From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca (Theodore Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Fri, 8 Apr 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency Bulletin, Gov't firm on retortion, insists Skopje show good will ----------------------------------------------------- Athens, 8/4/1994 (ANA): The government yesterday reacted to a European Commission decision to refer Greece to the European Court of Justice for imposing trade sanctions against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), by reaffirming it would remain firm in its stand. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos reiterated the measures would be lifted as soon as Skopje provided concrete examples of good will. At the same time, Mr. Venizelos described "a positive element" a Commission decision calling on Skopje to reconsider its position on the Constitution and flag issues. The implementation of the Commission decision, announced in Brussels on Wednesday, was suspended until April 13. The spokesman told questioners the decision might have a negative impact on the ongoing initiative of UN mediator Cyrus Vance, in that it may serve to boost FYROM President Kiro Gligorov's intransigence. "The Commission decision does not enhance stability and security in the southern Balkans," he said. Mr. Venizelos also criticised the Commission for including the name issue in the dialogue package, saying it was exceeding its political and administrative competence. He said the Commission should have taken into consideration UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali's report, "which vindicates Greece's positions". By its decision, the Commission was undermining its own initiative, Mr. Venizelos said. He also blamed the Commission for not treating the issue with impartiality, and failing to "keep equal distances" between Athens and Skopje, thereby jeopardising the principle of EU solidarity, and common foreign and security policy. Mr. Venizelos described as "unprecedented" Commission invoking Article 225 of the EU Treaty, also wondering how the Commission, which considers the issue primarily political, should deal with the matter on the basis of legal criteria. Announcing the Commission decision Wednesday, External Political Affairs Commissioner Hans van den Broek said it was "based on Article 225 of the EC Treaty which applies to cases in which Article 224 has been cited unjustifiably by a member-state in support of unilateral measures which would otherwise be in violation of Community law." The spokesman also described as "unprecedented" the Commission's reference to conclusions at an informal Council of Ministers meeting "which had not dealt with the matter at its regular meeting, and had taken no decision". Mr. Venizelos underlined that the Commission itself had referred the issue of the Greek retortion measures against FYROM to the Council of Ministers. Replying to questions, Mr. Venizelos dismissed the significance of any practical results which might arise from referring Greece to the European Court. "Should there be any results, they would be very small and, possibly, imperceptible." He added, however, that if the issue were referred to the European Court, Greece would set out its political arguments "which complement legal arguments". The spokesman said that the government was willing, "if requested", to brief all political parties on latest developments, and provide them with all the necessary information. Commenting on a call by Political Spring leader Antonis Samaras for further measures against FYROM, Mr. Venizelos said that the government had its own foreign policy which it was exercising "with great care" and did not share Mr. Samaras' view. Mr. Venizelos announced that Foreign Ministry General-Secretary Ambassador Christos Zaharakis would fly to New York on April 11, to brief Mr. Vance on Greece's positions within the framework of the UN mediator's initiative. Meanwhile, the foreign Ministry yesterday denied a US newspaper report claiming that Greek military planning provided for the creation of a 20-mile "security zone" in FYROM territory. "It is clear that Greece is a stabilising force in the Balkans, and it is inconceivable that such ideas should be expressed," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Costas Bikas. "There is no Greek intention for such kind of action," he added. Evert: national unity vital --------------------------- Athens, 8/4/1994 (ANA): The need to preserve solid national front on the Skopje issue was noted, during a meeting yesterday, between Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias and Main Opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert. "I must tell the truth to the Greek people," Mr. Evert told reporters following the meeting, held at his request. "The situation is very difficult. The national front should remain solid, but there are problems." Mr. Papoulias briefed Mr. Evert on latest developments in the Skopje issue, and the European Commission decision to refer Greece to the European Court of Justice. Mr. Papoulias agreed with Mr. Evert that the situation was difficult, but said that "this does not mean one can abandon the struggle on such an important national issue." "Our main concern is to find ways to overcome the deadlock," he said, adding that the government was preparing to enter a new phase, which would be created after the Commission's decision. In a reply to a press question on UN Skopje Mediator Cyrus Vance's position on the issue, Mr. Papoulias said the mediator's ideas coincided with those of the Greek government. Skopje embargo