From: than...@athena.mit.edu (Thanos Tsekouras) Subject: Athens News Agency. Bulletin - 29/06/1993 Date: 30 Jun 1993 02:11:42 GMT Athens, 29/6/1993 (ANA) Greece yesterday said it had sought recource to international organisations over the expulsion of a Greek orthodox clergyman from Albania. "The unacceptable incident at Gyrokastr is a clear example of how the Albanian government interprets respect for human rights and democratisation", foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Papaconstantinou said in a statement. "The expulsion of Archimandrite Chrysostomos is not only aimed against a Greek clergyman and does not only violate the religious freedoms of the Greek minority (but) has broader effects that concern Orthodoxy in Albania and ... the course of democratisation in the neighbouring country", he added. Mr. Papaconstantinou said Tirana had not provided any explanation of the incident and Greece would seek recourse to international organisations, incuding the United Nations and the Conference of Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Athens, he said, had also raised the issue before the World Council of Churches, Amnesty International and the Helsinki Watch Group. Albanian police Friday broke into the home of Archimandrite Chrysostomos in Gyrokastr and expelled him from the country on the grounds that he did not have a legal residence permit. Many Albanians and ethnic Greek nationals in Gyrokastr clashed with police when they tried to block the authorities from deporting the Greek cleric. Their attempt was met with brutal violence. Greece reacted to the incident with the mass deportation of illegal Albanian immigrants in the country. More than 8,000 illegal Albaninas have been swept out of the country since last Friday. Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis on Sunday condemned Albania's "continuing policy of unjustified provocation", cautioning Tirana to respect the rights of the Greek minority in Albania in accordance with the UN charter and the Treaty of Paris. Yesterday, police continued their mass round-up and deportation of illegal refugees. Police sources said that a total of 8,926 Albanians "without visas have been arrested and transported to the Greek-Albanian border for deportation". The sources said that the repatriation of Albanians in Greece illegally would continue over the next 24 hours. The operation was ordered by the public order ministry on Saturday. Police estimates put the number of Albanians in Greece illegally at 200,000. Meanwhile, government spokesman Vassilis Manginas yesterday said the government was deeply concerned wiht developments in the wider region and reiterated the government's steadfast position that it would work the escalation of conflict in Kosovo. Mr. Manginas said Greece's leading role in the Balkans would not be altered or overturned by the fact that problems existed in relations with Albania. "Greece", he said, "will continue its efforts for as long as possible and will contribute in the direction of a peaceful settlement of all problems". In Tirana yesterday, Albania's Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi claimed the expelled clergyman's behaviour had gone "against Albanian laws and international norms", while the government denounced movements "whose aim (it) is to turn southern Albania Greek" on television. Speaking to Agence Frnace Presse, Mr. Serreqi said Albania "will not tolerate any action opposing law and serving an anti-Albanian policy". Greece's charge d'affairs in Tirana Nikos Karelos told AFP the expulsion would effect relations between the two countries, adding that the religious leader had been the victim of "acts of violence", a charge police denied. Tirana, 29/6/1993 (AFP) Albanian President Sali Berisha yesterday requested the UN, CSCE and the EC to mediate in settling the dispute between Athens and Tirana over the expulsion of a Greek Orthodox clergyman from Gyrokastr last Friday. In a letter to UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali, the CSCE and the EC, President Berisha wrote the Greek churchman had become involved with Greek political and religious circles in formulating territorial demands, and was handing out maps and other propaganda material calling for the union of South Albania with Greece. Athens, 29/6/1993 (ANA) The government yesterday confirmed that Dimitris Avramopoulos, director of the Prime Minister's Diplomatic Bureau, held a meeting yesterday in Geneva with UN mediator Lord Owen and Bosnian Serb Radovan Karadzic. "These meetings are held within the framework of ongoing efforts by the Greek goverment and Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis to find a peaceful solution to the issue of Bosnia-Herzegovina", government spokesman Vassilis Manginas told the press yesterday. Athens, 29/6/1993 (ANA) The maritime industries FORUM yesterday called for the incorporation of the maritime sector in the EC's 4th Research, Technology and Development Programme. At a two-day plenary session in Vouliagmeni which ended yesterday, the FORUM said that from 1994 onwards, 10 to 15 per cent of the EC recearch budget should be allocated to research into maritime resources and new marine technologies. By accepting this demand, the FORUM said, the maritime sector would be at the same level as the aerospace industry. In the long term, it added, "This support would guarantee work for the 2.5 million employees of the maritime industry in Europe and increase the competitiveness of marine technology on the world market". The plenary session was attended by European Commissioners Martin Bangemann and Karel Van Miert. Athens, 29/6/1993 (ANA) The Greek Centre for European Studies and Research (EKEM) and the Hellenic Foundation for Foreign and Defense Policy (ELIAMEP), with the participation and support of the European Commission, are to host a conference on "the European Community and the Balkans" on Corfu July 2-5. The conference will focus on the transition to western-type economies and democracies of former Communist countries and will also consider the role which the European Community can play in the region, in areas such as the development of inter-Balkan networks, water resources, environment, trade and training and migration of the labor force. Athens, 29/6/1993 (ANA) Russian President Boris Yeltsin arrives in Athens today to sign a series of economic cooperation agreements with Greece. Mr. Yeltsin will meet President Constantine Karamanlis tonight and sign the bilateral agreements tomorrow after scheduled talks with Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis expected to focus on developments in Bosnia, Russia's relations with the EC, the Skopje and Cyprus issues and bilateral relations. The Russian president will also meet with main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement leader Andreas Papandreou and hold a second round of talks with the Greek Premier before departing Thursday afternoon. Mr. Yeltsin will also tour Greek archaeological sites during his three-day stay. Athens, 29/6/1993 (ANA) Professor Jean Claude Chermand of the Marseilles Research Centre yesterday told the 9th Annual Congress of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting in Thessaloniki that there were renewed hopes of finding a vaccine for AIDS. The French scientist explained a new method has been devised for isolating the AIDS virus. The method is similar to a process of cell measurement used in diagnosing certain forms of cancer which has been used with satisfactory results. Professor Chermand said there were strong hopes the method might prove successful in isolating the virus, making it possible to prepare a vaccine. [Copied by Thanos Tsekouras]