Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-01-28

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

CONTENTS

[01] ATHENS METRO, A DREAM COME TRUE

[02] GREECE REJECTS CONFEDERATION IN CUPRUS

[03] BALKAN AGRICULTURE MINISTERS IN THESSALONIKI

[04] ALBANIAN PMs MOTHER OPTS FOR GREEK HOSPITAL

[05] MACEDONIA-THRACE MINISTER OPENS �AGROTICA 2000�

[06] PMs OF GREECE, ALBANIA, FYROM IN PRESPES NEXT WEEK

[07] MACEDONIA-THRACE MINISTERS OPENS �AGROTICA 2000�

[08] ANOTHER CASE OF MENINGITIS BREAKS OUT

[09] TURKS GO ON HUNGER STRIKE IN THESSALONIKI

[10] INNER CABINET MEETING HELD TODAY

[11] GREEK DEPUTIES URGE ELIANS RETURN TO CUBA

[12] BULGARIAN DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT THESSALONIKI

[13] SEARCH FOR DELI SARPA CONTINUES

[14] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EU FOREIGN POLICY

[15] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER MEETS WITH CYPRIOT PRESIDENT

[16] CROATIA: RACAN APPOINTED TO PM POST

[17] HITLERS CORPSE CREMATED, RUSSIANS SAY

[18] ECHR RULING ON LOIZIDOU WILL BE IMPLEMENTED

[19] QUEBEV TRADE MISSION TO VISIT GREECE

[20] DATA ON GREEKS LIVING IN AUSTRALIA

[01] ATHENS METRO, A DREAM COME TRUE

The first 13-kilometer run of the Athens Metro, the largest project which has ever been undertaken in the Attica Basin, is to be officially inaugurated today by the Prime Minister Costas Simitis and other political and state leaders.

This new form of transportation is expected to give a breather to the millions of the capital city's residents as it will greatly relieve Athens' two worst headaches, i.e. traffic and pollution. According to official estimates, the metro will reduce pollution by 30 percent and traffic by 10 percent by the time it is completed in 2002.

The metro will be open to the public as of tomorrow, while tickets will be free all weekend.

A.F.

[02] GREECE REJECTS CONFEDERATION IN CUPRUS

Greece"s Minister of National Defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos, who is presently conducting an unofficial visit to Cyprus, categorically stated that a confederation solution for the island cannot be discussed.

Speaking upon his arrival at Nicosia"s airport, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos stated that providing the Republic of Cyprus with support constitutes a historic need fort Greece, both from an economic point of view as well as from a view of security.

Mr. Tsochatzopoulos will address the Economist conference on "The European Union Accession Prospects of the Republic of Cyprus at Political and Economic Level".

The Defense Minister also stated that the Helsinki-drawn decision regarding Cyprus "opens new avenues in the developments of the Cypriot issue, following the 1995 accord which called for the embarkment of accession negotiations between Cyprus and the EU."

Moreover, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos stated that the EU"s decision on Cyprus"s unhindered and final accession to the EU constitutes a decisive step and expressed the hope that Cyprus"s accession to the EU "will serve as the impetus for the Turkish Cypriot side"s acceptance, as well as for Mr. Denktash and Turkey, of this as the only potential solution to the Cyprus issue, the proximity of its solution on the basis of the UN and Security Council decisions, which call for a unified, federated state entity."

Furthermore, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos stressed that Greece continues to guarantee the security of the Cypriot Republic.

Commenting on the development of Greek-Turkish bilateral relations at a military level, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos stated that the latest conditions and developments are propelling G/T ties into a framework of the EU-Turkey relations.

As such, he added, the issue of G/T ties are not longer merely a bilateral matter but, rather, are affected to a great extend by the EU-Turkey ties.

When asked to comment on the Turkish claims for a confederation solution to Cyprus, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos firmly responded that "such a possibility is not even up for discussion" adding that a 25-year-old policy agreed upon by the international community cannot change only to overcome Turkey"s insistence on recognizing the island"s occupied part as a separate entity.

A.F.

[03] BALKAN AGRICULTURE MINISTERS IN THESSALONIKI

Balkan Agriculture ministers are presently in Thessaloniki in order to participate in tomorrow's conference held within the framework of the 16th International Exhibition of agricultural machinery, equipment and supplies, "Agrotica 2000".

The event, held under the initiative of Greece's Ministry of Agriculture, is to review the prospects of multifaceted cooperation in promoting Balkan agricultural products into the European market. Moreover, field experts are to conduct a round table discussion titled "Agricultural Development and Cooperation in the Balkans".

