High school teachers to strike for 8th week
NEWS IN DETAIL
Foreign Undersecretary's visit to Albania
Foreign Undersecretary Yannos Kranidiotis had what he called a "useful"
meeting with Albanian President Sali Berisha in Tirana this afternoon,
although he reported that Berisha appeared determined to meet the rebellion
in the south with force if insurgents did not lay down their weapons by
tomorrow morning's deadline.
"We asked for an extension of the deadline," said Kranidiotis, adding:
"We supported a political solution to the crisis and made it clear that
this would determine relations between Albania and the European Union."
In meetings earlier with members of the Albanian opposition, the Undersecretary
noted that while Berisha was in favour of elections within 45 days with a
prime minister acceptable to all sides, he insisted on a government of his
Democratic Party. However, the opposition wanted an interim government
which would change the electoral law before holding elections.
Foreign Minister interviewed on CNN
The effect of the Albanian crisis on Greek interests, along with continuing
efforts to solve the Cyprus issue and Greece's dispute with the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) over that country's name, were
discussed in an interview with Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos on CNN
yesterday.
Pangalos expressed the view that the rebellion in the south of Albania was
not due to the fact that part of the population there was Greek.
"The rebellion is due to ... political instability in Albania and the
authoritarian behaviour of the government...(and) the big financial scandal,
" he said, referring to the collapse of pyramid investment schemes.
Greece's concerns, he went on, were to protect the ethnic Greek minority.
"Up to now we have a positive reponse from the Albanian government. ...
President Berisha...made a public declaration saying there is no ethnic
motivation in the troubles nor any distinction among the different
religious or language groups in Albania," he explained.
The Minister also stressed that Greece could not afford any more illegal
immigrants from Albania, noting that almost one in three Albanian families
lives from from incomes earned in Greece. To contain any further immigration,
specific measures, such as the mobilisation of the police force at the
border, were being taken, he added.
Turning to the Cyprus issue, Pangalos emphasised that a solution was long
overdue and that he felt there would be progress this year.
"I think that at the end of this year, Cyprus will start accession
negotiations with the European Union... Although a solution is not a
condition for the beginning of the negotiations, if there was a solution,
the negotiations would be much easier and Cyprus' place in the EU would be
much clearer," he commented, adding:
"The problem... is to oblige in some way the govenrment in Ankara, through
international pressure, to take a decision on the Cyprus issue, to
contribute positively to a solution. That is the point."
He expressed the view that proximity talks would start immediately and face-
to-face talks (between the leaders of the two communities) eventually "if
there is a positive development, before the end of the year."
Finally, with regard to the dispute over the name of FYROM, Pangalos drew
attention to Greece's currently excellent relations as FYROM's second-
largest trading partner.
"The problem is that we want a name that will distinguish this new country
from our Macedonia. Macedonia is an important part of Greece, as you know,
and Greek Macedonia is more than fifty percent of the geographical area
...(of Macedonia) ...So we want to keep this name in a clear way as the
name of Greek Macedonia. We want their name to be specified in some way and
this is what the negotiations are about," he concluded.
Athens wants normalisation of Greek-Turkish relations
The government reiterated yesterday that Greece was in favour of Turkey's
European orientation and the normalisation of relations between Turkey and
Europe and between Athens and Ankara.
Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas made the statement when asked to
comment on remarks by Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos last night after
talks in Washington with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Replying to a question by a Turkish reporter on Turkey's position in Europe,
Pangalos said ''Turkey certainly belongs to Europe. It is a big part of
European history and Greece will never change its position on this, because
if Turkey is not a part of European history, then neither is Greece a part
of European history...''.
''Any misinterpretation of Mr. Pangalos' statements is impermissible, since
Turkey participates in European institutions,'' Reppas said.
The spokesman noted however that Turkey should respect the principles which
in Europe have become vested.
On Albright's urging of a Greek-Turkish dialogue, Reppas said Athens had
never refused political dialogue ''the subject of which however cannot be
our sovereign rights''.
