Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 97-07-07
From: The Greek Press & Information Office, Ottawa Canada <grnewsca@sympatico.ca>
ATHENS NEWS AGENCY BULLETIN (No 1230), July 7, 1887
Greek Press & Information Office
Ottawa, Canada
E-Mail Address: grnewsca@sympatico.ca
CONTENTS
[01] Simitis leaves for important NATO summit in Madrid today
[02] Enlargement
[03] Papandreou: Harmonization with EU imperative for DEH
[04] Solana foresees no armed conflict between Greece, Turkey
[05] KKE's Papariga speaks before leftists' meeting in Madrid
[06] Tsohatzopoulos: NATO headquarters to be discussed at Dec. summit
[07] Sofia counting on Athens' support for EU, NATO accession
[08] Weekend heatwave due to subside
[09] V. Papandreou says tourism revenue still dropping
[10] Solar refrigerator inaugurated in Crete
[11] Wanted German suspect arrested in Halkidiki
[12] Greece loses to Russia, comes in fourth at Eurobasket
[13] IOC delegate from Peru tours facilities
[01] Simitis leaves for important NATO summit in Madrid today
Athens, 07/07/1997 (ANA)
Prime Minister Costas Simitis will leave for Madrid at noon
today to attend the NATO summit tomorrow, accompanied by Press
Minister Dimitris Reppas and Foreign Under-secretary Yiannos
Kranidiotis. The main issues on the agenda will be the
alliance's enlargement and new structure, but according to
consultations held to date, it does not appear possible that
decisions will be taken on the new structure.
Ankara will be represented in Madrid by Turkish President
Suleyman Demirel and new Foreign Minister Ismail Jem. There is
no scheduled meeting between Mr. Simitis and Mr. Demirel.
Diplomatic sources said that if there is a meeting, it will have
a social nature.
According to an ANA dispatch from Brussels, the leaders of NATO
member-states will make a last-ditch effort to find certain
compromise solutions to their differences, although being
divided over NATO's future form, methods of operation and
military targets.
The idea of France returning to NATO's military structure is
accompanied by a second concerning the deep restructuring of
NATO's functions. In short, this means that European Union
countries which are proceeding in an irregular fashion but
speedily towards their Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) need an
"internal" coordination of their defense and security.
However, the proposal for the creation of a European security
pylon in NATO does not meet with the understanding by the United
States. The US views with distrust France's claim that the
Europeans must be able to decide and execute action of a
military nature by themselves in the framework of the West
European Union (WEU), but using NATO's logistics structure in
such cases.
Neither does the US agree with giving a major NATO headquarters,
such as the one established in Naples, to European
administration and in conjunction with the creation of European
staffs - parallel to those of NATO - in all headquarters and at
all administrative levels in the alliance. Washington also
doesn't agree with the assumption of the administration of new
allied regional subheadquarters with exclusively European
command.
[02] Enlargement
Athens, 07/07/1997 (ANA)
According to the issue of enlargement, the United States has
sought to impose its view of the new European security order
single-handedly, decreeing that only three former Warsaw Pact
states - Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary - may join NATO
in the first wave.
Many European allies, among them France, Italy and Greece, want
Romania and Slovenia be added to that list, arguing that they
qualify both as democratic market economies and as states in
need of security on the edge of Black Sea and Balkan danger
zones.
US President Bill Clinton, who spent the weekend relaxing with
King Juan Carlos on the Spanish holiday island of Majorca, made
it clear before leaving Washington he would not allow more than
three entrants now.
NATO Secretary General Javier Solana said on Saturday there was
no consensus yet on the number of states to be admitted, nor on
any assurance to be given to those who do not join in the first
wave, probably in 1999.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed the Founding Act of a
new, cooperative relationship with NATO at a summit in Paris in
May, assuaging Moscow's continued hostility to the western
alliance's expansion into its former satellites.
To avoid being seen to give his blessing to enlargement, Mr.
Yeltsin decided not to come to Madrid, where 28 east European
nations will join the 16 NATO leaders for the first meeting of a
new Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council on Wednesday.
[03] Papandreou: Harmonization with EU imperative for DEH
Athens, 07/07/1997 (ANA)
Development Minister Vasso Papandreou on Saturday underlined the
urgent need for Greece's national legislation on power
production to be harmonized with that of other European Union
member-states. She spoke at the second day of a three-day
conference on the energy sector entitled "The European trade
union movement before the challenge posed by the deregulation of
the electric power market" that was organized by the Public
Power Corp. (DEH) employees' union.
Ms Papandreou said harmonization was an absolute necessity if
Greece was to successfully face competition in the power
production market after the year 2001.
