From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca (Theodore Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Thu, 26 May 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency Bulletin, State Dept spokesman statement triggers off Athens request for explanations -------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 26/5/1994 (ANA): The government said yesterday it had requested explanations from the US State Department on a statement by spokesman Mike McCurry to the effect he had "no reliable evidence to indicate that the Albanian government is oppressing the Greek minority". At the same time, the government called on Tirana to provide evidence in support of an Albanian claim incriminating a group of six members of the ethnic Greek political organisation "Omonia", charged with "being in possession of arms and engaged in secessionist activities". Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said Mr. McCurry's statement did not satisfy the Greek government and was "inadequate". "Greek Ambassador to Washington Lucas Tsilas has made repeated representations with the State Department, reiterating Greek positions and providing ample explanations," Mr. Venizelos said. The spokesman said the "explanations given by the State Department were detailed, but they had not been accurately translated in the statement made by Mr. McCurry when he briefed reporters in Washington." "After explanations given by the State Department to the Greek ambassador," Mr. Venizelos added, "the government has no reason to be displeased. It is, however, necessary for the whole picture to be offered by the State Department in the form of a public statement." Meanwhile, the spokesman rejected claims carried in an Albanian Foreign Ministry statement alleging that it had evidence "proving that six ethnic Greeks were in illegal possession of arms, had connections with the Greek secret service and engaged in secessionist activities." "Such Albanian government claims are made with a delay of several weeks," Mr. Venizelos said, adding "no comprehensive or substantiated arguments had ever been used at the meetings between the Greek and Albanian foreign ministers in Zurich, or the delegations of the two countries in Ioannina a few days after the Episkopi incident." The spokesman was referring to the April 10 attack on a conscript training camp in southern Albania, which sparked tension between the two countries after Tirana accused Greece of being behind the attack. Athens strongly turned down the accusations. Mr. Venizelos reiterated that Greece was not prepared to be a target of slanderous, unfounded accusations, especially as it had repeatedly displayed good intentions for improving relations with Tirana. "But the Albanian government should realise that any improvement depends on respect for human rights of the Greek ethnic minority," Mr. Venizelos stressed. "Had there been any evidence," he continued, "it should have been put forward at the diplomatic meetings held between Athens and Tirana. It follows that Albania bears the brunt of establishing it is a state which upholds the rule of law." The spokesman also described an accusation carried in an Albanian Foreign Ministry statement claiming that "the fuss created by the Greek government over the six ethnic Greeks is linked to the (European) election fervour" as constituting "unacceptable interference in Greek politics." Disbelievers should go to Albania - Evert ----------------------------------------- Athens, 26/5/1994 (ANA): Main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert yesterday urged those who don't believe the ethnic Greek minority in South Albania is persecuted by Tirana authorities to gain firsthand experience by making a visit to the country. Mr. Evert was referring to earlier allegations by a State Department official that there was no evidence the Greek minority in Albania was under persecution. "I visited Albania and witnessed goings-on with my own eyes," the leader of the opposition said. Pol.An: Let world know of Albanian harrowing of Greek ethnics -------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 26/5/1994 (ANA): A Political Spring spokesman yesterday said Greece should beam a clear message to the world projecting grave concern for the fate of the ethnic Greek minority in Albania. Pol.An spokesman Manolis Kalamidas said the government should lodge serious representations directly with the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), the United Nations, the European Union and the Council of Europe, to bring Albanian President Sali Berisha round to facing up to his responsibilities on the issue of the ethnic Greek community in southern Albania. European stability conference opens in Paris -------------------------------------------- Paris, 26/5/1994 (ANA-A.Podimata): European Foreign Ministers and state representatives will be taking today a plunge in deep waters as they come together to discuss a spate of ethnic, national and border problems in eastern and central Europe, in Paris today. The Ministers have responded to a call by the European Union to participate in a Conference on Stability in Europe another Yugoslavia-style conflict. Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos will chair the two-day conference, which will mainly focus on harbouring accords and agreements on good neighbourly relations. Foreign Under-secretary George Papandreou will represent Greece. The brainchild of French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur, the Conference on Stability in Europe, endorsed by the European Union in April, aims at drafting a "European Stability Pact" to monitor border and minority problems in the countries of eastern and central Europe that are future candidates for a European Union accession. They include Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. "The Paris Conference is a call by the European Union to such countries wanting to become EU members to solve their differences on border and minority issues," French Foreign Under-secretary for European Affairs Alain Lamassoure, said. "The 12 are ready to accept new members but not new centres of conflict," he added. PASOK at Socialist International C'ttee meeting ----------------------------------------------- Athens, 26/5/1994 (ANA): The ruling socialist PASOK party will attend today's meeting of the Socialist International's Committee on central and eastern Europe in Budapest. PASOK will be represented by Deputy Michalis Chrysochoidis and Nikos Dimadis, Secretary-General of the Department of Overseas Greeks. The Committee will discuss the situation in former Yugoslavia, recent and forthcoming elections in central and eastern Europe and its future activities. Ghali denies reports Athens, Skopje agreed on direct talks ---------------------------------------------------------- United Nations, 26/5/1994 (ANA-M.Georgiadou): United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali dismissed rumours yesterday that Athens and Skopje have agreed to have direct consultations in New York next month. Mr. Ghali said that according to a detailed report by UN Skopje Mediator Cyrus Vance, both sides agreed to meet in New York on June 13. "Both sides have agreed to continue talks with Cyrus Vance in New York. There is no mention that it (the resumption of talks) would take place in the form of proximity talks through Mr. Vance or direct talks," Mr. Ghali said. "However," he added, "I hope and believe that their presence here in New York, over the next days, will help resolve the problem." Pollution: Athens downtown traffic, factory ban, new working hours ---------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 26/5/1994 (ANA): The government yesterday announced measures to combat air pollution in Athens, including a ban on traffic in the city centre and reduced fuel consumption by industrial plants. According to an Environment Ministry statement, no cars will be allowed into the centre of the city between 7.00 a.m. and 8 p.m. today. All taxis with license plates ending in an odd number are also included in the ban. In addition, polluting industrial units should reduce fuel consumption by 30 per cent between 6 a.m. today and 6 p.m. tomorrow. Unusually high temperatures and lack of winds has sent pollution to high levels in Athens in the past few days. Downtown Athens nitrogen dioxide levels yesterday morning reached 490 micrograms, just 10 mg below the emergency limit. The Ministry announcement said that measures were introduced because the same high temperatures were expected today. In a related development, Environment Minister Kostas Laliotis met yesterday with trade union representatives, in an attempt to reach agreement on government plans to introduce scaled working hours in Athens, to reduce traffic congestion as part of a drive to combat pollution. According to the projected schedule, public utility enterprises would begin work at 7, public offices 7.30 , banks 8.15, and stores 9.15 or 9.30 a.m. The measures will most likely be announced early next week. Former diplomat unseated as ND deputy ------------------------------------- Athens, 26/5/1994 (ANA): Main opposition New Democracy party Deputy Dimitris Avramopoulos forfeits his parliamentary seat and is succeeded by Constantine Sapsalis as a ND Deputy in the Athens first electoral district. The special elections court issued a ruling last night, explaining that Mr. Avramopoulos had an impediment preventing him from standing for election under Article 56 of the Constitution, which bars those who held positions in the Civil Service to stand for Parliament. Mr. Avramopoulos served as special assistant to then-Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis over a period of 13 months (October 1990-October 1991), director of the Foreign Ministry's information department for four months, and director of the then-Prime minister's diplomatic office for four months (June-September 1993). Parties assigned Europoll expenditure funds ------------------------------------------- Athens, 26/5/1994 (ANA): Interior Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos yesterday announced the way one billion dr. will be allocated to additionally finance parties in light of the upcoming Euro-elections. The amount will be drawn from the 1995 budget with the parties' agreement and divided as follows (in GRD): PASOK 415,605,891, New Democracy 354,943,688, Political Spring 79,402,837, Communist Party of Greece (KKE) 76,761,870, Coalition of the Left and Progress 15,428,571, Democratic Renewal Party 15,428,571 and New Left Wave 15,428,571. Parties not represented in Parliament and the Europarliament will receive 27 million dr. provided they poll 0.15 per cent of the vote (more than 10,000 votes). It is reminded that by virtue of an Interior Ministry amendment, the seven parties represented in Parliament and the Europarliament have shared 400 million dr. in equal amounts which remained from the regular subsidisation of the 1994 budget. Industrialists sound alarm over economy, call for more measures -------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 26/5/1994 (ANA): Industrialists sounded the alarm over the state of the Greek economy yesterday, calling for additional measures to be taken. Important assessments on the state and prospects of the Greek economy were made at yesterday's general meeting of the Federation of Greek Industries (SEB) which elected a new president, Andreas Kanellopoulos, who succeeds Stelios Argyros. Iason Stratos retained the post of Executive Committee President for a second two-year term. Referring to the drachma, the industrialists cautioned if the present situation continued, it would have grave repercussions both on the market and output. Mr. Stratos called for immediate measures, adding the crisis may grow to uncontrollable proportions. But Mr. Kanellopoulos appeared more optimistic, saying Greek economy convergence was feasible provided a consistent economic policy were implemented and Community subsidies utilised. National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou also spoke, noting government economic policy aims at achieving gradual rapprochement with criteria in the Maastricht Treaty. He said the convergence programme to be submitted to the European Commission next month would bring inflation very close to the Community average as of 1996 and, as of 1997, the public deficit would be 3 per cent of GDP. Outlining fiscal policy targets, Mr. Papantoniou said current tax legislation should be strictly implemented, public consumption gradually reduced through curbing enrolments and public sector operational requirements, and a minority package of stock of certain public corporations be listed on the stock exchange. He laid special emphasis on growth, detailing clauses in a relevant bill to be tabled in Parliament soon. Slight recovery anticipated --------------------------- Athens, 26/5/1994 (ANA): SEB's bulletin forecasts a slight recovery in the Greek economy in 1994 through a big increase in investments. The bulletin further predicts a primary budget surplus equivalent to 2.3 per cent of GDP, but stressed forecasts have a wide margin of error and depend directly on public deficits. The bulletin listed the public sector as the Greek economy's chronic problem, adding initial signs from implementing the budget were not particularly encouraging . Greek micro-economic performance "not satisfactory" - Christophersen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Brussels, 26/5/1994 (ANA-M. Savva/F. Stangos): European Commission Vice President Henning Christophersen said yesterday "there is no ground for satisfaction with Greece's microeconomic performances." "Greece has the highest inflation rate, the biggest foreign debt and the highest public deficit among European Union member-states," Mr. Christophersen said during the presentation of European Commission proposals on general policy guidelines for member-states' economic policy. Mr. Christophersen said that after talks with Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou and the Finance and Interior Ministers in January, he had concluded that "the Greek government is not satisfied with the situation either." "I encouraged them to propose an integrated programme for the recovery of the economy, and they assured me that they would submit it in June," he said. Referring to Greece, the text of the European Commission's proposals stressed that the trend for a decline in inflation in Greece should be boosted, and a fundamental prior condition for this and for price stability in Greece was to remove fiscal imbalances. Decisive efforts should also be made to reduce fiscal deficits, the statement added. "Determination to follow a sustained fiscal stability policy as part of a long-term programme, and implementing structural measures should materialise soon through specific measures," it said. A necessary prior condition for fiscal adjustment is bringing significant improvement to the taxation system and, in particular, combating tax evasion effectively. Current expenditure should also be compressed, together with social welfare outflows, the statement noted.