A.F.

[04] ALBANIAN PMs MOTHER OPTS FOR GREEK HOSPITAL

"Only the best for Mom" is what Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta apparently thought when his mother Figrete was in need of medical care, sending her to Thessaloniki's "G. Papanikolaou" hospital for a series of heart examinations.

According to the chief of staff of "Papanikolaou"'s A Cardiological Clinic Stergios Kouroglou, the Albanian Premier decided to send his mother to a Greek hospital since he obviously trusts Greek physicians, although the doctor was quick to point out that Albania, too, has good doctors.

Accompanied by her husband, daughter and family physician, Mrs. Meta was hospitalized yesterday evening after having reported heart problems.

Dr. Kouroglou stated that Mrs. Meta will undergo complete and thorough examinations and is not expected to remain in the hospital for more than ten days.

A.F.

[05] MACEDONIA-THRACE MINISTER OPENS �AGROTICA 2000�

Assessing that the reserve funds from the Third Community Support Framework will provide final solutions to the problems of the agricultural sector, the Minster of Macedonia and Thrace Yiannis Magriotis inaugurated the 16th International Exhibition of agricultural machinery, equipment and supplies, "Agrotica 2000" in Thessaloniki this morning.

"Greece's agriculture is facing chronic and significant problems," Mr. Magriotis stated, while he also added that the 3rd CFS, through its funding and original suggestions and proposals, will bring an end to these issues.

Moreover, Mr. Magriotis expressed his confidence that the Grek agricultural economy can discover its balance and develop a dynamism that will render it a leader among the efforts to reconstruct the sector in the countries of Southeastern Europe.

Lastly, the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace referred to the significance of tomorrow's conference of Balkan Agriculture Ministers, which will aim at forming a common strategy for developing agricultural policy in the sector.

A.F.

[06] PMs OF GREECE, ALBANIA, FYROM IN PRESPES NEXT WEEK

The prime ministers of Greece, Albania and FYROM, will declare a 'Balkans Park' in the area of Prespes Lakes on February 2, world Wetlands Day, a Greek initiative aimed at the creation of an international protected region in the Balkans.

The park will extend into the territory of the three countries and will constitute a large, integrated natural reserve, according Undersecretary of Environment Theodoros Koliopanos.

Messrs. Costas Simitis, Ilir Meta and Liuptco Georgievski will issue a joint proclamation on the day which will set out a series of activities aimed at maintaining the quality of the waters of the lakes, protecting wildlife and bio-diversity, the need to develop an integrated and sensitive approach to tourism in the area and the improvement, maintenance and promotion of traditional architecture and Byzantine and post-Byzantine monuments in the region.

The lakes of Mikri Prespa and Megali Prespa are situated in a mountainous, largely forested area which attracts a vast number of migratory birds, as well as having the richest biodiversity in Greece. They represent Greece's largest national park.

A.F.

[07] MACEDONIA-THRACE MINISTERS OPENS �AGROTICA 2000�

Assessing that the reserve funds from the Third Community Support Framework will provide final solutions to the problems of the agricultural sector, the Minster of Macedonia and Thrace inaugurated the 16th International Exhibition of agricultural machinery, equipment and supplies, "Agrotica 2000" in Thessaloniki this morning.

"Greece's agriculture is facing chronic and significant problems," Mr. Magriotis stated, while he also added that the 3rd CFS, through its funding and original suggestions and proposals, will bring an end to these issues.

Moreover, Mr. Magriotis expressed his confidence that the Grek agricultural economy can discover its balance and develop a dynamism that will render it a leader among the efforts to reconstruct the sector in the countries of Southeastern Europe.

Lastly, the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace referred to the significance of tomorrow's conference of Balkan Agriculture Ministers, which will aim at forming a common strategy for developing agricultural policy in the sector.

A.F.

[08] ANOTHER CASE OF MENINGITIS BREAKS OUT

A 55-year-old man has been diagnosed with meningitis and was transferred yesterday to a Thessaloniki hospital but health officials continue to consider the 32 cases of the illness, so far been recorded this season, as normal for this time of year.

Health officials did note, however, that many different forms of meningitis were making an appearance this winter compared to previous years.

Health and Welfare Minister Lambros Papadimas advised doctors to admit patients who they believe may have meningitis to hospital for immediate therapy, even if they have a slight suspicion.

Meningitis symptoms are very similar to those of the common cold but if the ailing individual has a persistently high fever of over 39 degrees C, vomiting, headaches and a stiff neck, and if bright light disturbs them and blood appears in mucus from respiratory organs, then they should seek treatment straight away.

