Thessaloniki hosts exhibition on Neolothic civilisation
NEWS IN DETAIL
Active Greek involvement in EU diplomatic mission to Tirana
Greece will be actively involved in the European Union's first tentative
steps to help the Albanian authorities restore order in the anarchic Balkan
republic and will continue its own contacts in Albania in an effort to
bring an end to the crisis.
As a first step, the EU has decided to send a high-level mission to Tirana
today, led by Dutch diplomat Jan de Marchant et d'Ansembourg and including
representatives from EU presidency the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, the
European Commission and the Orga nisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE).
The aim of the mission is to explore the steps needed to be taken to
normalise the situation in Albania.
The European Unions' Council of Foreign Ministers meeting informally over
the weekend in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, shied away from sending troops
into Albania but said they would send an expert military and police
advisory group to try and help restore order.
They said they would consider providing protection for the mission if it
was needed, but stressed that it was not a military operation.
"The European Union has decided the dispatch of representatives to Albania
with the aim of studying the situation and offering assistance to the
Albanian government in its efforts to restore public order and safety,"
government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said in Athens yesterday.
He said Greece would be represented in this mission by ambassador Dimitris
Kypraios and Brigadier Ioannis Tsagaris.
Kranidiotis in Girokaster
Foreign Undersecretary Yiannos Kranidiotis will visit Gjirokaster tomorrow,
as part of intense diplomatic and political contacts on the part of the
Greek government to find a peaceful political solution, Mr. Reppas
said.
"Greece will continue to offer humanitarian aid and we believe that soon
the crisis will be over and Albanians and Albania will see better days,"
Mr. Reppas said.
The Albanian crisis and prospects for the achievement of a political
solution will be discussed at a meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister
Costas Simitis today.
The meeting will be attended by foreign and defence ministry officials and
ministers. In order to attend the meeting, Alternate Foreign Minister
George Papandreou's scheduled visit to Sweden has been postponed.
Second evacuation operation successful
The second operation by Greek armed forces to evacuate foreign citizens
from Albania ended successfully on Saturday.
By 1:35 p.m., 250 people, mainly Chinese, Jordanian and Egyptian nationals,
had boarded the "Kava-loudis" missile boat.
They headed for Corfu on board the frigate "Aegaio", which had been moored
in the port of Durres.
Greek aid reaches Albania
The foreign ministry has announced that medical and pharmaceutical aid for
Albania was delivered to hospitals in Sarande, Gjirokaster, Tepeleni and
Premeti on Saturday. The aid was met at the Kakavia border crossing by
ambulances and transported to the hospitals.
The National Foundation for Welcoming and Rehabilitating Exaptriate Greeks
(EIYAPOE) is to begin delivering food aid, mainly flour, to southern
Albanian villages today, in cooperation with the prefectural and local self-
admini-stration of Ioannina and Thesprotia.
US envoy concerned at Albanian developments
US Ambassador to Athens Thomas Niles assessed that developments in Albania
may make the situation in Kosovo "difficult ".
Speaking in Edessa on Saturday, Mr. Niles said "the situation in FYROM is
calm and we hope it will stay calm. However, in Kosovo the situation can
become difficult as a result of developments in Albania."
Mr. Niles said the fact the population in Albania is armed is very
dangerous, adding that "all the surrounding countries, and my country, must
help in the creation of a national unity government in Albania."
Archbishop Anastasios
Albanian TV yesterday broadcast an urgent appeal by Archbishop of Tirana
and All Albania Anastasios, calling for an end to the acute problem of
looting around the country. The appeal, also read at Orthodox Cathedrals in
major cities throughout the country , said hysteria should come to an
end.
Greece reiterates position on EU expansion
The European Union Council of Ministers reiterated over the weekend its
explicit commitment that a structured dialogue with Cyprus will take place,
together with the structured dialogue of other candidate countries, and
that this issue will be discussed at the next meeting of the committee of
EU member-states permanent representatives (COREPER), Foreign Minister
Theodoros Pangalos said yesterday.
Mr. Pangalos highlighted the Cyprus issue, relations between the European
Union and Turkey and Greek-Turkish relations during a press conference at
the end of the informal Council of EU Foreign Ministers in Apeldoorn, The
Netherlands.
The insistence of certain countries on the involvement of the Turkish
Cypriot community in the negotiations for Cyprus' accession was "unacceptable",
Mr. Pangalos said, because it placed in doubt the EU's existing commitment
that Cyprus will be the firs tamong accession candidates with which
accession negotiations will get under way.
Commenting on relations between the EU and Turkey, Mr. Pangalos told
reporters that "the discussion which took place was wider on the problems
our country has with Turkey."
Mr. Pangalos said Turkey must make its choices because it cannot "want to
be a member of the EU and at the same time behave to political and ethnic
minorities in the way it is behaving, to violate human rights and freedom
of the press, not to contribute towards resolving the Cyprus issue,
thinking that it can do this indefinitely and, lastly, to raise historically
inaccurate and legally untenable territorial claims against a country such
as Greece which is a member of the EU."
