Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-06-03

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 03/06/1997 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Pangalos in Albania for talks with political leadership
• Government to see through current economic policy
• Mitsotakis says Greek-Turkish relations on the right road
• Kastanidis inaugurates fibre optic cable
• Kaklamanis to visit Finland
• Greek police ceizes 50 kilos of heroin
• Cleridis to visit Athens
• Athens ready to increase peacekeeping force for Albanian elections
• Mount Athos representatives object to Schengen accord
• V. Papandreou discusses gas and oil pipeline proposals
• Greek-Israeli economic ties improve
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos arrived in Tirana today to have talks with Albanian President Sali Berisha and Prime Minister Bashkim Fino on efforts to normalise the situation in the neighbouring country ahead of the June 29 general elections.

Pangalos, accompanied by foreign ministry officials, will also meet with the leaders of Albanian opposition parties as well as the leadership of the ethnic Greek minority party 'Omonia'.

He is expected to visit Greek troops stationed in Albania as part of the multinational protection force later in the day.

Pangalos's talks with the Albanian leadership are also expected to focus on any additional measures that Greece could offer through the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe for free and fair elections.

Bilateral relations following the elections are also expected to be discussed.

Speaking after a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg yesterday, Pangalos said that Greece would be willing to provide observers and possibly additional troops to ensure the elections were conducted fairly.

Albania has just four weeks to prepare for elections that will decide whether the country can put an end to the anarchy and violence that broke out after the collapse of pyramid investment schemes and the loss of life savings for thousands of Albanians.

An estimated one million weapons were plundered from armouries during the March riots, in which several hundred people were killed, and grave security concerns continue to plague the organisation of the elections.

An ANA despatch from Tirana said later that Pangalos did not make statements after his talks with Berisha and Fino, but was expected to give a press conference this evening.

According to press sources however, Fino and Albanian Foreign Minister Arian Starova, who also had talks with Pangalos, expressed concern about the recent flurry of bomb attacks in Albania.

Both reportedly asked Pangalos for Greece's help in reorganising the police force and customs authorities.

Pangalos also had talks with Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano and was expected to meet with the leaders of the other political parites.

Government to see through current economic policy

National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou reiterated today that there would be no changes in the government's current economic policy.

Commenting meanwhile on the election result in France while speaking to reporters, Papantoniou predicted that the victory of the French left would lead to a certain flexibility in the interpretation of Maastricht criteria on public deficits regarding participation in European Economic and Monetary Union.

Referring to a bill submitted to parliament on Monday that reduces lump sum retirement payments to civil servants, he made clear that their union had agreed to the change in order to avert the danger of collapse of the pension system.

Under the new pay scale for civil servants, lump sum retirement payments would have risen by 80 percent.

Mitsotakis says Greek-Turkish relations on the right road

Relations between Greece and Turkey are on the right road but there is still a long way to go, former prime minister Constantine Mitsotakis said today on his arrival in Turkey to receive a Greek-Turkish friendship award.

"I would say that we have entered a somewhat better phase. But we are still at the absolute beginning. We have a long way ahead us," Mitsotakis said.

The honorary president of conservative opposition New Democracy was in Turkey to receive the Abdi Ipekci peace and friendship prize, awarded biannually to honour efforts for conciliation and cooperation between the two countries.

It is named for the Turkish journalist who was murdered a few days after returning from a trip to Greece.

"I hope that in the years to come the peaceful spirit of Abdi Ipekci will lead the thoughts of both peoples and will open the way for a better era in Greek-Turkish relations," Mitsotakis said.

Previous prize winners have included former Greek foreign minister Mihalis Papaconstantinou and former Turkish foreign minister Hikmet Cetin.

Kastanidis inaugurates fibre optic cable

A new undersea fibre optic cable was inaugurated in Corfu on Tuesday by Greek Transport and Communications Minister Haris Kastanidis, his Albanian counterpart Photos Duca and the chairman of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE), Dimitris Papoulias.

Kastanidis said the Adria 1 project was an example of international cooperation in peaceful sectors such as telecommunications. The network would provide new services at competitive prices to many users from the Middle East to central Europe.

Kastanidis added that Greece was seeking new ventures with other Balkan countries and stressed the need for the development of a similar network in the Black Sea.

Adria 1 is jointly owned by the Albanian Telecommunications Organisation, Croatia Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and OTE. Total investment in the project was 15 million dollars.

Kaklamanis to visit Finland

Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis leaves tomorrow for Finland to attend the regular meeting of house speakers of the European Union member- states.

The meeting will be held in Helsinki from June 5-7.

According to the agenda, Kaklamanis will brief delegates in detail on the results of the equivalent meeting of house speakers of Mediterranean countries which was held in Athens on April 6-7 on the initiative of the Greek Parliament.

He is also expected to express his views on other important issues on the agenda, such as the role of national assemblies in European institutions and the process of EU enlargement, with particular emphasis on Cyprus' bid to join the Community.

Kaklamanis will also have the opportunity to meet with counterparts on the sidelines of the meeting, to inform them about the course of Greece's national issues.