A.F.

[09] TURKS GO ON HUNGER STRIKE IN THESSALONIKI

Eleven individuals, members of Turkey's outlawed left-wing organization Revolutionary-Liberating People's Front, are presently conducting a hunger strike in front of the German consulate in Thessaloniki, as a solidarity gesture to their member Ilhan Yelkovan who is presently incarcerated in Germany.

Mr. Yelkovan was sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany over the murder of a Turkish immigrant who was a member of the ultra-right wing party Nationalist Action. Having proclaimed his innocence, Mr. Yelkovan is also conducting a hunger strike.

A.F.

[10] INNER CABINET MEETING HELD TODAY

Prime Minister Costas Simitis chaired a meeting of the inner cabinet today, which dealt with the course of the government's work and current affairs.

The issue of early election was also discussed during the meeting, in light of the continued speculation emerging from all sides.

Upon entering the session, Minister of National Economy and Finance Yiannos Papantoniou stated that the ruling PASOK party continues to be the leader, which will be proven during the elections, whenever they may be held.

A.F.

[11] GREEK DEPUTIES URGE ELIANS RETURN TO CUBA

About 40 Greek parliamentarians have signed a letter forwarded to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, asking him to intervene in the ongoing tug-of-war between Cuba and the United States over six-year-old Elian Gonzalez and ensure that the child is returned to his father in Cuba.

The MPs - members of the parliament's standing committee on defense and foreign affairs and representing the ruling PASOK party, main opposition New Democracy, the Greek Communist Party, Left Coalition and DIKKI - said that the issue should be dealt with within the context of humanitarian laws.

The deputies support that the child should be returned to his natural family environment.

Elian was picked up at sea off Florida on November 25 after surviving two days and nights clinging to an inner-tube in shark-infested waters. His mother drowned when a boat full of illegal Cuban immigrants capsized. The boy's relatives in Florida want to keep him in the United States, but his grandparents in Cuba would like to see him return.

A.F.

[12] BULGARIAN DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT THESSALONIKI

Bulgaria"s Foreign Minister Boico Noev is to be in Thessaloniki on Sunday, January 30, where he will be received by his Greek counterpart Akis Tsochatzopoulos.

Mr. Tsochatzopoulos will attend the New Year"s ball of the armed forces health services tomorrow night, while on Sunday morning the defense minister will attend an event held in honor of Greece"s Olympic champions.

A.F.

[13] SEARCH FOR DELI SARPA CONTINUES

The search for survivors of the Deli Sarpa sailing boat shipwreck has yet to produce results.

The Deli Sarpa sailed on January 17th from Corfu and was heading to Italy.

Certain parts of the boat were spotted on Wednesday by an Italian military plane 200 miles south of Corfu in the international waters along Malta. Three Greeks are reportedly among the boat's passengers.

Three merchant ships sailing in the region, two warships of the Navy, two planes -- and Italian and a Greek plane -- are taking part in the search since last night.

A.F.

[14] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EU FOREIGN POLICY

The 13th international conference titled "The European Union's unified foreign policy and the European Defense Policy" is to be organized by the House of Europe-Thessaloniki on February 10-14.

The inaugural ceremony will be held at the History Center of the Thessaloniki Municipality and will feature salutations from European, political and state officials and other dignitaries.

A.F.

[15] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER MEETS WITH CYPRIOT PRESIDENT

Greece's Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos, presently on an unofficial visit to Cyprus, met with the President of the Republic of Cyprus Glafcos Clerides today, while earlier he was received with Cyprus' Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides.

Nikos Konstantopoulos, the leader of Greece's minor opposition party Coalition of the Left and Progress is also conducting a visit to Cyprus, on the invitation of the island's Ecologists-Environmentalists Movement.

A.F.

[16] CROATIA: RACAN APPOINTED TO PM POST

Croatian parliament president and acting head of state Vlatko Pavletic has appointed Ivica Racan Croatia's new prime minister, and relieved Zlatko Matesa of the same duty.

Mr. Pavletic said that he was glad to be able to assert that the January 3 parliamentary elections and the transfer of authority had been carried out in an atmosphere of democracy and understanding, in keeping with electoral results and in the shortest time.

He added that the new coalition government was turning a new page in Croatian politics.

Besides appointing Mr. Racan to the premier's post, Mr. Pavletic also appointed the other members of Croatia's new government, and relieved of duty the ministers which worked under Mr. Matesa's government.

