Subject: A.N.A. Bulletin 29/9/93 From: miltos@nfl2.irc.nrc.ca Bulletin -------- , 29/09/1993 () United Nations, 29/9/1993 (ANA - M. Georgiadou): Foreign Minister Michalis Papaconstantinou met yesterday with US Secretary of State Warren Christopher for talks "on matters of particular interest to the Community and the Americans". Mr. Papaconstantinou said afterwards they primarily examined Yugoslav issues, reiterating the proposal he had made to the Community that it should undertake an initiative for Yugoslavia's recovery the day after the signing of a peace accord. "The international community should not find itself unprepared as was the case with the agreement between the Palestinians and Israel", he said. Mr. Papaconstantinou further said Mr. Christopher agreed with the proposal, adding that "we shall see how we will be able to implement it". He said the initial proposal is for a meeting to be held in Athens and to include, apart from Community member states, countries bordering former Yugoslavia such as Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. Foreign policy matters, Mr. Papaconstantinou said, cannot stop due to the pre-election campaign. "Greece should be always present and indeed dynamically both in the European Community and the international Community and of course in the light of (Greece's) assumption of the Community's presidency in January", he said. Replying to a question, Mr. Papaconstantinou said Greek national issues were not discussed with Mr. Christopher. He said general matters, Yugoslavia and the Palestinian-Israeli peace accord were discussed. Commenting on his private meeting with UN mediator on the Skopje issues Cyrus Vance, Mr. Papaconstantinou said: "I discussed general issues of the region with Mr. Vance and on which Mr. Vance has great experience. I did not discuss the matter concerning us, the Skopjan issue, since talks have been postponed until after the elections". In exclusive statements to ANA, Mr. Papaconstantinou said the meeting between the Greek delegation and the leadership of the US Jewish Council Monday was "extremely friendly and warm", adding that he met Jewish dignitaries on every visit to New York. Commenting lastly on his meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic Monday, Mr. Papaconstantinou said Mr. Jovanovic briefed him on his country's current positions and aims, adding that the meeting focused on Greece's proposal for the EC to undertake an initiative for the recovery of former Yugoslavia. Athens, 29/9/1993 (ANA): Greek-Turkish relations and the Skopje issue were the focus of statements on foreign policy by Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis and main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) leader Andreas Papandreou in separate interviews on private television broadcast yesterday evening. Mr. Mitsotakis said potential problems that may arise from the present instability in the government required careful and responsible handling. "It is necessary to have a responsible government in power, one that is not demagogic but that will seek the nation's true supports, which are none other than Europe, NATO and our natural allies in the West", he said. "Greek-Turkish relations are a basic issue in Greece's foreign policy, and I am an ardent proponent of dialogue", he added, when asked to respond to opposition party accusations that the government's policies were based on "compliance". Turning to the Skopje issue, Mr. Mitsotakis said his government's policy was not merely "political realism but a sound foreign policy". He also criticised opposition parties' statements that Greece should not engage in a dialogue with Skopje and withdraw from the United Nations mediator process. "Even at the height of the Gold War, the United States kept open channels to the Soviet Union ... To say that you completely close all channels ... is dangerous demagoguery of the worst kind. As far as Skopje is concerned, Greece's position is very clear", he said. But Mr. Papandreou lashed out at both the prime Minister and his former foreign minister, Political Spring leader Antonis Samaras, saying they were both responsible for the "negative developments" in the Skopje issue. "Dialogue, under the present circumstances, is meaningless", he said. "Why did we enter the United Nations (process) ... when Greece's position is supposedly stark and simple: that is, that we will not recognise (Skopje under the name 'Macedonia'), he said. W Both Mr. Mitsotakis and Mr. Papandreou also presented the broad outlines of their parties' policies in their separate interviews yesterday evening. Mr. Mitsotakis, whose ruling New Democracy party is seeking re-election in the October 10 polls, pledged to continue his government's economic recovery programme. "Our goals are unchanged: modernising the Greek economy, introducing the concept of competitiveness, which was essentially non-existent in the 80s and building an economy that can hold its own not only in a united Europe but also in the broader international competition", he said. "This has a cost ... but we have reached the point where we have essentially achieved (our goals)", he added. Mr. Mitsotakis said that despite large deficits run up by PASOK during its two consecutive terms in office, his government had succeeded in balancing the budget. "We achieved a budget that, in terms of its primary deficit, is balanced and has a surplus. We did not achieve a large enough surplus to pay all the interest from the huge external public debt that we inherited, but we did have a primary budget surplus and will have one this year", he said. Mr. Papandreou, in a later interview, lashed out at the government's economic policy, describing it as "catastrophic". "The government increased the gap between rich and poor, and through its austerity policies brought two-to-three million Greeks to the edge of hunger", he said. The opposition leader also rejected the government's statements that it had produced a primary budget surplus, saying it had merely "capitalised" the interest on Greece's external debt and deferred it to future budgets. "As far as the debts supposedly run up by PASOK, in 1988 we had a deficit of about 5.6 trillion drachmas ... Today we have a debt totalling 20 trillion drachmas", Mr. Papandreou said. Asked whether his party would introduce new taxes, the PASOK leader said his party would not introduce a tax on either bonds or savings. "The people cannot bear a further shrinking in their real incomes. On the other hand, an atmosphere of trust among the business community is necessary and a key to the growth programme which we envision", he said. "The main issue for us is how to free the economy from stagnation and set it on course towards growth ... Our strategy is to deal with inflation first, through a voluntary crusade in the framework of a social contract and reduce inflation and interest rates", Mr. Papandreou added. Athens, 29/9/1993 (ANA): Greece's 8,456,513 registered voters will cast their ballot for one of 29 parties, ranging from the ruling New Democracy party to the Greek Hunters Party, in the October 10 elections. Voters' choices range from the four main political parties U New Democracy, the main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement, the Coalition of the left and Progress, and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) U and the recently formed Political Spring, led by former conservative foreign minister Antonis Samaras, to a host of smaller groups and electoral coalitions. The choices, although varied, are fewer than in the April 1990 elections when 42 parties fielded candidates. The official list of parties that may field candidates in next month's elections, released by the Supreme Court late Monday, includes several leftist parties, two extreme right parties, four ecologist parties U including two parties claiming the title 'Greens' U and the Greek Hunters Party. The list also features several parties with more cryptic titles: Olympism; Self Respect-Truth; Destiny; and Trust. But among those whose applications were rejected are the monarchist Royalist Renewal. Even with the addition of 650,371 new voters, none of these fringe parties have any hopes of winning a parliamentary seat under the current system of enhanced proportional representation, which requires a party to garner at least three per cent of the national vote in order to be represented in parliament. In 1990 Olympism won barely 696 votes while 17 fringe parties collected a total of 599 votes. The three per cent threshold, however, would also exclude parties such as the Ecologtists/Alternatives, which polled 50,921 votes or 0.77 per cent of the national aggregate in 1990, from winning a parliamentary seat. The Ecologists-Alternatives and the Democratic Renewal party (DHANA), which had each won a seat in the last elections, are not participating in next month's poll. United Nations, 29/9/1993 (ANA - M. Georgiadou): Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) yesterday decided to postpone further talks on resolving their differences until after October 10, due to the forthcoming Greek elections. "The delegations of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have just concluded their second direct meeting pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 845 (1993). The meeting took place in a cordial and businesslike atmosphere", an announcement issued by UN special envoy on the Skopje issue Cyrus Vance at the end of the two-hour talks said. Mr. Vance met with Greek representative ambassador George Papoulias and Skopjan representative Ivan Tosevski. "In view of the forthcoming Greek elections, both parties agree that further direct talks under my auspices on the substance of the remaining issues between them should be deferred until after the holding of the elections on October 10th", he added. "In the meanwhile, I stand ready to facilitate the process, as requested by UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali". Mr. Tosevski said he was pleased with the continuation of the talks, adding that the Skopjan side looked forward to the resumption of meetings by the end of October. "I wish to express once again our satisfaction over the continuation of direct talks under the aegis of Mr. Vance and we look forward to the resumption of our meetings by the end of October", he said. Ambassador George Papoulias said a useful exchange of views took place on both matters of direct interest and the situation in the entire region. "Today's meeting was of a procedural nature. A very interesting exchange of views took place on both matters of direct interest and the situation in the entire region", he said. Mr. Vance said he was due to meet Greek Foreign Minister Michalis Papaconstantinou yesterday afternoon and Skopjan President Kiro Gligorov on Friday. Asked whether the issue of the name had been discussed to date, Mr. Vance said it had but refused any further comment but said it was not discussed yesterday, adding that he hoped progress will be achieved when negotiations resume. Mr. Papoulias said the objective was to resolve differences with Skopje in the interests of Greece peace and security and good relations in the region. W Greece has sent two fire-fighting helicopters to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to help authorities there combat fires raging in forests near Skopje, a government announcement said yesterday. It