a 'must' - PM to New York Times --------------------------------------------- New York, 8/4/1994 (ANA) - Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou in an exclusive interview with the New York Times said he "felt compelled to impose a trade embargo on the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia (FYROM), because the newly independent state's policies posed a real and present danger to Greece." The interview, published yesterday and headlined "Greek Prime Minister insists 'Macedonia' endangers his country", said the Clinton Administration criticised the embargo and named Matthew Nimetz as special mediator. Mr. Papandreou will pay his first official visit to the US, beginning April 22, the paper said. In his interview, Mr. Papandreou said he acted in February to deny landlocked FYROM access to its nearest outlet to the sea, the Greek port of Thessaloniki, after recognition of the state by six fellow members of the European Union at the end of 1993. He said this convinced him that the world had stopped paying attention to the dispute. "Then we knew the thing had been buried deep," Mr. Papandreou said. There was no longer an interest in the issue, and I had to tell the world somehow that there is an issue, an issue of security, of stability in the region." "It is not an emotional, Mediterranean reaction," Mr. Papandreou said. "We have really a challenge to our national security, because the objective is a 'Macedonia' with the Aegean." "Greek officials contend that the new state's choice of name and symbols of sovereignty masks a hidden ambition to lay claim to the Greek province of Macedonia and Salonika, its capital, which lies on the Aegean Sea," the paper commented. The Prime Minister conceded that the present government of the "small, impoverished state represented no threat". But he cited Balkan turbulence, and added that the menace came "in conjunction with other powers", the paper added. "I would prefer not to name them," Mr. Papandreou said. In his interview, Mr. Papandreou repeated Greece's recognition of its neighbour's independence and willingness to help it economically. He affirmed an offer to lift the embargo if FYROM changed its flag, which features a 16-pointed star discovered after World War II in archaeological excavations near Thessaloniki and never before used in the Yugoslav republic, and excised from its Constitution clauses that Athens interprets as claiming rights beyond its borders, the paper wrote. Referring to his forthcoming visit to the US, Mr. Papandreou said: "I must say, there is the emotional dimension, inescapably .. I spent 25 years in the United States, and I have good memories of my university career there." Mr. Papandreou was chairman of the economics department at Berkeley before returning here when his father, George Papandreou, was Prime Minister in the 1960's, the paper noted. FYROM issue not well understood, Council of Europe SG says ---------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 8/4/1994 (ANA): Council of Europe Secretary General Catherine Lalumiere said yesterday that Greece's positions on the issue of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) were "not well understood at all" by the rest of Europe. Ms. Lalumiere was speaking at a press conference, after separate talks yesterday with Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias and Alternate Foreign Minister Theodore Pangalos. In order to express a personal opinion on the Skopje issue, Ms. Lalumiere said, "one must first have acquired a good knowledge of the problem", adding that she had listened "very carefully" to Mr. Papoulias and Mr. Pangalos. Mr. Lalumiere said that she would like to see a solution found to the problem which would be satisfactory to all parties. "This," she added, "should necessarily be a compromise solution". Ms. Lalumiere described the situation in the Balkans as "fragile, if not explosive, and the sooner we find a solution the better". Lalumiere meets Pangalos on EU prospects, other issues ------------------------------------------------------ Athens, 8/4/1994 (ANA): Alternate Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos yesterday met with Council of Europe Secretary-General Catherine Lalumiere and discussed matters relating to the prospects of the Council of Europe and the European Union. Special topics discussed included the widening of the role of the Council through participation of new countries, educational issues in Albania of interest to Greece, human rights in Turkey and in the Turkish-held part of Cyprus, the Council's budget and co-operation with the EU. Ms. Lalumiere added she had met with Greek deputies to the Parliamentary Convention of the Council of Europe and established identity of views among deputies of all parties on issues of foreign policy and European policy in general. Europe is going through a sensitive phase, and we should guard against prevailing instability in certain countries turning into open conflict, she added. Maltese FM confers with Pangalos over accession ----------------------------------------------- Athens, 8/4/1994 (ANA): Relations between Malta and the European Union were discussed yesterday at a meeting between Alternate Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos and his Maltese Counterpart Guido De Marco. "The Greek Presidency will promote Malta's application for EU accession as soon as possible together with Cyprus' membership application," Mr. Pangalos told reporters after the meeting. The meeting also discussed the Yugoslav crisis, the Middle East peace process, co-operation in the Mediterranean