From: "Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa" Subject: A.N.A. Bulletin 25/1/95 Athens News Agency Bulletin --------------------------- (Apo to Ellnviko Grafeio Tupou kai Plnroforiwv, Ottaba, Kavadas E-Mail Address: grnewsca@sympatico.ca) * Premier: PASOK will field 'popular' candidate for president, in bid to avert elections * Venizelos * Papoulias meets with Russian ambassador: Greek-Russian relations proceeding well * Zakolikos refuses ND request for further checks on income statements * Niotis in London to open Hellenic Culture Foundation's British office * Clinton's Cyprus envoy in Athens for talks * Greek trade sanctions on FYROM 'part of diplomatic planning', Papoulias says * G. Papandreou: Greece wants good relations with Skopje * Bomb explosion * Quake registered in Peloponnese * Mangakis optimistic about course of Cyprus entry to EU issue * Cyprus application should be examined this month * Evert set to visit Palestinian regions in spring * Olympic Catering makes profit of 2.58 billion last year * Salaries, wages agreement signed for basic minimum income earners * Papantoniou: lower loan interest rates can be expected soon Premier: PASOK will field 'popular' candidate for president, in bid to avert elections ----------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou said yesterday his socialist party was committed to nominating a Presidential candidate with broad public and political support which would avert the need for general elections. "The Panhellenic Socialist Movement, as the most popular and ruling party, is obliged to take initiatives that will result in the selection of a (Presidential) figure based on a general consensus," Mr. Papandreou said. "The country cannot endure new elections," he added. Mr. Papandreou was speaking after a three-hour meeting of his party's Executive Bureau that focused on the strategy PASOK will follow during the run-up to Presidential elections in spring. The five-year term of incumbent President Constantine Karamanlis ends on May 4. If no candidate for the post secures 180 votes in the 300-seat parliament, national elections must be held. The ruling socialists have 170 seats in parliament and must gain the support of other parties to elect a new president and stay in power. Mr. Papandreou did not rule out his party nominating a candidate not affiliated to PASOK but conceded he would prefer a politician enjoying popular support. He said meetings with other political party leaders would be needed to find a solution to the problem. "(The meetings) won't be a bargaining process, but mature and responsible talks of the political leaderships aimed at finding a solution to this problem," Mr. Papandreou said. Main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert on Sunday said his party would not support a presidential candidate nominated by the prime minister. "We (New Democracy party) will not support any candidate affiliated to PASOK or proposed by its leader. We will not give a vote of confidence to Mr. Papandreou," Mr. Evert said. Responding to the premier's statements, ND spokesman Vassilis Manginas said the country's major problem was the head of the government and not the President of the Republic. "The prime minister and the Executive Committee of PASOK are trying to cover their intra-party problems and the government's non-existent policy, and to this end they are even using the paramount institutional process of electing a President of the Republic," Mr. Manginas said. Mr. Papandreou said PASOK's course in light of the forthcoming Panhellenic Political and Organising Conference was discussed at the executive meeting. According to reports, the conference will be held in April. Venizelos --------- Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): Meanwhile, Press Minister Evangelos Venizelos yesterday told reporters that the government considered it especially important that the new head of state should be a political personality. He said the successor needed some political experience in order to exercise their duties effectively and constitute a symbol of national unity. He added that the government has never ruled out the candidacy of a person who is affiliated to another party, and this is neither excluded by the institutions or the balance of power in parliament. Papoulias meets with Russian ambassador: Greek-Russian relations proceeding well ---------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias yesterday said relations with Russia were of "strategic importance" for Greece's foreign policy and that bilateral economic and political co-operation were at "very satisfactory levels". Mr. Papoulias was speaking to reporters after over an hour of talks with Russia's ambassador in Athens Valery D. Nikolayenko focusing on bilateral co-operation issues and preparations for Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou's forthcoming visit to Moscow. Two Greek-Russian groups had been set up to prepare for the visit, Mr. Papoulias said, made up of Russian embassy staff and Greek ministry officials. No date has yet been announced for the visit which is expected to take place soon. During yesterday's talks, Mr. Papoulias and Mr. Nikolayenko discussed the situation in the Balkans and the Greek foreign minister renewed an invitation to his Russian counterpart, Andrei Kozyrev, to visit Athens. "Greece and Russia have admirable co-operation and are working for the implementation of a peace process in the Balkans," Mr. Papoulias said, adding that other countries such as the United States had joined these efforts. On the situation in Chechnya, Mr. Nikolayenko said that Russia was making efforts to achieve unity in order to restore peace in the region. He expressed the hope that Greece would display understanding of the problem "as other European countries have shown great understanding". Mr. Nikolayenko disclosed that Mr. Papoulias expressed satisfaction over an announcement by the Russian Foreign Ministry concerning Greece's right to extend its territorial waters to 12 miles. Russia said on Friday that it supported the international convention on the Law of the Sea, which gave Greece the right to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles when it came into effect on November 16 last year. "Russia supports the international agreement on sea rights signed in 1982 which took effect on November 16, 1994. Therefore, every issue concerning the extension of territorial waters depends on this agreement which has the validity of a law and it is unimportant whether the state concerned has participated or not in the agreement," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Grigori Karashin