From: miltos@nfl2.irc.nrc.ca Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Mon, 25 Oct 1993 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). ATHENS NEWS AGENCY BULLETIN, October 25, 1993 A.N.A. Athens, 25/10/1993 (ANA): Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou said Saturday night that one of the main goals of his government's foreign policy would be to play a "leading and specific" role in the Balkans and that Greece would serve as a "bridge" between the Balkans and Europe. In his first policy speech to parliament since his landslide election victory on October 10, Mr. Papandreou said that Greece wished "to deepen" its relations with the US and ultimately incorporate the Balkan market in a united Europe. Mr. Papandreou said that his government also desired "neighbourly" relations with Turkey and reiterated that Greece would not recognise a state on its northern border under the name "Macedonia" or a derivative of that name. On the subject of Greece's forthcoming assumption of the EC presidency on January 1, Mr. Papandreou said that Athens would respond to the challenge "in the best way". "As the only EC country in the Balkans, Greece aspires to play a leading and specific role. We shall take action aimed at (securing) peace and stability in the region, averting new pockets of war and tension, resolving problems by peaceful means and restoring inter-Balkan co-operation. Our country can serve as a bridge between the Balkans and Europe", he said. Mr. Papandreou said that his government would "co-operate constructively for the substantial deepening" of relations with the US at both a political and economic level. He said that his government would work towards the creation of "relations of trust and good neighbourliness" with Turkey but that Greece was "determined to defend its national independence and integrity against all". "We claim nothing, but nor are we prepared to negotiate our sovereign rights", he stressed. If Turkey agreed, Mr. Papandreou went on, Greece was prepared to settle "the only" bilateral dispute concerning the delineation of the Aegean continental shelf by taking the matter to the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Turning to the Cyprus problem, which he referred to as "our foremost national issue", Mr. Papandreou said that "we are determined to protect Cypriot Hellenism and any violent change in the present situation in Cyprus will be considered as a casus belli". He said that Athens would co-operate with Nicosia for a just and viable solution, a prerequisite for which was the withdrawal of Turkish occupation troops. "The convocation of the pan-national conference (the participation of all Greek and Greek-Cypriot parties to decide on policy for the Cyprus issue) is an established position of the government", he added. Such a solution, he continued, must ensure the independence, sovereignty and unity of the Cypriot state and respect for the rights of its citizens. Of particular importance, Mr. Papandreou said, was the strengthening of Cyprus' relations with the EC with the aim of securing the island republic's accession to the Community. On the Skopje issue, Mr. Papandreou reiterated his government's determination not to recognise a state under a name containing the word 'Macedonia' or a derivative of that name, nor to tolerate "the theft" of Greek symbols and "irredentist designs" against Greece. He hailed the efforts of the UN Security Council and secretary general on the issue and said that Greece would immediately send a letter to the UN chief clearly setting out the government's positions. "At the same time", Mr. Papandreou said, "we believe that a constructive disposition on the part of the interested parties is a prerequisite for any negotiating process". "But so far", he added, "experience has shown that (Skopje President Kiro) Gligorov has not displayed any such disposition". "Skopjan intransigence has confirmed that the process accepted by the previous government leads to an impasse and is ineffectual", Mr. Papandreou said. He called on the UN and the international community to exercise its influence on the Skopjan leadership in order to resolve the problem and eliminate an additional pocket of tension in the Balkans. The recent recognition of Skopje by Belgium and China, he said "which added to the long list of recognitions during the New Democracy government", did not help towards a settlement of the problem. "The delusions created in Skopje by these procedures do not alter the fact that recognition by Greece is of unique importance for the newly-established neighbouring state", Mr. Papandreou said, adding that Greece was prepared "to contribute to the development and prosperity of Skopje, provided it abandons its arrogant, groundless and provocative positions". Mr. Papandreou said Greece sincerely desired improved relations with Albania but stressed that this was dependent on Tirana's respect for the rights of the ethnic Greek minority in Northern Epirus (southern Albania) "as established by international law". Mr. Papandreou said that his government was determined to make every possible effort to give new impetus to the course towards European union. The axes of Greek policy within the framework of the EC, he said, would be within the context of the "new reality being shaped" by the Maastricht treaty. Convergence, he