From: zarros@turing.scs.carleton.ca (Theodoros Sp. Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Tue, 26 Oct 1993 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). ATHENS NEWS AGENCY BULLETIN October 26, 1993 A.N.A. Athens, 26/10/1993 (ANA): Parliament early thismorning returned a vote of confidence to the new socialist government, giving Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou the green light to press ahead with his policy programme. "We want and we cantake the country out of the impasse", Mr. Papandreou said after the vote. The confidence vote was returned by 170 socialistdeputies but voted against by 129 conservatives, Communists andPolitical Spring deputies. One ND deputy was absent. Mr. Papandreou madea strong comeback to power in elections earlier this month after three years of conservative rule highlighted by stiff economic policies. Over the weekend he told the 300-member parliament that Greece would seek a "leading role" in the search forpeace in the Balkans and act as a bridge between the Balkans and Europe. He said other foreign policy strategies entailed close ties with the United States and support for the Maastricht treaty on European unification. The premier pledged to supporta viable solution to the 19-year-old Cyprus dispute and warned Turkey that any "violent change" in the status quo of theisland will be considered a "casus belli". On the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Papandreou reiterated hisopposition to recognition of the state under a name containing the word "Macedonia" or a derivative of that name. He stressed he would also not tolerate the theft of Greek symbols and "irredentist designs" against Greece. Greece has tried to blockinternational recognition of the republic saying its use of the name "Macedonia" implies territorial ambitions on Greece's northern region. Mr. Papandreou said he would also give priority to revoking "undemocratic" legislation passed by his conservative predecessors. High on the list is an antiterrorism law that disgruntled international media groups when seven newspaper editors were imprisoned for defying the ban on the publication of statements by terrorist groups. Another bill concerns the sale of the state-run OTE phone company, though Mr. Papandreou conceded that "privatisation was in line with the government's policy". Closing the three-day debate, Mr. Papandreou called upon the Greek people to unite "in order to confront the problems of the country ... Our policy statements fall in line with our electoral programme voted by the Greek people. Ouracts will be judged by the people who demand from the government cohesion, and a high sense of responsibility". Athens, 26/10/1993 (ANA): Political spring party leaderAndonis Samaras yesterday criticised the socialist government's policy statement, saying it lacked the "urgent need" for fast-paced reforms. "We will vote against the government because its underlying logic, as the policy statements show, is thatGreece can wait. We believe that we have exhausted our period ofgrace ... and that from here on Greece is the one that should be rushing", Mr. Samaras said. "The government's policystatements closed its eyes to a courageous and historically demanded proposition for reform which the country requires", he told parliament on the last round of a three-day confidence debate. Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou looks certain to win the confidence vote with his 170 deputies controlling the 300-seat parliament. Mr. Samaras, whose four-month-old party made a strong showing in elections earlier this month, said the government was preparing a new austerity period, andprescribed increased competition as the antidote for Greece's economic recession. On foreign policy, Mr. Samaras reiterated his call for a referendum on the issue of recognition of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and called for close relations with the United States. He said that normalisation of Greek Turkish relations should hinge on the resolution of the 19-year-old Cyprus dispute, adding that the issue of theAegean continental shelf should be settled at the Hague international court and approved Mr. Papandreou's statement that any violent change in the Cyprus problem will constitute a 'casus belli". Athens, 26/10/1993 (ANA): International mediator LordOwen and Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias noted "an identity of targets" concerning the settlement of the problem of Bosnia-Herzegovina during a two-hour meeting here yesterday. