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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2003-09-04
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY
Thessaloniki, September 4, 2003
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] EV. GIANNOPOULOS "LEFT US" TODAY
[02] INVITATION TO VICTORY AND ELECTION REQUEST
[03] STRIKE AGAINST OLYMPIC AIRWAYS
[04] GIOTOPOULOS' INTERPRETATION OF 17N
[05] HOT AND HUMID
[06] AIMING AT THE 8
[07] POLITICAL LEADERS ON GIANNOPOULOS' DEATH
[08] BRAIN SURGERY IN 2ND CENTURY BC
[09] INNOCENT BUT DOES NOT CONDEMN 17N
[10] GOVERNMENTAL PRIORITIES TILL 2004
[11] KARAMANLIS: SOCIAL POLICY IS AN OBLIGATION FOR EVERY GOVERNMENT
[12] LOSSES CONTINUE IN THE ASE FOR A FIFTH DAY
[13] THE PRIME MINISTER INAUGURATES THE 68TH ITF IN THESSALONIKI
[14] SIMITIS: ELECTIONS IN 2004
[15] PROTOPAPAS: EVANGELOS GIANNOPOULOS WAS A FIGHTER WITH POPULAR ROOTS
[16] EURO-PARLIAMENT REPORT CALLS FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE SPECIAL STATUS OF MOUNT ATHOS
[17] UNPRECEDENTED INCIDENT AT A BAR IN CRETE
[18] THE GREEK ALTERNATE FOREIGN MINISTER ON THE STATUS OF MOUNT ATHOS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[19] GREEK-ALBANIAN COOPERATION IN THE SECTOR OF HEALTH
NEWS IN DETAILS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] EV. GIANNOPOULOS "LEFT US" TODAY
PASOK MP and former Minister Evaggelos Giannopoulos died at 7am this morning. His death was due to heart failure he suffered at the hospital at which he was being treated for the past few months, due to serious health problems that had been troubling him
for the past 5 years. Mr. Giannopoulos was born in 1918 in Arkadia, he was a member of the national resistance, he was a member of PASOK after the political changeover, he was President of the Athens Bar Association from 1976-1981, and had been elected t
o Parliament every year since 1981, while he served as Minister of Labor and Justice, the Merchant Marine, Transit and the Aegean in the governments of Andreas Papandreou.
[02] INVITATION TO VICTORY AND ELECTION REQUEST
An invitation to all PASOK officials to "sweat it out" for a victory in the coming elections was addressed by Prime Minister Costas Simitis in his speech for the 29th anniversary since the foundation of the movement in 1974. President of ND Costas Karam
anlis characterized the measures as pre-electoral machinations. Mr. Mitsotakis was in favor of early elections, while he characterized the government as dangerous.
[03] STRIKE AGAINST OLYMPIC AIRWAYS
Olympic Airways employees working at the "Eleftherios Venizelos" international airport have taken over the offices in their strike today, protesting the formation of the "Olympic Airlines" company which is being voted on in Parliament today. The strike w
as ruled illegal by the courts. Olympic Airlines will succeed Olympic Airways in an effort to improve Greece's national airline and become more attractive to private investors. The entire opposition asked for retracting the amendment.
[04] GIOTOPOULOS' INTERPRETATION OF 17N
His version of the frame-up organized against him by the authorities by presenting him as leader of 17N will be given by Alexandros Giotopoulos, who will testify at the trial on the crimes committed by the 19 alleged members of the 17N terrorist organiza
tion. Giotopoulos' testimony was to start 2 days ago but the trial was interrupted due to a family problem of one of the court members. The phase of defendant testimonies will be completed with that of the next suspect member, An. Papanastasiou.
[05] HOT AND HUMID
Optimism that the Greek national men's football team can beat the Armenians in Erevan and qualify for the final phase of EURO 2004, first in its group, according to the statements of Otto Rehagel. A victory would secure the qualification to a great degre
e, as all that is necessary after that is a home victory against N. Ireland. Tsartas will be absent from the game due to an injury. Temperatures in Erevan are high.
[06] AIMING AT THE 8
Federal coach of the national basketball team Giannis Ioannidis wanted to keep a low profile during the team's departure for Sweden where the 33rd European Championship is being held, a great challenge for the Greek team. "We have worked hard and want to
achieve our goal. Our first aim is to make the 8", stressed Mr. Ioannidis.