went on, can only be attained "when it is seen as convergence of real economies, convergence of the levels of development of the member states". Turning to national defence, Mr. Papandreou said that his government's "strategic orientation" would be based on the position that the main threat to the country was from the east. Stressing that Greece spent 7 per cent of GNP on defence, Mr. Papandreou said that the reduction of this figure constituted a long-term target but that it would be necessary at the same time to secure a balance of military forces in the region. "Greece's security is the affair of the entire nation. In this respect, the institution of civil defence will be established primarily concerning the nation's frontiers", he said. On the subject of the economy, Mr. Papandreou said that his government's immediate target was to combat inflation and improve competitiveness. Painting a grim picture of the current state of the economy, Mr. Papandreou said that the total gross deficit was in excess of 4.3 trillion drachmas, production was in serious decline, interest rates were having a negative effect on production, investments and deficits and competitiveness was falling. He said that the government's priorities would be to ensure stability in government policy, secure favourable conditions for development and investment activity and check the public finance deficits. At the same time, he went on, the government would shape incomes policy so as to secure workers' real incomes and combat unemployment by creating new jobs. Economic stabilisation, he said, would be attained by reducing the public finance deficits, bringing down inflation and "exhausting even the smallest possibilities for economising expenditures". Mr. Papandreou pledged to crack down on tax evasion and curtail the black economy. He said that funds from the Delors II package would provide "the main tool" for promoting investments and that projects already approved which did not substantially contribute to the competitiveness of the economy and the quality of life would be re-examined. Disincentives would be removed, Mr. Papandreou said, in order to create favourable conditions for investment initiatives by Greek and foreign companies. Turning to the public sector, Mr. Papandreou said that privatisation was not incompatible with the government's policy provided it did not result in private monopolies, the loss of social services, the undermining or weakening of strategic activities or to "cracks" in the country's national defence. He said that the admission to the stock exchange of "a relatively small package of shares" of public enterprises such as the state telephone company (OTE) "may assist the self-financing of modernisation projects". The "still-born" law providing for the partial purchase of OTE by a strategic investor would be repealed, Mr. Papandreou said. The main aim of the government's development policy, Mr. Papandreou said, would be to strengthen the export activities of Greek companies. "Both the opening of the European market and that of Eastern Europe and the Balkan peninsula constitute a competitive challenge for Greek companies whose presence in these countries must be seriously strengthened. "Our ultimate aim is the incorporation of the Balkan market in the united Europe", Mr. Papandreou said. Athens, 25/10/1993 (ANA): Main opposition New Democracy party leader Constantine Mitsotakis last night called Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou's first policy speech to parliament "intentionally vague". "We heard a great deal about targets and intentions but only very little about the specific measures for attaining those targets", Mr. Mitsotakis told parliament. Accusing Mr. Papandreou of "double-talk", Mr. Mitsotakis described the government's policy, outlined by the prime minister Saturday night, as "a bad copy of the correct policy which we followed". Mr. Mitsotakis asserted that the ruling PASOK party was "now adopting the policy of New Democracy". Turning to specific issues, Mr. Mitsotakis asked Mr. Papandreou if the government intended to change the electoral law, stressing that any change should be made now rather than at the end of its four-year term "in order to suit the needs of the ruling party". Mr. Mitsotakis also called for a discussion of the way in which the President of the Republic is elected, noting that the present method could lead to continuous elections and made the country's political system more unstable. He criticised the government's plans to repeal the tough anti-terrorism law, warning that "our country will have the pitiful privilege of being the only civilised country in the world without protection against terrorism". Turning to the government's foreign policy statements, Mr. Mitsotakis said that his main worry was the Skopje issue. He warned the government not to abandon "the shield of protection for our national interests provided by the UN Security Council resolutions on the Skopje issue, on the basis of which negotiations have been conducted up to now. "Can't you see how happy (Skopje President Kiro) Gligorov is with your policy?" Mr. Mitsotakis asked the PASOK deputies. "It is clear that it is of no interest to Mr. Papandreou if Skopje is recognised as "the Republic of Macedonia' by all the countries of the world", Mr. Mitsotakis charged. The New Democracy