Subject: News I, 7/08/93 Athens News Agency Bulletin, August 7, 1993 =========================================== Belgrade, 7/8/1993 (ANA - A. Kourkoulas): Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic yesterday said the prerequisites existed for success of the Bosnian peace talks. "Our side expressed its belief that the negotiations underway in Geneva will conclude successfully and the soonest possible", he told a joint press conference with Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis. The Greek premier, who flew to Belgrade yesterday to meet with the Serbian president at the request of international mediators Lord Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg, also expressed hope that a peaceful solution was possible in Bosnia. "There are still dangers but I believe that today we are closer to a peaceful resolution", Mr. Mitsotakis said. He added that Greece, a member of both NATO and the European Community, was making every possible effort to ensure that Serbia's positions were understood. "The Greek government, and I personally, believe in the need for a peaceful resolution in Bosnia, and I believe that this can be achieved within the framework of the efforts being made by the international mediators in Geneva", he said. The premier also pledged that Greece would continue to contribute its efforts towards a peaceful resolution in former Yugoslavia. "The Bosnian issue is at a critical turn. But we believe that with good faith and good will it can be resolved in a manner that satisfies and respects the interests of all three sides", Mr. Mitsotakis added. The Serbian president thanked the premier for his efforts on behalf of a peaceful settlement and said Greece had played a very "constructive role". "Greece has consistently supported a peaceful resolution" in Bosnia, he added. --- Speaking to reporters on arrival at Belgrade airport, Mr. Mitsotakis said the peace in Bosnia was the sole aim and hope of all peoples as well as a fundamental principle of Greek foreign policy. "I shall do all I can to achieve this great goal, but the moment is critical and circumstances difficult. Still, that is no reason to give up hope", he said. Asked if the Yugoslav issue had been raised at his meeting with US Charge d' Affairs in Athens Wednesday, the premier said that he had asked to see the envoy to discuss other matters, but that as the Yugoslav issue had also been discussed in light of his visit to Belgrade. --- Earlier yesterday government spokesman Vassilis Manginas told a press briefing that the premier had briefed the cabinet on his mission to Belgrade. Asked whether Mr. Mitsotakis would also go to Geneva to meet with the international mediators, the spokesman said "every" necessary effort would be made in support of a peaceful solution in Bosnia. Athens, 7/8/1993 (ANA): Greece and Russia yesterday reaffirmed the urgent need for a negotiated solution in Bosnia and emphasised the need for adherence to all relevant UN Security Council resolutions. A foreign ministry statement said Foreign Undersecretary Virginia Tsouderou and visiting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vitaly Churkin had reaffirmed the identity of views between Moscow and Athens and expressed their hope that current obstacles in the Geneva talks could be overcome so that the dialogue could be resumed between the warring factions. It added that the two officials had expressed concern over obstructions in the flow of humanitarian aid to the civilian populations in Serbia and Montenegro by the UN sanctions committee's uneven application of the embargo against former Yugoslavia. They also expressed support for the gradual lifting of the embargo against the Yugoslav federation in conjunction with progress in the Bosnian peace talks. The statement said Ms. Tsouderou had also briefed her Russian counterpart on Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis' contacts in Belgrade earlier yesterday aimed at breaking the impasse in the Bosnian peace talks. Athens, 7/8/1993 (ANA): The government yesterday strongly protested the Austrian civil aviation authorities' denial of over flight permission to Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis' plane. "I am obliged to report a strange and sad incident that took place during the premier's flight from Belgrade to Brussels", government spokesman Vassilis Manginas said in a statement. "According to the flight plan, which had been distributed for clearance yesterday (Thursday), the premier's plane was to cross Austrian air space en route from Belgrade to Brussels. The relevant Austrian authorities refused to grant over-flight permission because the plane was bound from Belgrade, even though it was known that the premier's visit there had been made with the approval of the UN sanctions committee", the spokesman said. "I would like to believe that this action by the Austrian authorities does not reflect the views of the Austrian government", he said, adding that the premier had directed the foreign ministry to take appropriate diplomatic action. Athens, 7/8/1993 (ANA): Turkey's positions on Bosnia are "diametrically opposed" to those which it has long maintained on the Cyprus issue, foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Papaconstantinou said yesterday. Commenting on statements by Turkish Foreign Minister Hikmet Cetin criticising the application of the principle of ethnic borders in Bosnia, Mr. Papaconstantinou underlined the inconsistency of Turkish foreign policy, which "in two similar problems applies double standards". "Since 1974 when Turkey invaded Cyprus, Ankara had implemented a policy of segregating the two communities, creating tens of thousands of refugees and expelling ecnclaved Greek Cypriots, while at the same time proceeding with the mass colonisation of the occupied territories by (mainland) Turks and en masse naturalisations", the spokesman said. "Moreover, in order legalise Cyprus' partition, Turkey is proceeding with secessionist actions such as the establishment of the Turkish-Cypriot pseudo-state (in the Turkish occupied areas) and the continuous efforts to achieve its international recognition, despite world condemnation", Mr. Papaconstantinou added. Athens, 7/8/1993 (ANA): Renowned Greek composer Manos Hatzidakis