Mr. Pangalos said German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel asked him whether
Greece intends to lift its reservations in relation to the EU-Turkey
financial protocol and he replied "certainly not." Mr. Kinkel walked out of
the session afterwards. He said this stance is not unprecedented but is
considered unacceptable by Greece.
"Nobody can come and submit an ultimatum and then become angry when the
ultimatum is not accepted," he said.
Mr. Pangalos said the Dutch presidency was of the opinion that Turkey and
Greece should each choose a "wise man" to have the process examined by
which resorting to The Hague will be feasible. He said that in Greece's
view such a process was not necessary, but added that Greece did not wish
to exclude the presidency's initiative.
Crucial week ahead for New Democracy
The main opposition New Democracy party's three-day 4th Congress will start
at the Peace and Friendship Stadium on Friday where some 3,400 delegates
will elect a new party leader from four candidates in what is believed by
many to be the party's most cruc ial congress in its 22-year history.
The candidates contesting the leadership are the incumbent leader Miltiades
Evert and his challengers George Souflias, Costas Karamanlis and Vyron
Polydoras.
The 4th congress will be the first to elect a party leader but many concede
that it will constitute an important step towards widening democracy in the
party, while many others claim that the problems of the party's political
orientation and cohesion will not be resolved during the upcoming
congress.
What remains to be seen is whether the outcome of the congress at the Peace
and Friendship Stadium will bring peace and friendship to strife-torn
ND.
18 illegal immigrants presumed dead as boat sinks in Aegean
Eighteen illegal immigrants were presumed dead last night after a boat
carrying them from Turkey sank in Turkish territorial waters just off the
islet of Ro early yesterday.
Port authorities on Ro were notified of the incident by a survivor of the
incident, an Iranian man, who said he swam to the Greek islet after the
boat sank. A further two survivors were rescued by port police vessels
arriving at the scene shortly after the initial reports. The port police
said they saw bodies floating within Turkish territorial waters. Turkish
authorities and ships sailing nearby were notified to search the area for
possible survivors. After the incident was reported, Turkish coast guard
vessels collected the bodies and transported them back to Kas.
According to reports, the 21 illegal immigrants, including three women and
three children, bought the boat, without an engine, in the town of Kas in
Turkey in order to row to Kastellorizo and request political asylum from
the Greek authorities. The three survivors said that half-way between the
Turkish coast and the island, the boat began to leak and sank soon
afterwards. They said none of the 18 who perished could swim, and there
were no life jackets on board.
The three surviving men have been hospitalised in Kastellorizo, whe-re one,
whose four-month pregnant wife drowned in the incident, is being treated
for severe shock.
Thessaloniki hosts exhibition on Neolithic civilisation
Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos inaugurated a major exhibition in
Thessaloniki yesterday called "Neolithic Civilisation in Greece." The
exhibition includes hundreds of items such as urns, tools, statuettes,
ceramics and jewellery dating from 6800 t o 3200 B.C. and originating from
48 museums from Greece and four from Cyprus.
"The exhibition constitutes a challenge for European cultural history and
aesthetics," Mr. Venizelos said during the inauguration ceremony, adding
that "many of the items on display bear many common points with modern
industrial design."
WEATHER
Fine weather is forecast for most of Greece today with only a few clouds in
eastern Macedonia and Thrace and the northern Aegean sea with possible
showers. Moderate northerly winds getting stronger in the Aegean. Athens
will be mostly sunny with temperatures between 9-18C. Thessaloniki will be
partly cloudy with temperatures between 8-14C.
SPORTS
Greek First Division soccer results
Olympiakos-Edessa 4-0 AEK Athens-Panahaiki 2-0
Pyrgos-Panathinaikos 2-1 Heraklis-OFI Crete 0-1
Apollon-Kavala 2-0 Veria-Ionikos 1-1
Kalamata-Kastoria 2-0 Athinaikos-Xanthi 0-0
PAOK Thessaloniki-Aris Thessalonoiki 2-1
Standings:
Olympiakos 61 AEK 55
Panathinaikos 51 OFI 49
PAOK 44 Kavala 43
Pyrgos 38 Veria 34
Ionikos 33
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Friday's closing rates
US dlr. 266.243 Pound sterling 424.675
Cyprus pd 522.784 French franc 46.287
Swiss franc 181.501 German mark 156.180
Italian lira (100) 15.669 Yen (100) 215.204
Canadian dlr. 195.364 Australian dlr. 212.427
Irish Punt 415.350 Belgian franc 7.571
Finnish mark 52.308 Dutch guilder 138.806
Danish kr. 40.932 Swedish kr. 34.367
Norwegian kr. 38.829 Austrian sch. 22.192
Spanish peseta 1.840 Portuguese escudo 1.553
(C.E.)