leader also called on the government to "immediately" clarify its policy towards Albania, while agreeing with Mr. Papandreou that "the only basis for good relations (with the neighbouring country) is respect for the rights of the ethnic Greek minority". On the issue of the large numbers of illegal Albanian immigrants entering Greece, Mr. Mitsotakis warned that "if you give in to the Albanian demands (to grant legal status to all immigrants) you will intensify the feeling of insecurity currently prevailing in Greek society ...". Mr. Mitsotakis described the government's expressed desire for "relations of trust and good neighbourliness" with Turkey as "definitely positive" but called on Mr. Papandreou to clarify whether he intended to continue or sever the dialogue with Ankara. On economic issues, Mr. Mitsotakis said that the undermining of New Democracy's policy would endanger the anticipated improvement in the Greek economy. This danger, he went on, will become "mortal" if the government insisted on cancelling the privatisation programme from which it would secure at least 600 billion drachmas in the two-year period 1993-94. "Where will you find this money?" Mr. Mitsotakis asked. He accused the government of being vague even with regard to its long-term measures for the economy. "You said yesterday that you will resort to borrowing. But you didn't say from where you intend to borrow", said Mr. Mitsotakis, addressing himself to Mr. Papandreou. Mr. Mitsotakis said that the government had "no margin for undertaking additional expenditures" and was "forced to continue the privatisation programme. Otherwise the consequences will be inevitable -- interest rate increases, new taxes and even harsher austerity". He warned the government that if it cancelled or changed the allocation procedures for major infrastructure projects "all the investors who are standing by will leave and Greece will lose 5 billion dollars of investment capital from abroad and at least 20,000 new jobs". Athens, 25/10/1993 (ANA): Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Secretary General Aleka Paparriga said that the policy of the new PASOK government would be to follow the same strategy as that of all governments since 1974. The main characteristic of this strategy, she said, is that the government will respond positively to the demands of the Federation of Greek Industries (SEB) and "big capital" for new privileges and incentives while viewing existing labour legislation as a disincentive. Mr. Paparriga charged that the government would fully incorporate Greece in the EC "on terms of subordination". She said that the PASOK government would continue the privatisation policy initiated by New Democracy with the exception of the "semi-privatization" of the state telephone (OTE) and electricity (DEH) companies. For this reason, she continued, workers could not expect any improvement in their standard of living nor any improvement in the economy. Athens, 25/10/1993 (ANA): The Coalition of the Left and Progress criticised Premier Andreas Papandreou's government policy speech at a press conference yesterday. Coalition spokesman Grigoris Yannaros said Mr. Papandreou was "vague" on foreign policy and said it would be interesting to hear more about Greece's role in the Balkans and its relations with the US. Turning to the Skopje issue, Mr. Yannaros proposed Greece should launch an initiative for a package of confidence-building measures along the lines suggested by the EC, choosing a suitable name acceptable to both sides, and establishing conditions of economic co-operation and better relations between the two countries. Athens, 25/10/1993 (ANA): The Islamic Republic of Iran Saturday denied reports that it has recognised the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) under the name 'Republic of Macedonia'. It is not correct that we have recognised it as the Republic of Macedonia. We have only accepted the UN Security Council resolution on the issue", Iran's Ambassador to Athens Qasem Moheb-Ali told IRNA. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos on Friday said Iran was among the countries that recognised Skopje with the name of 'Macedonia'. Skopje was admitted to the UN in April under the provisional name of FYROM because of a name dispute with Greece. Mr. Moheb-Ali also denied press reports that Iran will be opening an embassy in Skopje soon. "This report is not correct", the Iranian ambassador told IRNA. "We care about the feelings of the Greek nation", Mr. Moheb-Ali added, referring to historical friendly ties between Greeks and Iranians. Meanwhile, the director-general of western Europe at Iran's foreign ministry, Hamed Reza Asifi, left Athens Friday after holding talks with Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias and National Economy Minister George Yennimatas Thursday on ways to expand bilateral political, economic and trade ties between the two countries. Mr. Asifi also conveyed Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati's congratulatory message to Mr. Papoulias, who was the first Greek foreign minister to visit the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1987. (IRNA). Athens, 25/10/1993 (ANA): The government Saturday rejected a protest lodged by Tirana concerning the discovery of three Albanians found dead earlier last week near the Greek-Albanian