From: Thanos Tsekouras Subject: Bulletin of News from the Athens News Agency for June 1, 1993 Date: 1 Jun 1993 19:25:48 GMT To: Boston, USA From: Geniki Grammateia Typoy 6-1-93 10:18 am Bulletin 01/06/1993 Athens, 1/6/93 Greece said yesterday its primary goal as the president of the European Community would be to breathe new life into the process of Eyropean union by implementing the Maastricht treaty. "Our first and most important goal is the implementation of the Maastricht treaty", Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis said yesterday in Thessaloniki addressing the New Democracy group of Europarliamentarians. [...] Athens, 1/6/93 (ANA) "Greece will assume the presidency of the European Union at a particularly significant and critical moment in the course of the European Community," Foreign Undersecretary George Papastamkos declared yesterday, at a press conference to introduce the emblem of the Greek presidency of the EC in the first half of 1994. "The anticipated conclusion of ratification procedures and the coming into force of the Maastricht treaty, signals a new era of hope in the procedure of European unification." ... [...] Athens, 1/6/93 (ANA) The European Parliament's foreign economic relations committee will convene today through Thursday in Metsovo, Epirus. The 25-member parliamentary committee is responsible for matters concerning external commercial transactions and the agreements concluded in this sector between the Community and third countries. This will be their second meeting in Greece. Participants will also speak with Finance Undersecretary Costas Yatrakos, Epirus authorities and other Greek officials. Athens, 1/6/93 (ANA) The emblem of the Greek EC presidency emblem is a sketch of a vessel, encapsulating Greece's sea-faring tradition through the ages. The vessel's mast flies the official EC flag. The emblem, which Foreign Undersecretary George Papastamkos presented yesterday, symbolises the irreversible course followed by EC member-states towards European unity. It was designed by Evangelos Psipas, a student at the School of Graphic Arts who won first prize at special contest held for the purpose. Athens, 1/6/93 (ANA) Twenty ethnic Greek students at the Kuban University's Greek Literature Department in southern Russia are on a visit to Greece at the invitation of Foreign Undersecretary Vyron Polydoras. The visit is taking place in cooperation with the General Secretariat for Overseas Greeks within the framework of the Secretariat's policy concerning Hellenism in the former USSR. Apart from the annual hospitality programmes carried out by the Secretariat for children between 9-14 and the elderly, the Thessaloniki University's history department is currently writing the history of Hellenism in the former USSR. The programme will also fund the three-year Greek language seminar organised by Patras University which will train overseas students in the administration and day-to-day running of Greek language schools in Russia. During their stay, the students will visit archaeological sites and participate in discussions with university and social agencies to acquire knowledge of modern Greece. The Kuban University's Greek Literature Department has been operating since 1991 and, according to professor Dionysis Karvelas, has a total of 35 students. Athens, 1/6/93 (ANA) Three Belgians were arrested at the KIPI frontier post on the Greek-Turkish border for trying to smuggle 32 kilos of pure heroin into Greece. [...] Athens, 1/6/93 (ANA) President Constantine Karamanlis yesterday received National Defense Minister Ioannis Varvitsiotis. [...] Athens, 1/6/93 (ANA) Neither Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis nor Foreign Minister Michalis Papaconstantinou are expected to travel to New York for consultations on the Skopje issue, government spokesman Vassilis Manginas said yesterday. Mr. Manginas did not comment on whether Greece had proposed the name "Slav Macedonia" for Skopje as press reports alleged. Mr Manginas invoked the embargo on information, adding that he would answer the question when the report is made public tomorrow. Athens, 1/6/93 (ANA) The Vatican is using the Uniates as its main weapon in tis proselytising in former communist countries, according to Metropolitans from Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania who are visiting Greece. Addressing reporters yesterday, the metropolitans analysed the situation currently prevailing in Orhtodox Churches in the Balkan peninsula. The Metropolitans of Moldavia Daniel, Krupnikius Bulgaria Nathaniel, Batsikas Irineas and Montenegro Amphilochios reported that the Pope himself was orchestrating the campaign. The representative of the Church of Greece, Mr. G. Hatzifotis, said the theological dialogue between the two Churches could not continue without problems in such a situation. [Copied by Thanos Tsekouras]