was reported in stable condition yesterday after being hospitalised Thursday with respiratory problems and minor complications following triple by-pass surgery in London this spring, doctors at the Ippokrateion hospital said. Mr. Hatzidakis, who won an Oscar for scoring Jules Dassin's 1960 film "Never on Sunday" starring Melina Mercouri, is one of Greece's best known composers whose works include ballets, theatrical and film scores and popular music. Belgrade, 7/8/1993 (ANA - A. Kourkoulas): Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos yesterday met with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to reaffirm the strong ties between the Orthodox Church and the Serbian people. Patriarch Vartholomeos arrived in Belgrade Thursday on the first leg of a Balkan tour which includes visits to Romania and Bulgaria. "Your presence will reinforce the ties between the churches", Mr. Milosevic said at an official lunch after the meeting. "We are aware of your efforts (to end) the deep crisis plundering our country. We are also aware of your efforts to make our problem known among the Orthodox throughout the world", he added. Reiterating the Orthodox Church's support for the Serbian people, patriarch Vartholoemos said that "those who uphold the Orthodox faith know that faith in justice and truth is their strongest armour ... in their struggle against great odds". The patriarch also met with the President of the Yugoslav Federation, Zoran Lilits. Brussels, 7/8/1993 (ANA): Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis yesterday met with EC Commission President Jacques Delors to discuss European Community aid to Greece and other EC issues. "We held a general discussion on EC funds and the Delors II aid package. I also briefed Mr. Delors on the course of the Greek economy", the premier told reporters after the meeting. "Special reference was made to the Aheloos (river diversion and dam), a very important project that has run into unexpected legal problems raised by the EC's legal department", he added. "The government is determined to go ahead with the project and I asked Mr. Delors' support so that it may proceed as soon as possible", Mr. Mitsotakis said. The Greek Premier arrived in Brussels yesterday to attend the funeral of Belgium's King Baudoin, who died last Saturday following a heart attack while on holiday in southern Spain. Athens, 7/8/1993 (ANA): The government yesterday submitted draft legislation to parliament outlining the procedures for the partial privatisation of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE). "Our model is based on mixed ownership and management. The state will hold the majority and will appoint the president and majority of the board of directors", National Economy and Finance Minister Stephanos Manos told a news conference. He said the state would retain a 51 per cent share in the phone company and that a strategic investor, to purchase 35 per cent of OTE shares, would be chosen by the end of September. In addition to assuming the phone company's management, the strategic investor would also name four of the 11 OTE board members, he added. Companies expected to bid for the 35 per cent share include Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, France Telecom, the US-based GTE Corp, Telefonic de Espana SA, Italy's STET SpA and Korea Telecom. The government has said it will also sell 10 per cent of OTE shares through the Athens Stock Exchange and distribute the remaining four per cent of the shares free to OTE employees. Mr. Manos said the phone utility's partial privatisation aimed at modernising its operations and expanding services in order to make OTE more competitive internationally. "Greek consumers and suppliers will both benefit. Greece will have made a great step towards the future", he added. Asked about possible price hikes, he said that from 1994 through 2003, the annual increase in OTE rates would be two percentage points below the annual rate of inflation. Parliament is expected to vote on the bill by the end of next week. --- The government's plan to partially privatise OTE has met with strong opposition from labour unions and opposition parties. Immediately following the bill's presentation to parliament, the OTE employees' union, OME-OTE, announced rolling 24-hour strikes as from Monday. It also said an emergency board meeting had been called to discuss further action. Main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) called the plan "a premeditated crime against the nation" and called on the government to withdraw the bill. The Coalition of the Left and Progress warned that OTE's partial privatisation would have a "catastrophic effect" on the economy, while the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) condemned the government's "capitulation to the will of the multinationals". Athens, 7/8/1993 (ANA): The government yesterday released a request for proposals for the construction and operation of a 500-700 MW electrical power production unit. The unit, which will use natural gas imported from Russia, will be self-financed through the BOO (build-own-operate) method and will produce electrical energy for sale to the state-owned Public Power Corporation (DEH). Parliament recently approved legislation that permits the private production of electrical energy for sale to DEH. The contract will be awarded following an international tendering process. Bucharest, 7/8/1993 (AFP): A Constanza court yesterday annulled a partnership agreement between Petromin, a Romanian shipping company, and Forum Maritime, a Greek company, which would have placed three quarters of the Romanian merchant fleet under its control. The agreement provided for payment of 335 million dollars by Forum Maritime to Petromin, in return for the right by Forum's Stelios Katounis to acquire 51 per sent of the stock of a joint venture company. This would have enabled the Greek shipowner to control 91 Romanian vessels totalling approximately 4.5 million GRT. The agreement's terms caused a major scandal in Romania, with political circles referring to the agreement as "fraudulent and unacceptable". The Romanian government was now reportedly in favour of concluding a "management agreement" with Mr. Katounis, who is said to be in favour of such an option.