"The government is determined at the earliest to pass a law
defining the framework for the overall operation of the
electricity market, so that DEH will not be unprepared for
the... tough competition which will be completely new for the
utility," Ms Papandreou said.
She described as "a great success" the four-year grace period
secured by Greece from the EU, which means that the relevant
Community directive on the deregulation of the electrical power
market will come into force in Greece as of February 2001.
However, he warned against complacency, stressing that the
securing of the transitional period should under no
circumstances entail putting off decisions or not taking
decisive steps necessary for DEH's adjustment.
For this reason, she added, a dialogue on the relevant
institutional framework had already begun between the
government, opposition parties, DEH's management and trade
unions.
Ms Papandreou stressed that the public nature of DEH should be
preserved, adding however, that this would only be possible if
the state-controlled utility was competitive.
The minister predicted that following the enforcement of the
Community directive, only a small share of the domestic market
would pass to the private sector, due to the high investment
cost entailed and the comparatively small size of Greece's
electrical power market.
Disagreeing with Ms Papandreou, the president of DEH's
employees' union, Nikos Exarchos, expressed the view that the
development ministry's timetable favors private electricity
producers, and that this undermined the public nature of DEH.
Meanwhile, during yesterday's last-day sessions trade unionists
from European Union countries expressed their views on the EU
directive.
Pierre Constantin from the French union CGT-FO said that EU
directives allow little ground for member-states, and as a
result countries are in danger of having options of limited
significance.
Mr. Constantin said French unions confirm their insistence in
the Public Electricity and Gas Service so as to preserve its
integrated and nationalized nature.
Italian unionist Walter Serfenta supported the deregulation of
production but not the distribution of electric power. He said
the state must exercise the functions of the guarantor and it
would be preferable to create mixed economy companies which will
be capable of creating a competitive market at a local level
with the best possible energy quality at the lowest prices
possible.
Gyne Dolben said that for Britain the directive will not play an
important role since the country has selected a much faster
transition to the open market. Despite the fact this transition
to complete competition has not yet been completed, Mr. Dolben
believes that British experience could come in useful for the
other EU member-states since it provides interesting information
concerning the future of electricity markets in Europe.
[04] Solana foresees no armed conflict between Greece, Turkey
Athens, 07/07/1997 (ANA)
NATO Secretary General Javier Solana said he does not believe a
war will break out between Greece and Turkey.
In an interview with the Sunday newspaper "To Vima", Mr. Solana
said Greece and Turkey are two faithful members of the alliance.
Replying to a question on a possible armed conflict between the
nations, he said "to tell the truth, I do not foresee a
confrontation between these two countries."
Replying to another question on whether he ruled out the
possibility of an incident, he said that "there might be
tensions between the two countries, but I do not see a
confrontation."
[05] KKE's Papariga speaks before leftists' meeting in Madrid
Athens, 07/07/1997 (ANA)
Developments in the European Union and the expansion of NATO
were discussed at a meeting of Leftist and Progressive Parties
of Europe, held over the weekend in Madrid.
The meeting was attended by a delegation from the Communist
Party of Greece (KKE), headed by party Secretary General Aleka
Papariga, who said in an address that the peoples of Europe must
struggle for a change in the political equation in order to
benefit communist, leftist and other progressive forces, which
she claimed constitute an important precondition for reversal of
political trends at a European level.
The parties participating in the meeting expressed their
opposition to NATO enlargement.
[06] Tsohatzopoulos: NATO headquarters to be discussed at Dec. summit
Athens, 07/07/1997 (ANA)
The issue of new NATO headquarters will be discussed after the
Madrid summit and at the next alliance summit in December,
National Defense Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said while in the
Ukraine.
The Greek minister arrived in the city of Lviv to observe the
exercise "Cooperative Neighbor '97", which is part of the
NATO-sponsored program "Partnership for Peace." Greek military
forces also participated in the exercise.
Greece is responsible for coordinating the 13 countries
participating in the exercise, due to be concluded this week.
[07] Sofia counting on Athens' support for EU, NATO accession
Sofia, 07/07/1997 (ANA - N. Hios)
Bulgaria is counting on Greece's assistance for the promotion of
Bulgarian interests vis-a-vis the European Union and NATO,
Bulgarian president Petar Stoyanov said in a television
interview here yesterday, following his official visit to Greece.
Commenting on his visit to Athens, the first by a Bulgarian head
of state in eight years, Mr. Stoyanov said his talks were
"parti-cularly effective" and conducted "in a climate of good
will".
"Greek-Bulgarian relations are defined not just in the context
of two neighboring and friendly countries but assume a new
meaning and framework in the light of Bulgaria's strategic
objective for accession to the EU and NATO," Mr. Stoyanov said,
stressing that Athens clearly supports Sofia's bid for accession
to the two organizations.