border, stressing that the incident took place on Albanian soil and involved only Albanians. "The official reply to the Albanian protest (lodged) yesterday (Friday) will be given by the Foreign Ministry. But it must be stressed right now that the protest is based on completely untrue facts and refers to an incident which took place on Albanian soil between Albanians", government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said. The spokesman reiterated that the improvement of Greek-Albanian relations "which is the aim of the Greek government" was dependent on Tirana's respect for international law and the rights of the ethnic Greek minority in Albania. Athens, 25/10/1993 (ANA): There was tension in southern Albania and on the Greek-Albanian border yesterday after a 68-year-old ethnic Greek woman was beaten to death by Albanian police Thursday and the murder of a Greek National Guard Friday by nine Albanian illegal immigrants attempting to enter Greece at the border town of Konitsa. Police in the region have questioned hundreds of Albanian illegal immigrants in an effort to find the killers of border guard Pantelis Zikas, 25, but without success. Greeks living in the border region have called on the government to take "drastic measures" to stop the continuing waves of illegal immigrants from Albania and to protect them from assault. In southern Albania, meanwhile, ethnic Greek officials were concerned at a new wave of actions by the Albanian government calculated, they said, to strike a blow at the morale of the ethnic Greek minority, and to exert pressure on the Greek government to legalise the status of illegal Albanian immigrants in Greece. The recent ban by the Albanian government on the operation of Greek minority schools and the prevailing tension will be the focus of a briefing of foreign ministry officials by a delegation of the ethnic Greek minority party 'Omonia', due to arrive in Athens today. However, ethnic Greek minority sources said yesterday the schools would continue to operate. The same sources said that if the schools' operation were hindered by the police, the minority would organise a big rally in the following days to protest the ban. Bonn/Dusseldorf, 25/10/1993 (ANA - P. Stangos): Thousands of Greeks braved foul weather to give visiting Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos a warm welcome at a special service held at St. Andrew's orthodox Church in Dusseldorf yesterday. The service was also attended by members of the Roman Catholic and Evangelical Churches and local officials. Later, the Patriarch drove to Cologne to confer with Cardinal Maisner, reportedly the most 'politicised' supporter of dialogue among Churches, and a pioneer of reactivating the Catholic Church in countries of eastern Europe. In the evening, the Patriarch attended a reception given in his honour by Premier on Northern Westphalia Johannes Rau. The Patriarch's talks with Mr. Rau marked the opening of a scheduled round of meetings which he had with the President Richard von Wiesaecker, Speaker of Parliament Rita Zusmuth and Chancellor Helmut Kohl in Bonn yesterday. In the evening, Patriarch Vartholomeos attended a reception given in his honour by Greek Ambassador Ioannis Bourloyannis-Tsangaridis and, later, a dinner by Turkish Ambassador Onur Eimen. Athens, 25/10/1993 (ANA): Lavrion Coast-guard officials Saturday arrested 15 Pakistani illegal immigrants who attempted to disembark at Cape Sounion from the Morocco-registered yacht Rafaella. The Coast-guard said that the yacht was carrying a total of 19 Pakistanis and a search was underway for the four who managed to evade arrest. The crew of two Polish nationals was also taken into custody for questioning. According to initial reports, the illegal immigrants had boarded the yacht at the Turkish port of Marmara. Athens, 25/10/1993 (ANA): International mediator Lord Owen will visit Greece today and meet with Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias within the framework of a tour of European capitals for talks on the situation in former Yugoslavia, the foreign ministry announced Saturday. Athens, 25/10/1993 (ANA): President of the Republic Constantine Karamanlis sent UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali a congratulatory note Saturday on the occasion of United Nations Day. "I wish to express my appreciation for your efforts for the finding of a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem so that it will cease to be a 'pending' international issue", his message added. prime Minister Andreas Papandreou also sent a congratulatory note: " I wish to underline our firm devotion to the principles and aims of the United Nations and mainly to the preservation of peace and the improvement of friendly relations and financial co-operation between nations as well as to the respect of human rights". New York, 25/10/1993 (Macedonian Press Agency / ANA): Renowned singer Nana Mouskouri will be proclaimed a UNICEF ambassador at a special ceremony today. As a UNICEF ambassador, Ms. Mouskouri will travel the world raising funds for underprivileged children. At a reception held in her honour Friday, Ms. Mouskouri announced that she would give a concert in Cyprus in 1994 to remind the international community of the numerous UN resolutions condemning Turkey's intransigent policy on the Cyprus problem. END