Greek police seizes 50 kilos of heroin

Corfu police today dealt a major blow to international drug traffickers when they arrested a German national and seized 50 kilos of heroin.

Acting on information received, the police arrested Henri Yassen Hoster, 34 (phonetic spelling) after he had driven on to the ferry-boat ''Mentia'' which operates the Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Brindisi service.

The police and customs officials asked Hoster to take his car off the ferry- boat for a search which revealed the heroin packed in 50 one-kilo slabs.

Half of the heroin was hidden in the car's specially made petrol tank and half in the seat.

According to unconfirmed initial reports, Hoster had driven to Greece from Istanbul via Bulgaria. At the time of his arrest he was heading for Italy and his final destination is believed to have been Germany.

Cleridis to visit Athens

Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides will visit Athens for talks with Prime Minister Costas Simitis before direct talks are held between the Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot communities, an ANA despatch from Nicosia said today.

The despatch quoted government spokesman Manolis Christofidis as saying that the meeting was necessitated within the framework of the preparations of the Greek-Cypriot side.

Christofidis added that Cyprus' National Council would convene as soon as Clerides had been invited to participate in the direct talks by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The spokesman said that the exact date for Clerides' visit to Greece had not yet been set.

Athens ready to increase peacekeeping force for Albanian elections

Greece is willing to increase the number of Greek soldiers participating in the multinational peacekeeping force in Albania, Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said in Luxembourg yesterday.

Speaking to the press following a meeting of the EU General Affairs Council, also attended by Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou, Mr. Pangalos said "there is a tendency to augment the international presence (in Albania) in order to guarantee free and indisputable elections."

The Greek foreign minister, who is expected in Albania today for talks with top government officials, said Greece would be willing, within its abilities, to provide observers and possibly additional troops.

Referring to former Yugoslavia, Mr. Pangalos said that Greece supported the Dayton peace agreements and assisted in efforts to create institutions that were in accord with the agreement.

He pointed out that the 15 EU members were reserved in sending off military forces and funds.

"It's characteristic that many countries have not even contributed yet to the process of funding municipal elections in Bosnia," he said, adding that Greece had already contributed US$500,000.

Mount Athos representatives object to Schengen accord

Representatives of the all-male monastic community of Mount Athos yesterday reiterated their opposition to the content of the Schengen Agreement, saying it paved the way for violation of individuals' privacy.

Representatives from 20 monasteries of Mount Athos yesterday held an extraordinary meeting to express their views prior to Parliamentary debate this month on ratification of the Schengen Agreement.

The agreement, named after the Luxembourg hamlet in which it was signed, came into effect in March 1995. Already ratified by a number of European Union member-states, the agreement foresees removal of border controls between participating EU members' citizens, and closer cooperation on police matters with the creation of vast computer databases.

In an announcement, the monks called on Greek deputies not to ratify the agreement and to revoke a law already passed "on the protection of the citizen against the computer processing of data of a personal nature" which, they said, should be replaced "by a corresponding law which affords real, rather than bogus protection."

If Athens attempted to implement the agreement, the monks stressed, the state would find itself up against all of Mount Athos' monks "as conscientious objectors."

According to the monks, the Schengen Agreement completes the legislative framework for the creation of computer files concerning individual citizens on a European-wide, "and perhaps later, a world level."

They claim that this could lead to violations of privacy and "the monitoring of every free person... (thus) abolishing the presumption of a citizen's innocence."

V. Papandreou discusses gas and oil pipeline proposals

The condition of the pipeline transporting natural gas from Russia to Greece was one of the issues discussed by Development Minister Vasso Papandreou and the president of Bulgaria's energy commitee Georgi Stoilov, The Bulgarian News Agency disclosed yesterday.

The meeting was held on May 27 in Brussels, on the sidelines of a European Union and associate members' meeting on energy.

The two officials also discussed the proposed Burgas-Alexandroupoli oil pipeline as well as the issue of radioactive waste disposal, while Ms Papandreou said Athens did not favour the idea that disposal areas be located in southern Bulgaria.

Greek-Israeli economic ties improve

Israeli ambassador to Athens Ran Curiel yesterday said Greek-Israeli commercial and economic relations have shown a rapid improvement over the past years due to the goodwill existing on the part of both countries.

He spoke at an event organised by the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EBEA) in cooperation with the Israeli embassy's commercial department.

Mr. Curiel said the geographical position of Greece and Israel provides comparative advantages for the import of the two countries' products in the wider Balkan and Mediterranean region.

Greece's exports to Israel amounted to US$126 million in 1995, according to a bulletin issued by EBEA, increasing by 16 per cent compared to 1994. Imports in the same year increased 47 per cent as against 1994 and totalled US$128 million.

The main products Greece exports to Israel are building materials, metallurgical products, foodstuffs, textiles, paper products, clothing, electrical products, marble and sanitary equipment.

Greece's main imports from Israel are chemical fertilizers, pesticides, plastics, air conditioning systems, optics and high technology products.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(M.S.)

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