[08] Weekend heatwave due to subside
Athens, 07/07/1997 (ANA)
Greece was in the grip of a heatwave over the past weekend, with
temperatures in certain parts soaring above 40 degrees Celcius.
State emergency services were placed on alert to deal with the
effects of the heatwave, including health problems and forest
fires, while parts of air-conditioned public buildings were made
available for people to take refuge from the sweltering heat.
Many Athenians and other urban residents headed for the beaches
and mountains, causing heavy traffic on the regional road
network.
As a result, a high number of motor accidents was recorded, with
the death toll for the weekend standing at 20 on Sunday
afternoon.
The weather bureau said that the heatwave was due to begin to
subside today.
[09] V. Papandreou says tourism revenue still dropping
Athens, 07/07/1997 (ANA)
The tourism sector was the focus of Development Minister Vasso
Papandreou's address to a ruling PASOK party meeting on Rhodes.
Ms Papandreou said that tourism in Greece was operating in a
"vicious circle". Although tourist arrivals have increased,
income created by tourism has actually dropped as hotels are
offering greater discounts to foreign operators, she said.
Presenting a national strategy for the sector, the minister said
that the current model of mass tourism needs to be replaced or
added to with additional forms of tourism, such as ecological,
cultural, marine, rural, religious etc.
She also stressed the need for the development of additional
tourism infrastructure, with facilities such as golf courses,
thalassotherapy centers, conference centers etc.
Ms Papandreou also underlined the need for more luxury hotel
accommodations to assist the growth of "high-end tourism",
saying that first category and luxury hotel beds accounted for
only 27 per cent of the total.
[10] Solar refrigerator inaugurated in Crete
Athens, 07/07/1997 (ANA)
A Renewable Energy Sources Center and a solar refrigerator were
inaugurated in the Vatali Prasse region near Hania, Crete last
night, which will be used by communities in the region for the
needs of refrigerating and preserving farm and stockbreeding
products.
The ceremony was attended by Agriculture Under-secretary
Vassilis Geranidis, the North Rhine Research Minister Mr. Brun,
the Palestinian Higher Education Minister Mr. Abrawi, the
Palestinian Minister to the Presidency Abu-Ada and the Jordanian
Commerce Minister Mr. Malki.
[11] Wanted German suspect arrested in Halkidiki
Athens, 07/07/1997 (ANA)
A German national wanted by Interpol for fraud and embezzlement
in his country involving millions of deutschmarks was arrested
on Friday in Polygyros, Halkidiki, police sources said here
Saturday.
George-Ralf Planck (phonetic spelling), 50, had been staying in
a rented apartment near Vourvourou.
During his stay in Greece, Planck is alleged to have used forged
documents, including a false Belgian passport and a driver's
license in the name of Johann Peters.
Police stopped him on Friday afternoon on the Nea
Moudania-Sithonia highway and after checking his fingerprints,
ascertained that it was Planck.
The suspect was due to appear before a public prosecutor in
Polygyros, charged with using forged documents, while the
procedures have already begun for his extradition.
[12] Greece loses to Russia, comes in fourth at Eurobasket
Barcelona, 07/07/1997 (ANA - D. Efstathiou)
Greece's national men's basketball team came fourth at the
European Basketball Championship here after losing yesterday to
Russia 97-77.
At half time the score was tied 43-43. Russia won third place.
On Saturday night Greece lost to Yugoslavia 88-80 in a
semi-final match and lost the opportunity to play in the final.
Greece came in fourth for the third consecutive Eurobasket
competition. The Greek team won seven matches and lost two in
the tournament.
The final between Italy and Yugoslavia was played late last
night.
[13] IOC delegate from Peru tours facilities
Athens, 07/07/1997 (ANA)
Peru's International Olympics Committee (IOC) delegate, Ivan
Dibos, yesterday said he was satisfied with a presentation of
Athens' candidacy to host the Olympic Games in 2004.
The presentation was made for him by candidacy committee
president Yianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki.
Mr. Dibos was given a guided tour of sports installations at
Peace and Friendship Stadium and the Athens Olympic Stadium on
Saturday.
Immediately after a ceremony at the "Park for IOC members" on
Friday where he planted an olive tree bearing his name, Mr.
Dibos said: "I have planted very many trees as mayor of Lima,
but what I feel today I have never felt before. It is a great
honor and I thank you very much. They say a man should have a
child, plant a tree and write a book. I have now fulfilled the
first two and I am happy. I will not write a book, because even
if I write one nobody will read it."
Two more IOC members arrived in Athens on Saturday. They are
Vitaly Smirnov from Russia and Nat Intrapana from Thailand.
End of English language section.
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