Subject: News I, 5/08/93 Athens News Agency Bulletin, August 5, 1993 =========================================== Athens, 5/8/1993 (ANA): Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis said yesterday that efforts for peace in Bosnia were at a "crucial turning point" and reiterated Greece's opposition to military action against the Bosnian Serbs. Mr. Mitsotakis expressed the hope that efforts for peace between Moslems, Serbs and Croats in Bosnia would be successful, adding that Greece believed the only possible solution to the problem was a political settlement. "The settlement must be just and must not be at the expense of the Moslems". Mr. Mitsotakis said, stressing that "under no circumstances will Greece agree to military operations". Government spokesman Vassilis Manginas told reporters Tuesday that Mr. Mitsotakis had had "contacts of decisive importance" with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic Monday and Tuesday following a request by international mediators Lord Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg for Greek intervention to help break the impasse in the Geneva talks. Athens, 5/8/1993 (ANA): The government yesterday flatly rejected Turkish press allegations that it is providing economic or other support to local Kurdish groups. "We have already flatly rejected these press reports. Greece completely respects the human rights of all peoples but cannot tolerate the conduct of activities or the expression of threats against Greek or foreign citizens residing in our country by foreign nationals to whom it has granted political asylum", foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Papaconstantinou said. "The Greek government will implement all necessary measures to protect domestic public order", he added. Athens, 5/8/1993 (ANA): Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis yesterday received a delegation of the Party for Human Rights, which represents the ethnic Greek minority in Albania, to discuss Greek-Albanian relations following the expulsion of a Greek-Orthodox cleric from Gyrokastr last month. "The premier expressed his firm position that Greece desires friendship and cooperation with Albania and reiterated recent statements on Greek-Albanian relations", delegation member Thomas Mitsios told reporters after the meeting. "These statements concern, first and foremost, the rights of the ethnic Greek minority in Albania that the Albanian government must accord (the minority). The comparison with Kosovo refers to respect for human rights and respect for all minorities, where they exist", he added. Mr. Mitsotakis on July 14 set six conditions for "rapid and substantial" improvement in relations with Albania, including the return of all church property confiscated by Albania's former communist regime, the establishment of ethnic minority Greek schools and an end to the harassment and arbitrary dismissal of ethnic Greeks from public service positions. The delegation also met with Foreign Minister Michalis Papaconstantinou later yesterday. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Papaconstantinou reiterated Greece's desire for good relations with Tirana but said that a prerequisite for an improvement in Greek-Albanian relations was respect for minority rights in Albania. "As neighbouring states, I believe that Greece and Albania desire good relations... but a prerequisite - which is taken for granted in the international community - is (respect for) minority rights in Albania, to which the ethnic Greek minority is entitled", he said. Respect for minorities' human rights "means schools, teachers, churches, priests, the free exercise of religion, education, participation of the minority in Albanian public and political life", he added. Mr. Papaconstantinou said these rights were considered a given by the international community and guaranteed by international treaties. "They should not be expressed only formally in the laws and Constitution of the neighbouring country, they should also be established in practice", he added. Athens, 5/8/1993 (ANA): The foreign ministry yesterday rejected Albanian press reports that Greece had declined a request by the CSCE Commissioner for National Minorities to visit Greece. "This report is a deliberate distortion", foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Papaconstantinou said when asked to comment on a dispatch by the Albanian news agency, ATA. "The only issue (of concern) is the ethnic Greek minority in Albania and the exclusive purpose of Max van der Stoel's visit, conducted in the framework of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, was obtaining a firsthand account of the degree to which the minority's human rights are protected", the spokesman said. "It is self-evident that, in this light, there is simply no reason for Mr. van der Stoel to visit our country", he added. The CSCE High Commissioner ended his second fact-finding mission to Albania on July 29. Speaking to reporters before departing Tirana, Mr. van de Stoel said he planned to return later this month with two specialists in ethnic minority rights in order to complete his investigation.