Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 05-01-18

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

CONTENTS

[01] THE GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO ATTEND THE EVENTS ON THE JEWISH

[02] THE FARMERS TO DECIDE TODAY ON THEIR MOBILIZATIONS

[03] THE GREEK OMBUDSMAN TO ASSIST IN THE PREPARATION OF A COUNTERPART

[04] VOULGARAKIS MET WITH THE NEW US AMBASSADOR

[05] THODOROS ANGELOPOULOS CONFIRMED THE INTERRUPTION OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH

[06] ANTONAROS: TURKEY'S BEHAVIOR IS BEING EVALUATED CONSTANTLY

[07] LOSSES IN THE ASE

[08] BEIJING'S DEPUTY MAYOR VISITED THE OLYMPIC STADIUM IN ATHENS

[09] ECOFIN - EUROPEAN COMMISION: GREECE SHOULD INTENSIFY ITS EFFORTS AIMED

[01] THE GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO ATTEND THE EVENTS ON THE JEWISH HOLOCAUST IN THESSALONIKI

Events in memory of the holocaust of the 50,000 Jews of Thessaloniki, who were killed in Nazi concentration camps, are organized by the Jewish Community in Thessaloniki to take place on January 27 and the honored guest will be German Foreign Minister Yoshka Fischer who will attend the events.

The Greek Parliament has declared January 27 as a National Day in Memory of the Greek Jews, the Heroes and Martyrs of the Holocaust. Thessaloniki was the center of the Greek Jewish community and the seat of one of the oldest Jewish communities of the Diaspora. In the early 1940s, the Jews made up 20% of Thessaloniki's population and 96% of them were killed by the Nazis. A total of 67,151 Jews were killed across Greece out of a Jewish population of 77,377.

[02] THE FARMERS TO DECIDE TODAY ON THEIR MOBILIZATIONS

The farmers in Thessaly, central Greece, are expected to decide today on the mobilizations they will launch on Thursday during which road blockades are not ruled out.

The meeting yesterday between Minister of Agriculture Evangelos Basiakos and unionists from the prefecture of Pella in central Greece was fruitless. The Minister of Agriculture rejected all of their demands and reiterated that the government will not give subsidies while both sides agreed that there is a need for a countercheck to the quantity of the cotton produced. The farmers are expected to decide in the following days whether they will proceed with protest mobilizations.

The Minister of Agriculture also revealed that last Sunday the European Union imposed a fine of 100 million euros for irregularities in the management of cotton during the last three years.

Mr. Basiakos meets today with cotton producers from the prefecture of Serres.

[03] THE GREEK OMBUDSMAN TO ASSIST IN THE PREPARATION OF A COUNTERPART INSTITUTION IN TURKEY

The Greek ombudsman Giorgos Kaminis was chosen by the Turkish Justice Ministry among other candidacies to contribute to the materialization of a counterpart institution in Turkey.

The specific program will last 26 months and its budget will be over 1 million euros. The Greek ombudsman will assist in the establishment and initial operation of a counterpart institution in Turkey.

[04] VOULGARAKIS MET WITH THE NEW US AMBASSADOR

Minister of Public Order Giorgos Voulgarakis met today with new US ambassador to Athens Charles Ries.

The meeting was held in the Ministry of Public Order and Mr. Voulgarakis expressed the belief that cooperation with the new US ambassador will be excellent and productive, while he wished him a pleasant and creative stay in Greece.

[05] THODOROS ANGELOPOULOS CONFIRMED THE INTERRUPTION OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH "PEGASUS"

Businessman Thodoros Angelopoulos confirmed that negotiations with Giorgos Bobolas' company Pegasus have been interrupted.

According to a statement issued by Mr. Angelopoulos' office, Mr. Angelopoulos ended the negotiations for the purchase of the company's shares for personal reasons and with deep regret.

Earlier today, Pegasus had briefed the Athens Stock Exchange board of directors on the interruption of the negotiations.

[06] ANTONAROS: TURKEY'S BEHAVIOR IS BEING EVALUATED CONSTANTLY

Acting government spokesman Vangelis Antonaros stated regarding Turkey's stance and its consequences that Turkey will have to cover a distance by October 3 when under certain preconditions it will launch its EU accession dialogue. Immediately afterwards, said Mr. Antonaros, it will have to cover another distance to acquire a European identity. Turkey's behavior until October 3 and after that date will be monitored and its stance will be constantly evaluated and based on it will be judged, added Mr. Antonaros.

On the issue of the rescue of sailors after their cargo ship sank off the island of Psara in the Aegean, he pointed out that the search and rescue operation is within Greece's area of responsibility.

Regarding the provocative violations committed by Turkish warships near a rocky islet in the sea region of the island of Samothrace in northern Aegean, he said that the Greek armed forces watched the incident while it developed and all necessary moves that had to be made are being made.

[07] LOSSES IN THE ASE

Losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -1.13% at 2832.73 points, while the volume of transactions was considerable at 214,2 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 90 had gains and 203 had losses, while the value of 128 stocks remained unchanged.

[08] BEIJING'S DEPUTY MAYOR VISITED THE OLYMPIC STADIUM IN ATHENS

Sports General Secretary Kostas Koukodimos visited the Olympic Stadium in Athens today to receive Beijing's deputy mayor given the fact that China will host the 2008 Olympic Games.

The Chinese official visited the Olympic Stadium to tour the facilities where different Olympic sports competitions were held.

Among the issues discussed with the stadium's management were the post-Olympic Games use of the Olympic Stadium and the better exploitation of its facilities.

[09] ECOFIN - EUROPEAN COMMISION: GREECE SHOULD INTENSIFY ITS EFFORTS AIMED AT CUTTING DEFICIT

The EU Finance Ministers Council, ECOFIN, adopted unanimously the European Commission proposal according to which Greece should intensify its efforts to cut its fiscal deficits and bring them below 3% of the GDP in accordance with the EU Stability and Development Pact.

At the same time, the Council recognized the efforts Greece makes for its fiscal reform and underlined that they should intensify while it authorized the European Commission to examine new recommendations during the coming month to be directed to the Athens government.

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