NEWS IN DETAIL

Museums, sites remain closed

The rally will be held outside the ministry building at 10.00 local time to protest the application which has been filed by the ministry under the provisional remedies procedure.

The application will be discussed by an Athens court at noon tomorrow.

According to the strikers, Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos has not accepted to meet them to discuss the reasons for their ongoing 48-hour rolling strikes.

The country's most visited archaeological sites and museums remained closed today because of the strike, including the Acropolis, the Archaeological Museum and the Byzantine Museum in Athens and the White Tower and Archaeological Museum in the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

EU Commissioner begins visit

Tomorrow, Wulf-Mathies is to present the Commission's first report on economic and social cohesion in the European Union, at an event at Athens' Grande Bretagne Hotel. National Economy Minister Yannos Papantoniou and Undersecretary Christos Pachtas will address the same event on Greece's positions.

On Thursday, the Commissioner is to visit major public works in Crete and on Friday, after visiting projects in Athens, she will give a press conference.

Clerides to visit Athens Thursday

The event, to be held on Thursday under the general title ''1997: The Year of Cyprus - The Cyprus problem as touchstone in Greek-Turkish relations'', has been organised by the organisation ''Citizens' Inititative on National Issues and Social Progress''.

Clerides will be guest of honour at the event which will be addressed by National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos, Cyprus Foreign Minister Alecos Michailides and main opposition New Democracy deputy Stavros Dimas.

Car bomb in Crete injures police officer's wife

Later, it was announced that the bomb had been connected to the car's ignition. The blast threw the car a distance five metres and caused damage to five other cars as well as homes and shops

Georgia Soldatos is currently undergoing surgery after losing her left leg and sustaining severe injuries to her other leg. Doctors at Iraklio University Hospital say her life is not in danger.

It is believed that Soldatos' family and not he himself was the target of the attack, as Soldatos always used his official car, while the family car was usually driven by his wife.

One of the couple's two daughters had a lucky escape, as her mother was about to drive her to an English lesson. However, the child had not yet got into the car. The blast occurred near a children's playground, fortunately empty at the time due to rain.

Public Order Minister George Romeos today strongly condemned the bomb attack.

Asked by reporters in Komotini, northern Greece, if the attack was in any way connected with terrorist groups, Romeos said he had already instructed the competent service to conduct an investigation.

Greece confident of meeting Maastricht criteria

Greece was represented by National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou.

National delegations, including Athens', stressed that the "15" should take specific measures to strengthen employment through backing investment initiatives by small- and medium-size enterprises; promotion of inter- European networks and implementation of a more flexible monetary policy by member-states.

Addressing the session, Mr. Papantoniou outlined the positive performance of the Greek economy which, he said, was recognised by the European Commission in its recent economic report.

He said that from 14.4 per cent in 1993 the Greek public deficit will decrease to 4.2 per cent of GDP in 1997. Inflation from 12 per cent will drop to 4.5 per cent at the end of the year, while the country's growth rate, negative until recently, will re ach 3.3 per cent of GDP at the end of the year, he noted.

Mr. Papantoniou said Greece expects to meet the terms and conditions set out in the Maastricht Treaty in 1998 for participation in the single currency, adding that in 1999 the country will claim its equal participation in economic and monetary union.

FM officials begin meeting in Sofia

Citing a Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) report, the despatch said the meeting was being held within the framework of decisions taken at the foreign ministers' meeting of 6-7 July in Sofia.

Sofia has assumed the role of coordinator of the multilateral regional cooperation efforts until the next foreign ministers' meeting which will be held in Greece this year.

The agenda proposed by Sofia for the present meeting of foreign ministry political directors concerns joint action with respect to other regional cooperation initiatives. The meeting will also provide the opportunity for an exchange of views on participation in initiatives of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) organisation and the Central European Initiative (KEP).

Proposals are also expected to be put forward on basic issues, which will be discussed at the foreign ministers' meeting in Greece.

The two-day meeting will also be attended by representatives of the European Commission.

Meanwhile, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Stoyan Stalev and Greece's Ambassador to Bulgaria, Panayiotis Karakasis, today signed a memorandum of understanding in Sofia concerning the establishment of a Regional Centre for Road Infrastructure.

The decision for the establishment of the centre was taken at the meeting of transport ministers of the countries belonging to the BSEC and KEP in Sofia in November 1996.

Athens to host WEU security meeting

Greece: Ankara has no say in Cyprus' EU accession

"We have repeatedly underlined that Cyprus' accession to the EU, as this stems from the Cyprus-EU agreement on March 6, does not depend on Turkey's will nor is it subject to a settlement of the Cyprus issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantine Bikas said in an answer to earlier statements by his Turkish counterpart Omer Akbel.

According to an ANA dispatch from Istanbul, Mr. Akbel said that Cyprus can become an EU member only after a settlement has been found and when Turkey also joins the Union.

"Turkey has an obligation, stemming from international law, to put an end to its occupation of the island and react positively to proposals by the Cyprus government. But this obligation certainly does not give Turkey the right to impose its conditions on the EU and on Cyprus," Mr. Bikas added.

Greece can be a trade bridge between China and Balkans

According to the study, published today in the weekly bulletin of the Hellenic Overseas Trade Organisation (OPE), the possibilities for the development of trade relations between Greece and China are unlimited.

To date, it notes, only four Greek enterprises have become active in China as far as investing and becoming established in that country is concerned.

The study underlines that long-term strategy and marketing is necessary in order to identify those sectors in the Chinese market which Greek products could rapidly penetrate.

In addition to those products already being exported to China with the assistance of OPE, the study said, other Greek products identified by Chinese experts during bilateral contacts as being attractive include marble, olive oil and solar water heaters.

The IMEO study also notes particular interest in the Chinese market for cooperation with Greece in the sectors of tourism and technology transfer.

FAGE bond issue

The bond issue in the US market is the first carried out by a wholly Greece- based company and is the result of a collective effort by FAGE, Citibank Greece and its international network.

Official burial planned for Greeks who fell in Albania

A mass grave containing the skeletons of 50 Greek soldiers has been found near the village of Vouliarates, while a few days ago, the Greek Embassy in Tirana was informed that the remains of another five men had been discovered in the village of Kleisoura.

Post-communist reconstruction, particularly in southern Albania, has resulted in many such discoveries. Many local residents, mostly ethnic Greeks, knew of the existence of these unofficial cemeteries but did ot dare maintain the graves because of ban on religious activity by the communist regime.

However, the grave at Vouliarates was secretly maintained for fifty years by Dimitris Bakas. Before dying in 1971, he handed over care of the graveyard to his son Thomas, along with a list of names of those buried there, all soldiers who fell in the battle of Tepeleni.

Following a recent visit to Albania by the Greek chief of staff Wing Commander Athanasios Tzoganis, it was decided to form a joint Greek-Albania commission to discuss creating a large cemetery and memorial to the Greek soldiers who fell in Albania during the Italian campaign.

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