Mr. Racan is Croatia's seventh prime minister but the first who is not a member of the Croatian democratic Union (HDZ).

A.F.

[17] HITLERS CORPSE CREMATED, RUSSIANS SAY

The remains of Adolf Hitler were finally cremated by Soviet agents after a 25-year odyssey that took the corpse through several burial sites in East Germany, according to the Russian newspaper Troud.

Backing up revelations made in 1995 by the German magazine Der Spiegel, Troud reported that the late Soviet leader Yuri Andropov ordered the body to be incinerated in 1970, when he was still head of the KGB.

But Russian archives cited by Troud show that from his death in the last days of World War II to his cremation, Hitler's body charted an extraordinary graveyard journey under the watchful eyes of the Soviet secret service.

Red Army troops found his body, and that of his partner Eva Braun, in the remains of the Nazi leader's bunker in Berlin on May 4, 1945.

A Soviet counter-espionage expert filled out the documents needed to carry the two bodies to an area safely inside the Russian-controlled zone the same day.

On May 8 -- the day the Third Reich surrendered -- doctors carried out an autopsy, and transmitted their results straight to the head of Russia's then secret service, the NKVD.

"The top of the skull is partially missing. There are lots of cracks in the nose and upper jaw ... Bits of glass have been found in the corpse's mouth," stated the autopsy report.

A "strong smell of bitter almonds" emanating from the body led the forensic experts to put Hitler's death down to "cyanide poisoning."

Only months later, in late 1945, the version of Hitler's cause of death was changed to suicide by shooting after his body was disinterred from a temporary grave in Rathenow, west of Berlin, for a fresh examination.

By January 1946, Hitler's body was underground once again, this time in the courtyard of a house at 36 Westende Street, in the town of Magdeburg. The the body remained `there until 1970, when imminent building work convinced Andropov to order the tomb to be opened, and the contents "destroyed by incineration."

"The destruction of the remains took place in a fire close to the town of Schensbek, 11 kilometers (7 miles) from Magdeburg," said the Russian archives cited by Troud. "The remains were burned with petrol and reduced to ash before being thrown in the Biederitz river."

A.F.

[18] ECHR RULING ON LOIZIDOU WILL BE IMPLEMENTED

The secretary general of the Council of Europe Walter Sweimer clarified yesterday that the decision by the European court for Human Rights regarding the case of Greek-Cypriot citizen Titina Loizidou will definitely be implemented.

Replying to a question raised by the British deputy Tom Kox, Mr Sweimer stressed that the implementation of the decision was necessary as a purely legal and not political issue.

He also announced that the issue would be examined by the committee of deputy foreign ministers during its next meeting next week.

Mr Sweimer discussed the matter with the head of the Cypriot delegation at the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe in Strassburg.

He further expressed his intention to have contacts with the UN secretary general or with his representatives, in order to be briefed on developments in the Cyprus issue and see to what extent he could intervene so as to boost efforts to resolve the problem.

A.F.

[19] QUEBEV TRADE MISSION TO VISIT GREECE

A trade mission from Quebec, Canada, will visit Greece between February 7-11, in order to hold discussions with officials of government and public enterprises, and private business firms. The purpose of the mission is to promote investments and to strengthen commercial ties between the two countries, according to a Canadian Embassy press release.

The mission will be led by Minister for Industry and International Trade for Quebec Guy Julien. Participants of this mission are senior executives of Quebec's companies specializing in a variety of sectors including high technology and telecommunications, multimedia, food products, shipping, environment, lumber, furniture, construction, engineering, marketing, services and legal affairs.

The delegates will discuss possibilities of high technology transfers, joint ventures and sales of their products and services with members of government, public enterprises and the private sector, both in Athens and in Thessaloniki.

Many of the participants have expressed an interest in working with Greek firms in view of the Athens Olympics in 2004, as well as on other upcoming infrastructure projects.

A.F.

[20] DATA ON GREEKS LIVING IN AUSTRALIA

According to data released in Melbourne this week, the majority of Greeks emigrating to Australia obtain the Australian citizenship.

Moreover, according to the same data, 87.3% of the Greeks living in Australia obtained the Australian citizenship in 1996 and only the Vietnamese had a higher percentage of 89.6.

On the occasion of January 26's Australia Day, prominent Australians were awarded yesterday special distinctions, including two Greek-Australians, namely Dimosthenis Konidaris from Melbourne for his services to society, and through the Australian Red Cross, Nikolas Bekakis from south Australia for his contribution to the Australian exports.

A.F.

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