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, during a meeting with Foreign
Minister Theodoros Pangalos yesterday, spoke of bilateral relations,
Greece's role in Europe and in the Balkans, and Greek-Turkish relations.
"Greece has an important role to play in rebuilding Europe. We will
continue to work together on issues such as Bosnia and the Balkans," she
said.
"The US is ready to help, if it can, in resolving long-standing differences
between our allies, Greece and Turkey, in the Aegean and elsewhere. We will
also discuss opportunities which exist to promote a solution between the
sides in Cyprus and we will make a review of the situation in Albania.
Relations between Greece and the US are strong and are becoming all the
stronger," she said, welcoming Mr. Pangalos at the State Department.
Mr. Pangalos described the meeting as "very useful", adding that Greece's
relations with the US "are steadfast and continuous."
The foreign minister extended an invitation to Ms Albright to visit Greece,
which was accepted.
Athens on the shortlist for 2004 Olympics
Athens cleared the first major hurdle in its bid to host the 2004 Olympic
Games when it was yesterday put on a shortlist of five cities which will
continue to vie for the event until September, according to an ANA despatch
from Lausanne.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) chose Athens, Rome, Buenos Aires,
Cape Town and Stockholm from eleven candidate cities originally bidding for
the games.
The final decision for the venue will be decided by the IOC plenary on 5
September.
Athenians leave town for carnival weekend
Despite the poor weather forecast, over 90,000 cars will have passed
through the highway tollgates out of Athens by late tonight carrying
Athenians to various parts of the country for the final carnival weekend
and "Clean Monday", the first day of Orthodox Lent.
Extra bus and train services have been laid on, while coastal ferry
services have seen a 20% increase in passengers to the islands this
weekend.
Over 3,500 traffic police have been called up to deal with the weekend
traffic, while extra traffic lanes have been opened up on the Athens-
Corinth and Athens-Lamia highways.
Greece begins dispatch of aid to Bulgaria
An air force plane took off from Elefsina for Sofia yesterday morning
carrying 20 tonnes of medicines, part of a total 400 tonnes of food and
medicines being sent by the Greece's local government associations as
humanitarian aid to the Bulgarian people. The Defence Ministry is
subsidising the intiative with 160 million drachmas.
Shipments will continue until June.
High school teachers to strike for 8th week
High school teachers on Thursday decided to continue their strike for the
eighth consecutive week. The government spokesman reiterated that the
stoppage was unjustified since it had already met most of the teachers' pay
demands and there was an almost complete convergence on institutional
demands.
He added that the problem of the strike could be solved without resorting
to the old emergency practice of civil conscription, as it seemed that an
increasing number of teachers had begun returning to classrooms. Meanwhile,
Education Minister Gerasimos Arsenis reiterated the ministry`s aim to begin
a process of reform in September.
"The reform of education does not only require political will, which is in
place, it does not only need resources, which are in place, it also needs
the support of teachers, who must look forward and not backwards," he
said.
WEATHER
Strong northerly winds and a drop in temperature are expected today over
most of the country. Snow will fall in the north, with scattered showers in
the west, clearing later form the northwest. The rest of the country will
see increasing cloud. Rain is expected in Athens this evening, with
temperatures between 5-12C. Temperatures in Thessaloniki will range between
2-8C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Thursday's closing rates - buying US dlr. 267.592
Pound sterling 431.222 Cyprus pd 521.792
French franc 46.174 Swiss franc 179.825
German mark 155.709 Italian lira (100) 15.666
Yen (100) 220.036 Canadian dlr. 195.424
Australian dlr. 210.150 Irish Punt 416.739
Belgian franc 7.549 Finnish mark 52.229
Dutch guilder 138.384 Danish kr. 40.839
Swedish kr. 34.873 Norwegian kr. 38.539
Austrian sch. 22.125 Spanish peseta 1.841
Portuguese escudo 1.553
(Y.B.)