and United Nations prospects. Mr. De Marco, thanked Greece for its "open support" to Malta's accession to the European Union. "We believe that Malta's participation in the European Union will reinforce the Mediterranean presence, together with Cyprus and Greece, in the European Union," he added. Greece rejects Turkish accusations on terrorism ----------------------------------------------- Athens, 8/4/1994 (ANA): The government yesterday rejected as "groundless" and "unacceptable" Turkish accusations that Greece supported terrorist organisations acting against the neighbouring state's interests. "Greece, a victim itself of terrorist acts, has publicly supported, consistently and solidly, the international condemnation of terrorism and within the framework of the European Union fully participates in efforts to combat this scourge," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantine Bikas. Mr. Bikas was responding to accusations by Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Ferhat Ataman that Greece supported the activities of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in Athens and was, therefore, violating its international obligations with respect to terrorism. The row erupted between Athens and Ankara after the PKK opened an office in the Greek capital. Mr. Bikas said that Turkey, "which daily makes mention of its European aspirations, must realise that in democratic countries freedom of expression is safeguarded for all persons, on condition that they do not violate the Constitution or disturb public order." It is manifestly clear, Mr. Bikas continued, that the PKK office in Athens is not operating in any official capacity and has no diplomatic status. He said that this was the policy adopted by all European states in which such organisations maintained such offices and did not break the law. "In view of this," Mr. Bikas said, "the Greek government considers as groundless and unacceptable Turkey's accusations that our country supposedly supports certain terrorist organisations which act against the interests of the neighbouring country." "Greece," the spokesman added, "would like to hope that Ankara will realise that its accusations are both false and unjustifiable, so that it might abandon the tactics which it has adopted, the only result of which is the creation of artificial tension in our bilateral relations and the export of Turkey's domestic problems abroad." Arsenis: EU court decision another Balkan blunder ------------------------------------------------- Athens, 8/4/1994 (ANA): In an interview with the Foreign Press Association yesterday, National Defence Minister Gerasimos Arsenis termed the European Commission's decision to take Greece to the European Court of Justice over its retortion measures against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) "one more erroneous move in Balkan affairs." Mr. Arsenis said it was odd that when united Europe concedes that the issue is political, when all await the results of initiatives by mediators Cyrus Vance and Matthew Nimetz, legal initiatives should be taken. This erroneous move by the Europeans, he said, encourages destabilisation in the region, and encourages powers not to move in the direction of settlement, through dialogue, but to insist on their irrational positions. It is a move rewarding their intransigence, he added. Responding to a press question, Mr. Arsenis said the European Commission's decision was not a failure for the Greek presidency, adding that there was ample room for political activity until the April 13 deadline set by the European Commission. Mr. Arsenis said the UN decision on possible participation of Turkish troops in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia violates a UN historic principle and, what he termed, Nato's wise position. He called on the audience to consider the European Union's mistake in deciding on the dissolution of former Yugoslavia, which is an issue Europe is currently pondering over. "You cannot send peacekeeping troops of a country which has taken an explicit position in the Bosnia conflict. In this way you legitimise the policy of a country with explicit involvement through the United Nations' channel," Mr. Arsenis said. Referring to Greece's position on the issue, Mr. Arsenis reiterated what has already been stated: Greece will reconsider its position, if Turkish troops are sent to Bosnia. He added that, for the time being, Greece is struggling to prevent Turkish troops being sent to the region. Yugoslav FM accepts Athens invitation ------------------------------------- Belgrade, 8/4/1994 (ANA - N. Georgiadis): Intense diplomatic activity between Athens and the capitals of former Yugoslav republics continues, with Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic and Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic invited to Athens on April 13 and April 15 respectively. According to information reaching ANA from diplomatic sources, Mr. Jovanovic has accepted the Athens invitation yesterday, and agreed to the date of the visit. Yugoslav diplomacy is currently focusing on the lifting of sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro or, at least, partial easing. The issue will apparently be examined by the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Yugoslavia during their meeting on April 15. Western diplomatic circles in Belgrade link diplomatic activity focusing on Athens to Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou's forthcoming visit to the US, since the economic and political situation in the Balkans will be on the agenda of Mr. Papandreou's talks.