From: zarros@turing.scs.carleton.ca (Theodoros Sp. Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Fri, 18 Feb 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency Bulletin, Athens, 18/2/1994 (ANA): Russia called yesterday on the West to pressure Bosnian Moslems to withdraw military units around Sarajevo, after Bosnian Serbs agreed to a Kremlin proposal to pull back their heavy artillery from around the besieged capital. "The Serbs have agreed to withdraw all heavy artillery following an appeal by President Yeltsin and a pledge by Russian peacekeeping troops in the area", Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said before beginning talks with German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel in Athens yesterday. The two ministers are due to attend a crucial meeting between the European Union 'troika' and Russia, three days before the NATO ultimatum over Bosnia expires. According to press reports, United States special envoy Charles Redman's unexpected arrival in Athens yesterday added weight to impressions that current diplomatic activity in Athens will have a decisive bearing on developments in Bosnia. NATO has threatened to bomb Bosnian Serbs, unless they pull their heavy guns from Sarajevo or place them under United Nations control by midnight Sunday. In delivering the 10-day ultimatum on February 10, NATO also called on Bosnian Moslems to hand over their artillery to UN peacekeepers. "We therefore, expect our Western partners to encourage the other side to withdraw its units (around Sarajevo). It is time for them to act, rather than talk about ultimatums", Mr. Kozyrev said. Meanwhile, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic who met Russian special envoy Vitaly Churkin in Pale yesterday, said the Serbs had accepted a Russian proposal to withdraw their heavy weapons from around Sarajevo, adding: "We do think that war in Sarajevo is finally over". Belgian Foreign Minister Willy Claes, on his arrival yesterday in Athens, expressed optimism at the "effectiveness" of the NATO ultimatum, adding the warring factions in Bosnia had "deciphered it correctly". He added the hope that military force "would not be used in the end". EU Commissioner for foreign affairs Hans Van den Broek said NATO member-states were set on implementing the NATO decision within the prescribed deadline. Mr. Claes later expressed optimism for a peaceful solution to the Sarajevo crisis, after the announcement by Russia that Bosnian Serbs accepted its proposal to withdraw their heavy weapons from around the besieged city. Speaking to reporters after talks with Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias late last night, Mr. Claes said: "This confirms my optimism and makes me say that before the ultimatum's deadline, conditions will be fulfilled in order to allow the UN to take over the administration of Sarajevo". Athens, 18/2/1994 (ANA): Mr. Papoulias earlier yesterday said that air strikes in Bosnia would exacerbate the situation in the region. Speaking to the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Papoulias said he did not believe in "a forceful solution". "In Belgrade I saw patriotic rigidity which is prepared to confront any attack", he said. Mr. Papoulias also accused Turkey of creating in the last 24 hours an "artificial crisis which aggravates the already misty scene". Athens,18/2/1994 (ANA): Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos yesterday called on the international community to give due consideration to the underlying concept of the Greek government's measures so that "they might realise that Skopje's provocativeness and intransigence functions as an element of destabilisation and uncertainty in the wider region (of the Balkans)". Greece's willingness to enter into dialogue with Skopje under UN auspices is countered by its intensifying hostile propaganda, the spokesman added. Athens, 18/2/1994 (ANA): The government said yesterday that the measures announced Wednesday in response to continued intransigence by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) include European Union goods as well as other merchandise in transit. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said only shipments to diplomatic, UN and CSCE missions currently in former Yugoslavia would be exempt. Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou announced Wednesday that Greece would halt the movement of goods through the harbour of Thessaloniki to and from FYROM, and close its Consulate General in Skopje. He said that for humanitarian reasons suspension would not include such items as foodstuffs and medical supplies. According to informed sources, the government has not yet drawn up a detailed list of goods subjects to the measure. Asked to comment on Skopjan accusations that the Greek measures contravene the 1965 convention on countries with no sea access, Mr. Venizelos replied that neither Greece nor former Yugoslavia were signatories to that convention, consequently there was no violation. Mr. Venizelos underlined that Skopje had succeeded in including references to the status of countries with no sea access in the plan proposed by international mediators Lord Owen and Cyrus Vance, recalling that Skopje President Kiro Gligorov later rejected the plan outright. Asked to comment on criticism by Danish Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen of the Greek measures, the spokesman said that Mr. Petersen would have the opportunity to express his views to Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias at the forthcoming Council of Ministers. He added that only Greece "which knows the problems of the region, is able to judge on what may or may not be good, better than Denmark might". Mr. Venizelos told other questioners the government had taken the measures for reasons of national security and stability in the greater region. He said the decision to take the measures was in no way related to the crisis in Bosnia, clarifying, however, that the Bosnian crisis had also been "seriously taken into account" before the decision was announced. It was decided that the measures should be taken now, he said. Asked to comment on a recent decision of a German court prohibiting a Greek association to call itself "Macedonian", Mr. Venizelos said that the decision "shows just how well-grounded and substantial Greece's arguments are on the issue of the neighbouring state's name". The spokesman said, however, that Greece would not make any representations since it was a judicial decision. The government believes that the measures announced Wednesday, in response to continued Skopjan intransigence do not violate international or European Union law, informed sources said. Neither former Yugoslavia nor Greece were signatories to the convention on states without sea access which came into force in 1965. The aim of the government is to make Skopje realise the seriousness of Greece's positions, the sources noted. According to the sources, the Skopje government was troubled more by the halting of goods than the Consulate closure. The measure may be extended to cover the movement of goods through all the northern Greek ports, depending on Skopje's stance, the sources went on. They added the prohibitive measures will include transit cargo and that stringent control would be carried out at the border to ensure that goods such as foodstuffs and medical supplies, which are exempt from the measure, do not reach Skopje under guise of humanitarian items. The government has so far not drawn up a specific list of goods which are subject to or exempt from the measures. Such a list would most probably be prepared by a specially formed committee which would also establish the means of monitoring. The government believes that Greece's friends and allies will understand that it was right in taking the measures, since they will create prospects for a resumption of dialogue between Athens and Skopje. Athens, 18/2/1994 (ANA): United States Ambassador to Athens Thomas Niles yesterday urged for normalisation of relations between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, saying any step in the opposite direction could exacerbate instability in the Balkans. "Normalisation of relations between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia would be a major contribution to stability in the region", Niles said. "My government has expressed concern for any step that would make normalisation even more difficult ... and an unstable situation even more unstable", he told news media after talks with Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias. The US envoy's meeting was prompted by Athens' decision to close its consulate in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and bar the new state from using the northern Greek port of Salonika. Niles denied news reports of a US letter of protest, saying his meeting was conducted in a friendly atmosphere between two allied that shared common objectives. He also added he had "no reason to expect further (Greek) measures" against its northern neighbour. Asked whether Washington would commit itself to pressuring the former Yugoslav Republic into accepting Greek demands for dialogue he said: "It's not an issue of pressure, but serving as part of a mechanism to bring the parties together and help them resolve their differences". Meanwhile in Washington, State Department spokesman Mike Mc Curry stated that "my understanding is that senior US officials in Washington and Athens have expressed our deep concern about this matter to the Greek government". Asked whether the US might increase its troop presence in 'Macedonia', where a small contingent is stationed to prevent the war in Bosnia from spreading, Mc Curry did not rule this out. "I'm not aware of any plans to expand that troop presence in 'Macedonia', but the status of that deployment is something that is under constant review", he said. Athens, 18/2/1994 (ANA): Belgian Foreign Minister Willy Claes and European Commissioner in charge of foreign affairs Hans Van den Broek, yesterday expressed "concern" over the measures taken by Greece regarding Skopje, saying that they would ask further explanations from the Greek government over the issue. Mr. Claes and Mr. Van den Broek made the statement on arrival in Athens yesterday, to take part at a meeting today, between the European Union troika and Russia Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev. The government announced Wednesday that it would suspend the movement of goods through the port of Thessaloniki to and from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and close its Consulate General in Skopje to counter continuing Skopje intransigence and provocation. The measures were put immediately into effect. Mr. Claes said that he couldn't "hide his concern", adding that he would" continue to insist on the resumption of dialogue between the two sides". "I believe that this is the best solution to safeguard good neighbourliness between