Subject: News I, 3/08/93 Athens News Agency Bulletin, August 3, 1993 =========================================== Athens, 3/8/1993 (ANA): The government yesterday described a reported US proposal for military intervention in Bosnia as "a mistake". Responding to press questions, government spokesman Vassilis Manginas said that there should be no military intervention in Bosnia and expressed the hope that the US proposal would not be implemented. According to Sunday's edition of The Washington Post, the United States was expected to put the proposal to a NATO meeting yesterday in Brussels. On the Bosnian issue in general, Mr. Manginas said that "we are at a critical point and now that there are good possibilities for a peaceful settlement. Any different action would be a mistake". He added that the Greek government believes that a solution in Bosnia must be found through a peace process and dialogue. Athens, 3/8/1993 (ANA): Romanian Defence Undersecretary and Chief of National Defence General Staff Lieutenant-General Dimitru Gioflina will pay a two-day official visit to Greece beginning tomorrow, the foreign ministry said yesterday. During his visit, Lt. General Gioflina will meet with National Defence Minister Ioannis Varvitsiotis, Undersecretary Ioannis Stathopoulos and the armed forces leadership. Athens, 3/8/1993 (ANA): The government will provide three billion drachmas in aid for the tourism industry of northern Greece, national Economy Undersecretary Theodoros Kassimis said yesterday. Mr. Kassimis, on a tour of northern Greece, said the assistance would help offset losses suffered by the local tourism industry as a result of the Yugoslav crisis. The government estimates losses from the United Nations embargo against Serbia and Montenegro totalled at least 2.6 billion dollars in the first six months of 1992. Losses in tourism revenue in the second half of 1992 are estimated to be in excess of 500 million dollars. Athens, 3/8/1993 (ANA): Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis yesterday expressed his condolences in a message to Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene over the death of King Baudouin. "I was deeply saddened by the news of the untimely loss of His Majesty King Baudouin, a man of uncommon character and recognised virtues, whose death has left a huge gap in the European family", the premier said in his message. "Please accept, Mr. Prime Minister, on behalf of the Greek government and myself, my most sincere condolences", the message concluded. King Baudouin died Saturday night following a heart attack while on holiday in southern Spain. His funeral will be held on Saturday. London, 3/8/1993 (ANA - L. Tsirigotakis): The Libyan Foreign Investments Bank will not be allowed to bid for the majority of shares (72 per cent) in the Athens-based Arab-Hellenic Bank, according to a report in yesterday's edition of the British daily The Independent. The report said the Greek government's decision not to accept a bid from the Libyan bank was taken following protests by the families of the victims of the bombing of a Pan-American airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland. The Independent said the Libyan Bank's ulterior motive for purchasing the Arab-Hellenic Bank was to obtain the right to establish branches in other European Community countries in accordance with the EC's second banking directive. According to the newspaper, Western intelligence services have repeatedly reported that the economic sanctions against Libya have loosened because the country is continuously expanding its banking and investments network overseas. Athens, 3/8/1993 (ANA): The Research Centre for Hellenism and the Orthodoxy of the Diaspora has launched a new magazine aimed at promoting the activities of Greeks abroad and strengthening ties between the Greek diaspora and Greece. The first edition of "Desmos" (Bond), published in July, features a report on problems faced by Greek immigrants in Germany, the condition of the ethnic Greek minority in Albania following the deportation of Archimandrite Chrysostomos Maidonis, Greek participation in the Cannes Film Festival and a special report on the Patriarchates of the Middle East. Athens, 3/8/1993 (ANA): More than 200 Greek and foreign archaeologists from 16 countries are expected to attend a three-day symposium on "Ancient Shipbuilding" in Nafplion August 26-28. Participants will include internationally acclaimed archaeologist John Morrison, Greek archaeologist Katerina Marangou and Turkish archaeologist Kemal Poulak. Symposium highlights include presentations about the ancient ships of Kastoria and the remains of an ancient shipwreck found near Marseilles. Athens, 3/8/1993 (ANA): Draft legislation concerning the privatisation of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE) was approved yesterday at a three-hour meeting chaired by Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis. The bill will be submitted to parliament in the next two or three days for action before the second session of parliament recesses on August 12, Minister to the Prime Minister's Office Sotiris Kouvelas told reporters after the meeting. He added that parliament should approve the bill, which is aimed at strengthening OTE. The government has said it would sell 49 per cent of OTE's shares in a bid to make the state-run telephone company more efficient. Under the draft legislation, 35 per cent of the shares will be sold to a strategic investor along with OTE's management, 10 per cent of the shares will be sold on the Athens Stock Exchange and the remaining four per cent will be distributed free to OTE employees. Meanwhile, National Economy and Finance minister Stephanos Manos said the government would resubmit Article 8 of the tax bill to parliament by today. Athens, 3/8/1993 (ANA): The Bank of Greece yesterday announced a new drachma-dollar parity of 241.30 drs, up from 239 drs at market closing on Friday. The new parity was announced in the wake of the crisis in the European Monetary System's exchange rate mechanism. Brussels, 3/8/1993 (Reuters): The European Community yesterday agreed to relax terms of its Exchange Rate Mechanism to try to fend off speculative currency attacks which brought the system to near collapse. EC finance ministers and central bankers decided at a crisis meeting in Brussels to widen ERM bands, within which most of the currencies trade, to 15 per cent from 2.5 per cent or six per cent. Dutch Finance Minister Wim Kok told reporters after the meeting that the German mark and the Dutch guilder, the strongest currencies in the system, would remain in their narrow 2.5 per cent bands. National Economy and Finance Minister Stephanos Manos told reporters after the meeting that the decision would not directly affect the drachma, which is not in the currency exchange mechanism, he said. He added that the changes would "generally ease pressures" placed on the system by currency speculators. Germany, which sparked the crisis in the system last week by refusing to cut its key interest rate, said it could not see any chance of lower interest rates in the near future.