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Papoulias said he had had a long discussion on the Bosnian problem with LordOwen who had briefed him on the situation in the Balkans prior tothe foreign minister's tour of Balkan capitals, due to commence on November 8 or 9. "We are all working with the common target of settling the problem of former Yugoslavia and my tour is proof of the Greek initiative on the issue", Mr. Papoulias said.Lord Owen expressed certainty that the contacts between Greece and the other Balkan countries would have positive results. "Ihave absolutely no doubt that it is very important that the one EC country that is a Balkan country should keep particularlyclose to the other leaders in he Balkans and also there is another reason -- in January, Greece will be in the presidency of theEC and I think that we will still have this problem on our platein January", Lord Owen told reporters after the meeting. "I hopewe will be able to make progress in Bosnia-Herzegovina and onsome of the bilateral problems between Croatians and Serbians but I think that it would be a very optimistic person who would believe that we will have settled all the global problems ofthe Balkans by January", Lord Owen said. Lord Owen said that by today he will have spoken to all twelve EC countries "about the way ahead", underlining that he had found "a really remarkable degree of unanimity within the Community". "We all believe", Lord Owen continued, "that we should proceed on two tracks -- the first priority is to try to reach a settlement in Bosnia-Herzegovina and avoid the real nightmare of war and winter coinciding (but) also lay the foundations for anoverall global settlement in the full knowledge that we cannot hold a conference to deal with all the problems of the Balkanswithout it being very carefully worked out, without prior agreement on many of the most complex questions...". Lord Owen and Mr. Papoulias agreed to keep in constant contact and exchangeviews on Balkan issues. "A good solution to the problem of Bosnia-Herzegovina will help towards the settlement of all the problems in the Balkans with the ultimate aim of removingevery risk of war in the region", Mr. Papoulias said. Athens, 26/10/1993 (ANA): Greece yesterday lodged astrong protest with Tirana over the provocations of the Albanian government against members of the ethnic Greek minority, government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said. The protest was delivered by Ambassador Petros Angelakis to the Albanian ambassador in Athens. Mr. Venizelos said that during themeeting with the Albanian envoy, Mr. Angelakis rejected an Albanian protest lodged Friday concerning the discovery of fiveAlbanians found dead earlier last week near the Greek-Albanian border.The Greek protest followed the beating to death by Albanian police on Thursday of a 68-year-old ethnic Greek woman and the murder of a Greek National Guardsman on Friday by nine Albanianillegal immigrants attempting to enter Greece at the border town of Konitsa. In southern Albania meanwhile, ethnic Greek officials were concerned about a new wave of actions by Tiranacalculated, they said, to strike a blow at the morale of the ethnic Greek minority and exert pressure on the Greek government tolegalise the status of illegal Albanian immigrants in Greece. Mr. Venizelos said that it was "self-evident" that respect for international law as well as human and minority rights were "elements of Western civilisation" which must be seriouslytaken into consideration by the Albanian government. Bonn, 26/10/1993 (ANA - P. Stangos): Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos yesterday held talks with president Richard von Weizsaecker, Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Parliament president Rita Zusmuth and concluded his contacts with German leaders in Bonn. According to Chancellery sources, during his 90-minute talks with Mr. Kohl, the Patriarch requested his contribution for an improvement in the living conditions of the Greek community in Istanbul, Imvros and Tenedos and Mr, Kohlreassured him "of the German government's efforts to help in improving relations between the Turkish and the new Greek government asit had done for the previous one". In a morning meeting with German journalists selected by the Catholic and Evangelical Church,the Patriarch referred to the Patriarchate's relations with the Turkish government, adding that there had been a "significant improvement" lately. A "painful matter", he said, is the fact the Turkish government has so far refused to satisfy the"basic request" of permitting the re-opening of the Halki Academy of Theology which was closed in 1971. --- The Patriarch toldGerman journalists the promotion of an ecumenical dialogue withsister churches was at the focal point of his visit. "We all want the unity of the Church", he said, announcing that he intends to visit the Vatican next year. Vartholomeos said he did not see ecumenical unity being limited to a dialogue between Christian churches and that it was necessary to include monotheistic religions such as Islamism and Judaism. "Without peace among religions, there can be no peace in the world", he said,adding that the Orthodox Church has been having an official dialogue with the Moslems and Jews for some time. The problem ofUniates in east European and Balkan countries is a controversialmatter in relations between orthodoxy and the Catholic Church, hesaid, speaking of "unacceptable aggression". While belonging to the Vatican's administrative jurisdiction, the Uniated follow the Orthodox Church rituals, creating confusion, and for thisreason the Patriarch expects the Catholic Church to issue a relative circular restricting their activities, particularly