus is better ensured through
barbed wire, Mr. Holbrooke responded "No, because Cyprus is not a
quite and peaceful place. One spark, a flight, a rock concert, a
misunderstanding is enough to create conflict."
[15] UNITED NATIONS HOLDS DRUG SUMMIT
The manufacture, trafficking and abuse of amphetamine-type
stimulants is one of six core issues being addressed in New York
at the currently-held United Nations drug summit.
The other core issues on the agenda of the special session of
the General Assembly on the world drug problem are money
laundering, precursor chemicals, reducing demand, reduction of
illicit crops and alternative development, and enhanced judicial
cooperation.
World leaders, among them United States President Bill
Clinton and UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, are to adopt an
action plan to be implemented by 2003 to reduce supply and demand
for these drugs within the following five years by 2008.
Easy to produce, cheap to buy and hard to control, synthetic
drugs, which include methamphetamine and "Ecstasy", are abused by
an estimated 30 million people around the world, according to the
United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP).
"Through the 1990s, we have evidence that the growth rate in
illicit manufacturing, trafficking and the spread of abuse has
been greater for amphetamine-type stimulants than it has been for
heroin and cocaine", said Pino Arlacchi, UNDCP Executive Director.
[16] S-300 MISSILES HAVE BEEN DELIVERED IN CYPRUS, RUSSIAN PRESS
REPORTS
Russia has already delivered -in secret- the anti-aircraft S-
300 missiles to Cyprus, according to an article published today in
the Russian daily "Sevdonia" which does not reveal its sources.
According to the article, over 200 Russian experts are
already at the island in order to assist in deploying the system,
while the Cypriot staff handling the missile-facilities are being
trained by the Russian officials.
According to the AFP, neither the missile-making company nor
the Russian Foreign Ministry are confirming the information.
[17] WORLD CUP BEGINS IN FRANCE TOMORROW
The 16th world Cup (Mudial) is to begin in France tomorrow,
featuring the participation of the world's 32 best national soccer
teams.
The 702 ball players are ready to begin the 63 matches that
will be held in ten French stadiums.
Tomorrow Brazil will play against Scotland at 6:30 pm, while
at 10 pm Morocco will play against Norway.
Twelve thousand journalists from all over the world have
arrived in France, along with 840 photojournalists.
[18] THE GREEK AIRPORTS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE PILOTS' "BLACK
LIST"
The Greek airports are not included in the "black list" which
was drawn up by the International Confederation of Pilots' Unions
during its World Conference that was held in Montreal, Canada.
The British newspaper "Sunday Times" mentions that in spite
of the complaints expressed in the past on the state of the Greek
airports, the pilots avoided to include them in their "black list"
but they stressed that the problem of flights in Greece must be
examined in depth.
[19] TURKEY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CRISIS IN CYPRUS
The full responsibility for the crisis in Cyprus belongs to
the Turkish side. This was stressed by US presidential envoy
Richard Halbrooke in an interview to the US newspaper "Los Angeles
Times".
Mr. Halbrooke stressed that the situation on the island does
not contribute to peace, while he described the Cyprus issue as a
dangerous problem and stressed that it must be resolved.
[20] THE BALKAN FOREIGN MINISTERS SUMMIT ENDED WITHOUT A
RESOLUTION ON KOSSOVO
No final decision on how to deal with the crisis in Kossovo
was reached in the Balkan foreign ministers Summit that ended in
Istanbul today.
Turkish foreign minister Ismail Cem stated that even though
no consensus was included in the final declaration concerning the
issue of Kossovo, an open and honest exchange of views took place
among the summit participants.
The Istanbul meeting was attended by the ministers of
Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, FYROM, Romania, Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia and Turkey, while Bosnia and Croatia attended as
observers.
[21] A SERB SOLDIER WAS KILLED IN KOSSOVO
A Serb soldier was killed and three others were wounded in an
attack launched yesterday against Yugoslav army forces by armed
ethnic Albanians.
According to a statement issued by the Yugoslav 3rd Army
Corps, which is responsible for the region of Kossovo, the attack
took place west of Jakovica, near the border outpost of Morina, at
the borders of Kossovo with Albania.
[22] EVENTUALITY OF A NATO INTERVENTION IN KOSOVO
The situation in Kosovo is still tense. NATO's Department of
Strategic Planning presented, today, to the leadership of the
member-states of the Alliance, four proposals aiming at the
settlement of the crisis.
Meanwhile, Russia did not consent to the implementation of
these proposals and the Russian Defence minister Igor Sergeyev
stressed that his country would never accept the deployment of
NATO troops in Kosovo. A delegation of the European Council
Parliamentary Assembly will hold visits to Belgrade, Podgorica and
Pristina, starting from tomorrow.
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/
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