said the helicopters had been sent following an appeal for aid from the former Yugoslav republic. Athens, 29/9/1993 (ANA): Senior North Atlantic Treaty Organisation officials and representatives of the alliance's 16 member-states are scheduled to participate in the 39th general assembly of the Atlantic Treaty Association, which begins at the Athens Concert Hall today. The four-day meeting on "Nato's response to current challenges in Europe" is hosted by the Greek Association for the Atlantic and European Co-operation. Organisers said more than 400 delegates from NATO and former Warsaw pact countries have registered to participate in the meeting. Sofia, 29/9/1993 (ANA): The Association of Greek Businessmen in Bulgaria has opened an office in Sofia and is now operating, it was announced yesterday. The association will provide all Greeks wishing to do business in Bulgaria with any information they might need, free of charge. Services offered by the association include guidance on how to found a company and lists of lawyers and accountants with estimates of costs and time for their services. This way, the association hopes to help prospective Greek investors in Bulgaria avoid possible pitfalls and protect them from unscrupulous operators. In addition, association members have priority status on all flights and up to 35 per cent discounts on airline tickets, 50 per cent discounts at hotels and newspaper advertisements. The Sofia offices are open to the public between 5 and 7 p.m. daily at 29 Tsar Osvoboditel St. Vienna, 29/9/1993 (ANA): Greece's Ambassador to Austria Panayiotis Tsounis will also represent Greece in Slovenia. He presented his credentials last week to the president of Slovenia Milan Kucan in Ljubliana. During the ceremony, President Kucan laid emphasis on the importance he attributed to the establishment of relations between the two countries at ambassadorial level. He said Slovenia would soon accredit an ambassador to Athens, who will assume his or her duties before Greece's assumption of the EC Presidency on January 1. Athens, 29/9/1993 (ANA): National Economy and Finance Minister Stephanos Manos yesterday defended the government's austerity programme, saying the Greek economy was on the road to recovery and a socialist return to power in next month's elections would have devastating effects. "The Greek economy is ready to boom. The road to development and a united Europe has opened. If this course is reversed now, it will be too late to repent", Mr. Manos said. He was speaking at a news conference where he presented a report on the latest developments and prospects of the Greek economy. Pointing to colour charts, graphs and statistics, Mr. Manos lashed out at main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), accusing it of stalling the country's growth, running up state expenses and resorting to unnecessary foreign borrowing during its eight years in power. He said that under the conservatives, Greece's growth rate in 1993 alone was 1.5 per cent higher than the average growth rate of the European Community. Throughout the years of socialism, he said, Greece had lagged behind its Community partners by an average of 0.5 percentage units. Mr. Manos forecast that Greece's double digit inflation, currently at 13 per cent, would drop below 10 per cent by the end of the first quarter in 1994. He said the average rate of inflation during the eight years of PASOK's rule was 12.2 per cent higher than the EC average. Mr. Manos said the government had succeeded in curbing the country's foreign debt from 29.5 per cent of the Gross domestic Product (GDP) in 1989 to 25 per cent. He said the volume of Greek exports had also increased, noting that foreign exchange reserves in August alone totalled 8.4 billion dollars, the highest ever. A record high was also noted in the level of private investment between 1990 and 1993. Mr. Manos reiterated that the government, if re-elected in October, would press ahead with its privatisation programme, raise salaries and pensions, clamp down on rampant tax evasion, and continue with large-scale public works projects but ruled out additional taxes. Athens, 29/9/1993 (ANA): About 160 ethnic Greeks evacuated from Georgia's Abkhazia province are scheduled to arrive in Thessaloniki today under the third phase of Operation Golden Fleece, the National Centre for the Reception and Resettlement of Repatriated Greeks (EIYAPOE) said yesterday. It said the evacuees were being flown to Greece in a chartered plane from Minvondi. The ethnic Greeks were evacuated from Sukhumi, which was captured by Abkhazian rebels on Monday, and will be housed temporarily at a EIYAPOE reception centre in Naoussa. In August, the Greek government mounted a mission to evacuate more than 1,000 ethnic Greeks by sea from Sukhumi to escape the civil strife there. A second group of 152 ethnic Greeks were evacuated by air earlier this month under the second phase of Operation Golden Fleece. The ethnic Greek community, 1.9 per cent of Georgia's 5.5 million population traces its ancestry back to the ancient kingdom of Pontus on the shores of the Black Sea. The evacuation mission was named after the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts who sailed to Colchis, present-day Georgia, to steal the fleece of a fabulous ram guarded by a dragon. The second phase of the mission was mounted after Abkhazian rebels launched an attack against Georgian troops earlier this month, shattering a July 28 peace agreement reached after more than a year of fighting. Meanwhile, officials in Geneva said United Nations-sponsored peace talks scheduled to begin today between the Georgian government and Abkhazian separatists have been postponed.