in Ukraine and Slovakia. The Patriarch will continue his tour of Germany until Friday with visits to Hanover, Magdeburg and Munich. United Nations, 26/10/1993 (Reuter): Internationalsinging star Nana Mouskouri was appointed by the UN Children's Fund(UNICEF) yesterday as a special representative for the performing arts, to promote the cause of children worldwide. The Greekperformer, who sings in half a dozen languages, has made more than 350gold and platinum recordings. As an advocate and fund-raiser for UNICEF she joins a distinguished company of entertainers including Harry Belafonte, Liv Ullmann, Roger Moore, Sir Peter Ustinov and the late Audrey Hepburn. Athens, 26/10/1993 (ANA): Greece's assumption of the EC rotating presidency on January 1 will see priority given to efforts to boost the 12-member bloc's economic growth, prosperity and cohesion and employment, Alternate Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said yesterday. "The Community's economic recovery, economic prosperity and cohesion, and employment will be the triptych of priorities of the Greek presidency", Mr. Pangalos told the press at a briefing before leaving for Luxembourg, where he will represent Greece at a meeting of EC foreign ministers. The General Affairs Council today, called to prepare for the EC summit to be held in Brussels Friday, would also discuss the protracted Uruguay round of GATT trade talks, the minister said. Mr. Pangalos met yesterday with ambassadors of EC member-states to exchangeviews on Community issues and with Bank of Greece Governor Efthymios Christodoulou to discuss the second stage of European economic and monetary union --beginning January 1-- and the drachma's prospects for entry to the European Exchange Rate mechanism (ERM). Mr. Pangalos said the issue of the Community'sexpansion with the admission of EFTA countries Sweden, Filand, Austriaand Norway would be reviewed in conjunction with the EC's effortsto boost its economic growth. In this way, he said, it will be possible to sign the agreements for the entry of thesecountries by the end of March. The Greek presidency, he said, would encourage a stronger EC role in the Balkans, adding thatGreece would continue developing bilateral relations with Russia. Mr. Pangalos also announced that he will visit Germany early next month as part of a tour of Community capitals in light of Greece's assumption of the EC rotating presidency. Bonn, 26/10/1993 (ANA - P. Stangos): The building of asocial Europe, the increase in productivity and peace in the Balkans will be the Greek European Community presidency's priorities, Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou said in an interview withthe weekly political magazine "Focus". The interview, entitled "Greece is struggling for a social Europe", was published yesterday. Mr. Papandreou vindicated the words of the lateWilly Brandt who had said Europeans will again vote for the leftwhen they get "tired" of the market economy and social uncertainty, adding that "the first clear Socialist victory in Europe after the end of the Cold War was won by PASOK in Greece". Asked how his pre-election pledges of "social benefactions" coincidewith conditions Greece must fulfil as a result of the Maastricht treaty, Mr. Papandreou said "indeed they are a stumbling block for the social sector", but added "Greece wants European unification". "The problem is that the Maastricht treaty'saims are only fiscal (monetaristic) ... Without targets for asocial Europe based on a development strategy, Europe will be faced with social unrest, xenophobia and far-right violence", hesaid. Referring to Albanian fears of a possible Serb attacksouthwards to Kosovo and the ousting of Moslems, Mr. Papandreou said"this southward trend exists in the heads of political and military groups in Serbia", but added that "the Serbian president is aware that an attack in this direction means war and that this war will not be limited to Serbia and Albania because the big powers will intervene". Asked whether he will support the lifting of the embargo against Serbia when he becomesCommunity president, he said "Serbia now wants peace", adding that "foras long as Serbia holds on to more than it is entitled to in Bosnia, it will be difficult for sanctions to be lifted". Athens, 26/10/1993 (ANA): Alternate Foreign MinisterTheodoros Pangalos yesterday called on the United States through the United Nations to "offset the consequences of the period 1967-1974" which led to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. "Weare requesting the intervention of the US in accordance with their convictions and the policy they are trying to implement in various parts of the world in order to offset the consequences of the 1967-1974 period in Cyprus", Mr. Pangalos said in reply to a press question yesterday. "If this were to occur, then our relations would rapidly improve", he said, adding that the two nations would in any case have satisfactory relations. "Wewant the Americans to be consistent in their policies", he said. He also underlined that the US could very effectively use its influence in Turkey for a settlement of the Cyprus problem.