the two countries and, mainly, to guarantee the smooth functioning of the European Union as a whole, as well as towards its neighbours to", he said. Mr. Van den Broek said that the measures "which anybody might describe as irrational, do not contribute to the maintenance of stability in the region, which is not to the interest of either Greece or the European Union". Mr. Van den Broek also said that the only way to settle differences between Athens and Skopje was dialogue. German Foreign Minister Claus Kinkel who also arrived yesterday refrained from making any statement. Brussels, 18/2/1994 (ANA): The European Commission will await results of the Troika meeting in Athens today, before taking a stand on Greece's measures to counter Skopje continuous provocations. "The Greek government's decision regarding Skopje yesterday (Wednesday) is not good either for building Europe, or the family spirit as described by European Commissioner Jacques Delors in his address at the Greek EU Presidency assumption ceremony in Athens in January", a European Commission spokesman said yesterday. He told a questioner the Greek government did not brief either the European Commission or the European Union member-states on its decision. The Commission held a meeting Wednesday to discuss Greece's decision, after a briefing from the European Union Athens Bureau. It also raised the issue with the EU Foreign Ministers Political Directors also convening Wednesday. The spokesman said the Commission will await the results of the troika meeting which is convening in Athens today, before taking an official position on the issue. Meanwhile, European Commissioner in charge of foreign affairs Hans Van den Broek's spokesman said Greece's decision will have "political consequences which relate to EU Common Foreign Policy and Security Policy, as well as Community policies on the internal market. Athens, 18/2/1994 (ANA): Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou yesterday held a meeting with main Opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert to discuss national issues. Although he was not entirely satisfied with Mr. Papandreou's replies to the questions he raised at the meeting, Mr. Evert said that "as a national party New Democracy will preserve the unity of the national front". Athens, 18/2/1994 (ANA): The Thessaloniki port authority said yesterday that the government decision to suspend the movement of goods to and from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) had been put into immediate effect. President of the Thessaloniki Port Authority, Apostolos Yennitsaris, told ANA that port authorities were implementing the decision "to the letter". He said loading and unloading operations which had begun three days ago on three vessels were halted Wednesday. At the same time, the loading of petroleum products from the state-owned Hellenic Fuels and Mineral Oils (EKO) refinery in Thessaloniki also stopped as of Wednesday. EKO labour representatives said that the loading of petroleum products for Skopje was halted Wednesday afternoon on instructions from the Public Petroleum Corporation (DEP). Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou announced Wednesday Greece would suspend the movement of goods through its northern port city of Thessaloniki to FYROM and close its Consulate General in Skopje in response to continuing intransigence and provocations on the part of the neighbouring state. Meanwhile, the first written instructions concerning the government's decision arrived yesterday at the Evzones customs on the border with FYROM. Customs officials there said that they awaited clarifications from the government regarding the status of goods being transported by road which have not passed through the port of Thessaloniki. Sri Lanka-flag "Kalma", one of three vessels engaged in loading and unloading, stopped operations and left the port yesterday. It carried a cargo of timber from Skopje to Egypt and sailed because loading had almost been completed. The other two vessels, are the Italian-flag "Tivemar", loading wine from Skopje for Italy, and Russian-flag "Gutoznik Mour" unloading phosphates from Jordan destined for Skopje. Summing up the mood of businessmen and workers in Thessaloniki, the president of the city's chamber of Commerce and Industry Pandelis Constantinides said "it is not possible to consider private business interests when supreme national interest is at stake, that is, territorial integrity. Especially at a time when (historically Greek) names and symbols are being usurped". Mr. Consantinides estimated that repercussions for Greece from the government decision would be insignificant "since economic relations (between Greece and Skopje) had been frozen in recent years". Athens, 18/2/1994 (ANA): Commerce Minister Costas Simitis said yesterday that repercussions from the measures against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) announced by the government Wednesday would be "negligible". Mr. Simitis said that in the last two years, Greek exports to and imports from the neighbouring state had been "virtually nil", due to the unsettled situation in former Yugoslavia. According to latest figures, the value of Greek imports from Skopje in the first ten months of 1993 totalled barely 12 million dollars, while Greek exports amounted to 108 million dollars. Greek exporters are unlikely to suffer from the measures, however, owing to the fact that fuel accounted for about 65 per cent of the Greek exports.