[07] POLITICAL LEADERS ON GIANNOPOULOS' DEATH
His sorrow for the death of Evaggelos Giannopoulos was expressed by Prime Minister Costas Simitis at the beginning of the Cabinet meeting. "We are grieving for the loss of our comrade, Evaggelos Giannopoulos, a politician who was present on the first lin
e of our people's struggles. A defender of the people and their rights, a fighter for democracy, he told the truth in the simple way he only knew. He contributed to the success of the party and PASOK governments", underlined Mr. Simtis. The Prime Minister
and the Cabinet expressed their condolences to his widow.
His condolences for the death of Evaggelos Giannopoulos were also expressed by the President of New Democracy Costas Karamanlis, who made the following statement: "Vaggelis Giannopoulos was a fighter throughout his life. His long political career and his
term in public offices pointed out his fighting spirit and his deep dedication to his ideas. Vaggelis Giannopoulos was a tough politician and an ideological adversary. Our respect, however, for his consistency is given. To his family and his political co
mrades I express my sincere condolences".
[08] BRAIN SURGERY IN 2ND CENTURY BC
A significant, for the history or medicine, burial site, was uncovered on a dig in the Atsiki area where the Hellenistic necropolis of Chios is located.
A skeleton belonging to a man, approximately 50 years old at the time of his death, found in a crate like grave, had a signs of a delicate surgical procedure to the cranium by drilling.
The macroscopic tests showed that the man survived for a long time after the procedure. It should be noted that the grave, that was unornamented, is dated back to the same period with the neighboring ornamented graves, in the second half of the 2nd centu
ry BC. The discovery of the drilling was made by anthropologist Asterios Aidonis.
[09] INNOCENT BUT DOES NOT CONDEMN 17N
I do not agree with or condemn the actions of 17N, stated alleged leader of the 17N terrorist organization Alexandros Giotopoulos in his testimony, while he repeated that the case against him is a fabrication due to his struggle against the dictatorship.
Mr. Giotopoulos is testifying with the use of hand written notes, to be followed by Alexandros Papanastasiou, thus completing the testimonies of the defendants.
[10] GOVERNMENTAL PRIORITIES TILL 2004
The priorities of the government until spring 2004 were pointed out by Prime Minister Costas Simitis during today's Cabinet meeting, which was held in a emotionally charged atmosphere due to the death of Evaggelos Giannopoulos.
Mr. Simitis invited the Ministers to intensify their efforts so that the government's plan can be completed by 2004, he made it clear that early elections will not be held, and underlined the need to solidify the atmosphere of dependability among the cit
izens.
The priorities of the government's work, as presented by Mr. Simitis, include delivering the funds of the social package that was announced, through the overcoming of bureaucratic problems, the intensification of preparations for the 2004 Olympics, the p
romotion of employment programs, the materialization of major projects and mainly the Kastania detour and the promotion of privatizations.
[11] KARAMANLIS: SOCIAL POLICY IS AN OBLIGATION FOR EVERY GOVERNMENT
Social policy is an obligation for every government and should not be used in an opportunist manner, stated right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis who met with representatives of consumer protection institutes at his p
arty's central offices today.
Mr. Karamanlis stated after the meeting that he met with consumer protection associations, which are non governmental organizations, to hear their views on the wave of high prices that hits the people in Greece. The price "explosion" is one of the major
problems faced by the Greek people on a daily basis, stressed Mr. Karamanlis.
He stated that inflation and high prices constitute a major failure for the government, while the average wage in Greece corresponds to 57% of the EU average. The government had set as a goal in the four-year term of 2000-2004 to bring inflation under 2%
but last year inflation was at 3.9% and this year is expected to be at 3.5%, namely 2 points higher than the EU average.
Mr. Karamanlis stated that the Greeks have the lowest per capita income in Europe, the unemployment rate is the highest, with one out of three people unemployed, while 2.5 million Greeks live below poverty line.
[12] LOSSES CONTINUE IN THE ASE FOR A FIFTH DAY
More losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange for a fifth day today. In spite of the fact that the general index recorded gains throughout most of the session it finally closed with losses being unable to deal effectively with the pressures exer
ted by certain stocks in combination with losses recorded in the major European stock markets.
The general index dropped to -0.18% at 2.138,91 points, while the volume of transactions was again considerable today at 152.7 million euros.
Of the stocks trading today, 173 recorded gains and 141 had losses, while the value of 67 stocks remained unchanged.