said. Zakolikos refuses ND request for further checks on income statements --------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): Parliament's second Deputy Speaker Pausanias Zakolikos yesterday rejected an opposition party request for an examination of the "source of income" statements submitted by political party leaders. The request was contained in a letter from main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert. In a letter of reply to Mr. Evert, Mr. Zakolikos said that "the ex officio and selective implementation of legislation providing for a more thorough check ... (of the source of income statements) of specific deputies or ministers and specific assets belonging to them would lead to thoughts that the reputations of certain persons were being unacceptably tarnished". Mr. Zakolikos stressed that "transparency in the recording of the property of politicians is fully attained by the publication of the relevant statements and details as provided by law". He said the impression being created that deputies enjoyed special privileges with regard to the checking of their income statements was "totally false". More thorough checks of deputies' income statements are conducted, Mr. Zakolikos said, "when a specific instance of concealment or falsification of data pertaining to property is ascertained or when the supporting documents required by law are not submitted". New Democracy responded to Mr. Zakolikos' rejection by saying that it would introduce a motion in Parliament today requesting the setting up of an investigative committee to carry out thorough checks of the source of income statements submitted by political party leaders. Announcing ND's decision, party spokesman Vassilis Manginas accused Mr. Zakolikos of "resorting to procedural pretexts and formalities in order to refuse a real investigation into an enormous issue". Replying later to press questions on ND's motion, government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said that "the government refuses to participate in the downgrading of the level of political life". "Above all," Mr. Venizelos added, "it refuses to provide institutional pretexts to the representatives of behind-the-scenes politics." Niotis in London to open Hellenic Culture Foundation's British office --------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): Foreign Under-Secretary Grigoris Niotis flies to London tomorrow to inaugurate the British branch of the Hellenic Culture Foundation, a Greek Foreign Ministry announcement said yesterday. It said Mr. Niotis will meet with leading representatives of Greek organisations in the British capital before departing on an 11-day tour to the United States on Friday. Mr. Niotis' tour includes visits to Georgia, Tampa, Tarpon Springs, New Orleans, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, and New York, the announcement said. "Special emphasis will be given to meetings between Mr. Niotis and Greek-American officials and businessmen in light of the particular interest noted recently in significantly and decisively upgrading Greek -American investments in Greece," it said. Clinton's Cyprus envoy in Athens for talks ------------------------------------------ Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): US President Bill Clinton's Special Emissary for Cyprus, Richard Beattie, will pay a two-day visit to Greece beginning today for talks with the Greek government on the Cyprus issue. Mr. Beattie will be accompanied by Special Co-ordinator for the Cyprus issue James Williams. Greek trade sanctions on FYROM 'part of diplomatic planning', Papoulias says ------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias said yesterday that Greece had implemented its trade embargo against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) as part of "diplomatic planning to confront what is for Greece a national issue following the continuing intransigence on the part of (FYROM President Kiro) Gligorov". He was speaking to reporters after talks with Russia's Ambassador in Athens Valery Nikolayenko. "We shall not bend in the face of any decision of any court," Mr. Papoulias said in reply to questions on Greece's stance concerning the European Commission's referral of the trade embargo issue to the European Court. The case is scheduled to be heard on February 1. G. Papandreou: Greece wants good relations with Skopje ------------------------------------------------------ Skopje, 25/01/95 (ANA - M. Vichou): Greece's Education Minister George Papandreou yesterday told Skopje television that Greece desired good neighbourly relations with FYROM. In the interview with Skopje channel A1, excerpts of which were released here yesterday, Mr. Papandreou said that the Greek government assessed that the negotiations in the UN would not bring about results and consequently when the socialist PASOK party took power in October 1993 it did not continue them. To an interviewer's remark that the "negotiations were counterproductive because the Greek government will not lift the retortion measures if we (FYROM) do not display good will, and the Skopje government does not negotiate under conditions", Mr. Papandreou said "this does not mean that there is no solution". Mr. Papandreou said a solution would be "a small package of confidence-building measures which should include a change in FYROM's flag, guarantees for the existing borders, and changes in the constitution". On the other hand, he said, Greece could help FYROM enter the Council of Europe and develop strong economic relations with Athens, "which in practice means the lifting of the retortion measures". As for the problem of the name, "the most difficult of the problems, the two countries could leave it for later". Asked whether the "small package" would include mutual recognition of the two states, Mr. Papandreou said that "there can be no recognition due to the name issue". But, he added, "non-recognition does not mean bad relations, and one can find such examples in international practice". According to the television station, Mr. Papandreou said that the retortion measures were "damaging to both countries and therefore a solution should be found to the problem as soon as possible". Bomb explosion -------------- Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): A home-made bomb exploded at the Athens Business University (ASOEE) in central Athens at 10.30 last night, causing extensive damage but no injuries. An anonymous phone call to the newspaper 'Eleftherotypia' gave warning of the bomb ten minutes before it exploded. Quake registered in Peloponnese ------------------------------- Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): An earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale shook the south of the Peloponnese peninsula yesterday but no damage was reported. The Athens Observatory said the quake's epicentre was 180 kilometres south of Athens, near the island of Kythira. Mangakis optimistic about course of Cyprus entry to EU issue ------------------------------------------------------------ Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): Alternate Foreign Minister George Mangakis said yesterday he was optimistic about the stance Greece's European partners would take on the issue of setting a date for a start to negotiations for Cyprus' entry to the EU. Mr. Mangakis was speaking on his return from Brussels. He said he was certain the issue would be examined in parallel with that of Turkey's customs union with the EU when the General Affairs Council meets on February 6, pointing to favourable statements by German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel and French counterpart Alain Juppi Monday. Mr. Kinkel had said that he accepted the linking of the two issues, the first time Germany has made such a statement. Mr. Juppi had said he would continue to move within the framework agreed on January 12, at a meeting with Greek former Foreign Under-Secretary Yiannos Kranidiotis and Cypriot Foreign Minister Alecos Michaelides, envisaging that Cyprus' entry talks will take place in the first EU presidency after the intergovernmental conference in 1996. Greece vetoed a customs union between the European Union and Turkey that would have opened the EU market to Turkish goods at an EU- Turkey Association Council meeting in December, despite intensive efforts by the then-German presidency to keep the two issues separate. Referring to other issues, Mr. Mangakis said that Greece would not ask for a postponement of the upcoming European Court hearing on its imposition of economic retortion measures against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and that Greece would not proceed to a partial lifting of the measures. He also expressed particular satisfaction over the French presidency's stated intention to promote the development of a Mediterranean policy, implementing a Greek idea put forward at the Corfu summit last June. Cyprus application should be examined this month ------------------------------------------------ Brussels, 25/01/95 (ANA - M. Savvas) Cyprus' application for EU membership should come up for examination this month, in the event no progress is reported in settling the island republic's problem. This view -- already expressed by the Commission -- was stressed by Dutch Eurodeputy Jan Wilhelm Bertens, in a proposed motion accompanying a draft report to be discussed by the Europarliament External Relations Committee today or tomorrow. The motion underlines that Cyprus constitutes an entity, qualifying the present status quo as unacceptable, as does UN Security Council Resolution 939/94. It is underlined that Cyprus cannot be made to suffer "a second time", and it is only through opening talks for admission to the EU that a positive step might be made to expedite a peaceful settlement. Both the Council and the Commission are requested to provide a clear message, by setting a date for opening talks. The Dutch deputy considers it impossible for Europe to go ahead with enlargement by including Cyprus and Malta before the end of the intergovernmental conference of 1996 on reviewing the Maastricht treaty. Evert set to visit Palestinian regions in spring ------------------------------------------------ Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): Main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert yesterday accepted an invitation to visit the autonomous Palestinian regions in the spring, extended by the head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) diplomatic mission in Athens, Abdullah Abdullah. Mr. Abdullah extended the invitation at a meeting with Mr. Evert who briefed the PLO envoy on his recent visit to Israel. On his part, Mr. Abdullah briefed Mr. Evert on the latest developments in the Middle East peace process, particularly the obstacles which have arisen in the implementation of the 1993 accord between Israelis and Palestinians. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Abdullah said that the Palestinian people genuinely desired peace in the Middle East and strongly condemned Sunday's bomb blast in a Tel Aviv suburb which killed 19 Israelis. Olympic Catering makes profit of 2.58 billion last year ------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): Olympic Catering registered a profit of 2.58 billion drachmas last year, an increase of 33.6 per cent over figures for 1993, with a turnover of 12.65 billion drachmas against 11.04 billion for 1993, General Manager Mr. G. Koutsogiannos announced yesterday. Salaries, wages agreement signed for basic minimum income earners ----------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): An agreement was signed yesterday between the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE) and employers' unions on increases for basic minimum salary and wage earners in 1995. According to the new agreement, salaries and wages will increase by 4 per cent both on January 1, 1995 and July 1, 1995. In the event inflation exceeds 8 per cent at the end of 1995 the difference will be covered, as was the case last year. Papantoniou: lower loan interest rates can be expected soon ----------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 25/01/1995 (ANA): National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou yesterday indicated state banks would slightly reduce loan interest rates in the next one or two months, leaving, however, the exact amount of the decrease and when it will take effect to the discretion of the banks involved. Mr. Papantoniou was speaking at the end of a meeting held at his ministry and including Governor of the Bank of Greece Lucas Papademos, National Bank Governor Giorgos Mirkos, Commercial Bank Governor Mr. L. Loulis and Ionian Bank Governor Mr. P. Korliras. He said loan interest rates would decrease by four percentage points in 1995 and would be linked primarily to the decrease in inflation. Mr. Papantoniou said the slight reduction in loan interest rates was not linked with a decrease in deposit interest rates. Talks also focused on the expansion of Greeks banks in the Balkans and the Black Sea region. Replying to a questioner on salary increases for public corporation staff, Mr. Papantoniou said the institution of free collective negotiating was being implemented, adding that administrations had to move within the framework of the incomes policy.