[13] THE PRIME MINISTER INAUGURATES THE 68TH ITF IN THESSALONIKI
The 68th International Trade Fair in Thessaloniki, the leading economic, political and cultural event of the year, will be inaugurated tomorrow evening by Prime Minister Kostas Simitis. The ITF will be open for the public until September 14.
Present in the formal opening will be Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All of Greece, who will also officiate in a ceremony on the occasion of the inauguration.
A formal reception will be given after the inauguration at the gardens of the 3rd Army Corps, while on Saturday, September 6 a formal dinner will be given at "Ioannis Vellidis" Convention Center in honor of the Prime Minister.
[14] SIMITIS: ELECTIONS IN 2004
Prime Minister Kostas Simitis stated during the cabinet meeting today that elections will be held in the spring of 2004.
Mr. Simitis outlined the basic priorities of the government work. Among them are, the completion of the announced social measures, the preparations for the 2004 Olympic Games, the controls on the origin of income declared on the income-tax returns, measu
res against unemployment, materialization of the job positions announced, privatization and the law on the co-financed projects.
Also, he referred to the Inter-Governmental Conference in Rome to take place in October and the Brussels Summit meeting.
[15] PROTOPAPAS: EVANGELOS GIANNOPOULOS WAS A FIGHTER WITH POPULAR ROOTS
Government spokesman Christos Protopapas described Evangelos Giannopoulos, who died this morning, as a man who gave big battles in his life and as a fighter with popular roots, while he was a uniting voice in the governing Socialist Party of PASOK.
The government spokesman announced that all the cabinet members will attend the funeral that will take place on Monday at public expense with honors reserved for government ministers.
[16] EURO-PARLIAMENT REPORT CALLS FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE SPECIAL STATUS OF MOUNT ATHOS
The plenary session of the Euro-Parliament passed a proposal-report prepared by French Euro-deputy Fode Sylla concerning the EU Fundamental Rights situation for 2002 which includes, among others, a reference to the special status enjoyed by the monastic
community of Mount Athos in northern Greece.a
In essence, the Euro-deputies call on the Greek government to proceed with the lifting of the entry ban to Mount Athos directed on women.
The Sylla report got negative votes from the Euro-deputies of the Greek governing Socialist Party of PASOK. After the vote, the head of PASOK's Euro-deputies Mr. Katiforis submitted a written statement to the Euro-Parliament Presiding Board justifying th
eir position.
Among others, they mentioned that Mount Athos enjoys a special status, which was secured with a joint statement included in Greece's EEC Accession Treaty
It is also mentioned that in the Amsterdam Treaty Final Act annex there is a statement by Greece, which is a reminder of the Joint Statement on Mount Athos attached to the Final Act of Greece's Accession Treaty.
[17] UNPRECEDENTED INCIDENT AT A BAR IN CRETE
An unprecedented incident took place at a bar in Malia, Crete last night. A 22yerold British tourist bit off part of the nose of a 29yearold bar owner.
The tourist was arrested and was accused of causing serious bodily harm. According to the statement he made to the Greek authorities, he was too drunk at the time to know what he was doing.
[18] THE GREEK ALTERNATE FOREIGN MINISTER ON THE STATUS OF MOUNT ATHOS
The special status enjoyed by the monastic community of Mount Athos, northern Greece, is directly linked with a history of over one thousand years in Greece, with the country's traditions, values, symbols and religious faith, stated Greek Alternate Forei
gn Minister Tasos Yiannitsis.
The statement was made on the occasion of the report on the fundamental rights situation in the EU that was passed in the European Parliament. The report, among others, calls on the Greek government to lift the entry ban to Mount Athos directed on women.
Mr. Yiannitsis also stressed that the status of Mount Athos is special and the Greek government is firm in defending it.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[19] GREEK-ALBANIAN COOPERATION IN THE SECTOR OF HEALTH
Greece and Albania have signed a cooperation agreement in the sector of health. The agreement, signed by the Albanian Health Minister and the Greek ambassador in Tirana, provides for the free hospitalization of 300 Albanians in Greek hospitals during nex
t year and the specialization of Albanian medical doctors in Greece.
The Albanian Health Minister stressed that the overall goal of the agreement is the promotion of bilateral cooperation in the sector of health, mainly through the exchange of experience and the specialization of Albanian medical doctors.
The Albanian Health Minister stressed that it is an agreement that will be in effect for two years and it will be renewed immediately after it expires.
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