From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca (Theodore Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Wed, 1 Jun 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency Bulletin, Papoulias opens Moscow talks, hopes Yeltsin will attend EU Corfu summit ------------------------------------------------------------- Moscow, 1/6/1994 (ANA-D.Konstantakopoulos): Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias began his visit to Moscow yesterday with talks with Ivan Rybkin, President of the State Duma (Lower House of the Russian Parliament), focusing on Greek-Russian relations, Russian-European Union relations, the Balkan crisis and internal developments in Russia. Mr. Papoulias, current chairman of the EU Council of Ministers, is paying a three-day official visit to Moscow at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev. He described Greek-Russian relations as "close," also deeming Russia's contribution to peace and safety in Europe as "extremely important." Mr. Papoulias told the press, after the meeting, he favoured a new Greek-Russian initiative on the Yugoslav crisis, since the two countries held similar positions on the problem, as also in light of difficulties emerging at peace procedures. He added that a Russian presence in the Balkans would counterbalance that of other powers wanting to play a role in the region. Mr. Papoulias said he was confident Russian President Boris Yeltsin would attend the EU summit in Corfu next month, adding an agreement might be signed between the European Union and Russia. He described Greek-Russian relations as "excellent", adding that a number of matters would be discussed and pushed ahead during his Moscow visit, including the natural gas and petroleum pipe-line projects, which were "important both for the Greek economy and Greek-Russian economic relations". The Papoulias-Kozyrev talks will also cover the issue of former Yugoslavia, on which Russia is playing a key peacekeeping role. Mr. Rybkin told reporters his country attributed great importance to its own role in the Balkans, adding that Russia's position on the Yugoslav crisis "is not in the least reluctant." Stressing the deep ties between Greece and Russia, he said the two countries held similar positions on international issues. Commenting on domestic developments he expressed optimism that the "not-so-simple" reforms in Russia would be successful. He declined comment on Turkish military presence in former Yugoslavia as part of the peace keeping troops. Papoulias warns Albania, but still hopeful tension will ease ------------------------------------------------------------ Athens, 1/6/1994 (ANA): "Greece is determined to take the most drastic steps to deal with the situation prevailing against the Greek minority in Albania," Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias said yesterday, hoping that recent tension in Greek-Albanian relations would start to ease up. In an airport statement before his departure for Moscow, Mr. Papoulias said there was "interest in the European Union's undertaking an initiative in support of the human rights of the (ethnic Greek) minority in Albania." He expressed hope that recent growing tension in Greek-Albanian relations would start to ease up, and that the "Albanian government has begun realising that normalisation of its relations with Athens is in its own interest." Commenting on a statement by Albanian President Sali Berisha that he was prepared to reach an understanding for the re-opening of dialogue with Greece and his expectations of a European Union (EU) initiative, Mr. Papoulias said that Athens had never rejected proposals for dialogue. However, he added, "adequate preparation is necessary so as not to have a repetition of Zurich," where "we ascertained our determination for Greek-Albanian relations to move ahead, but the climate had been reversed after recent persecutions against the Greek minority." Mr. Papoulias was referring to a meeting with his Albanian counterpart Alfred Sereqi in Zurich earlier this month. "In view of the situation that has been created against the Greek minority, Athens will not agree to hold any dialogue," he said. Mr. Papoulias, current chairman of the EU Council of Ministers, is paying a three-day official visit to Moscow at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev. He stressed the importance which he attached to the visit, expressing optimism that Russian President Boris Yeltsin would attend the EU summit in Corfu next month. Mr. Papoulias described Greek-Russian relations as "excellent", adding that a number of matters would be discussed and promoted during his Moscow visit, including the natural gas and petroleum pipeline projects, which were "important for the economy of Greece and also to Greek-Russian economic relations". The Papoulias-Kozyrev talks will also cover the issue of former Yugoslavia, on which Russia is playing a key peacekeeping role. "Many Greek positions are similar to those of Russian foreign policy," Mr. Papoulias added. Meanwhile government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said that Greece wanted to continue dialogue with Albania but "on a serious and effective basis." Mr. Venizelos reiterated that the Greek government positions on the rights of the ethnic Greek minority in Albania were "set and not negotiable." Asked to comment on Mr. Papoulias' earlier statement that Greek-Albanian relations were beginning to normalise, Mr. Venizelos said that Mr. Papoulias was obviously referring to Mr. Berisha's Monday statement that he wished dialogue to continue between Athens and Tirana. According to an ANA despatch Monday, Mr. Berisha stressed his desire for a continuation of the Greek-Albanian dialogue adding that he was willing to co-operate with other European countries to that end. Mr. Berisha rejected Greece's claims of violations of the human rights of the ethnic Greek minority in Albania, saying that the "minority enjoys all freedoms and rights carried in the Copenhagen charter." Albanian FM confers with envoys ------------------------------- Tirana, 1/6/1994 (ANA-M.Zarkadis): Albanian Foreign Minister Alfred Sereqi yesterday held a series of separate meeting with Ambassadors of EU member-states and the Security Council countries that have embassies in Albania. The meetings focused on the recent arrests of members of the ethnic Greek community in South Albania by Tirana authorities, and the blocking of Community aid to Albania by a Greek veto. Mr. Sereqi asked the European Union to help lift the Greek veto. According to sources, Mr. Sereqi asked Greek Ambassador to Tirana Christos Tsalikis for a resumption of Greek-Albanian talks. Mr. Tsalikis, the sources said, reiterated Greece's demand that a meeting take place between delegations of the two countries at foreign ministry level to discuss the incident in Episkopi. Relations between Greece and Albania have been strained since a cross-border attack on April 10 in which two Albanian soldiers were killed by what Tirana claims were ethnic Greek separatist gunmen, Athens flatly denied the accusation. Iliescu promises Evert support for Balkan peace agreement proposal ----------------------------------------------------------------- Bucharest, 1/6/1994 (ANA): Romanian President Ion Iliescu yesterday offered support for main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert's proposal for a Balkan peace and friendship pact. Mr. Evert told the Romanian president, during a meeting at the presidential mansion, that an agreement recognising existing borders is "urgent ... for peace to exist in the Balkans." He told the press after the meeting, that his proposal "had received a positive response" from President Iliescu, and now specific initiatives should be taken "so that such an agreement may be signed as soon as possible." Leaders from Bulgaria, visited by Mr. Evert almost a month ago, also responded positively to his proposal. Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina may at first encounter difficulties in signing such a pact because "they are faced with a problem of war at this moment," Mr. Evert said. "All other countries, however, should sign such an agreement so that the war might not spread." Mr. Evert used recent problems encountered by ethnic Greeks living in southern Albania as an argument for the agreement. Albanian security arrested and interrogated scores of Greeks last week, while six leading members of the ethnic Greek minority Omonia party are currently waiting to be judged by Albanian authorities on charges of espionage and fomenting separatism. Another Balkan problem, the Skopje issue, was also a topic raised at the Evert-Iliescu meeting. Mr. Evert said the Romanian leader sympathised with the Greek views on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and hoped the two countries would find a solution satisfying both. Yesterday, Mr. Evert met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Social Care, the presidents of the Parliament and Senate, the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church in Romania, and ethnic Greeks living there. Special patrol force to seal off northern border ------------------------------------------------ Athens, 1/6/1994 (ANA): Greece said yesterday it would set up a special force of border patrols to seal off the country's northern frontier to illegal refugees. "The aim of the measure is to boost the sense of security of local populations in those areas and block illegal immigration," National Defence Minister Gerasimos Arsenis said. "It carries a message that Greece is capable of defending its territory, and that Albania as well as other countries should co-operate with Greece in their efforts to overcome their huge economic stalemates," he said. Mr. Arsenis made the statement in Kastoria, northern Greece, during a tour of border posts along the Greek-Albanian border. He said he would table a draft-bill in Parliament this week, calling for establishment of a special task force. He gave no further details. The minister's announcement came at a time of heated tension between Greece and Albania. Athens accuses Tirana of waging a campaign to terrorise the ethnic Greek population in southern Albania in an attempt to drive them out of the country. In the past week, dozens of ethnic Greeks have been detained and interrogated by Albanian police on alleged activities of promoting separatism. Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou strongly criticised what he called Tirana's blatant and unacceptable persecution of the 300,000-strong ethnic Greek community, threatening to close Greece's border with its Balkan neighbour if anti-Greek action continued. He pledged to pursue diplomatic efforts to reach understanding with Tirana, but said he was prepared to have recourse to other measures, hinting at another operation to deport tens of thousands of illegal Albanian immigrants living in Greece. Public Order Ministry sources say there are an estimated 400,000 illegal Albanians in Greece. Iakovos seeks Clinton help over Constantinople See bomb attempt --------------------------------------------------------------- New York, 1/6/1994 (ANA): Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America, in a telegram dated May 28, advised US President Bill Clinton of an attempted bomb attack against the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul last Saturday. "I feel that a friendly but firm reminder (to Turkey) of the heralded democratic principles, one of which is religious freedom, would be of great relief at this time," Archbishop Iakovos stressed in his telegram. Last Saturday, three powerful time-bombs were found in iron pipes next to a wall and on a roof of the Patriarchate. The bombs, discovered by Patriarchate officials, were defused by Turkish bomb disposal experts shortly before they were due to detonate. In leaflets found next to the bombs, a hitherto unknown Islamic organisation called "Warriors of Islamic Enlightenment," claimed responsibility for the attempted attack. Constantinople Patriarch awarded London academic distinction ------------------------------------------------------------ London, 1/6/1994 (ANA-L.Tsirigotakis): Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos was granted an honorary doctorate in divinity yesterday by the City of London University, on the occasion of its centenary anniversary. Professor Raoul Franklin, the university's vice rector, delivered to the spiritual head of the world's Orthodox churches the award in a ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral. The ceremony was attended by the Duke of Edinburgh, delegates of other churches in Britain, and politicians, academics and leading businessmen from various countries. Egyptian trade delegation holds co-operation talks -------------------------------------------------- Athens, 1/6/1994 (ANA): A 25-member Egyptian trade delegation arrived in Athens yesterday, on a visit aimed at furthering economic and commercial ties between Greece and Egypt and identifying new areas of co-operation with Greek businessmen. Egyptian delegation businessmen will have talks today with Hellenic Industrial Development Bank (ETBA) Governor Theodore Gamaletsos and bank executives. ETBA will propose co-operation in areas such as the creation of industrial and maritime industrial regions in Egypt, the purchase by ETBA of machinery and equipment on their behalf and the establishment of joint Greek-Egyptian ventures in sectors of common interest such as tourism and exports. Egyptian businessmen represent branches such as import-export, investment, joint tourism ventures, shipping and banking. The Egyptian delegation will also tour industrial regions, chemical and dairy plants, fruit and vegetable canning factories, pharmaceutical units, and companies producing hospital equipment and high technology products. "Battle of the drachma has been won" - Boutos ----------------------------------------------- Athens, 1/6/1994 (ANA): "The battle of the drachma has been won," Bank of Greece Governor Ioannis Boutos said yesterday, after a meeting focusing on the course of the national currency in the wake of the lifting of all foreign exchange controls on May 16. The meeting, chaired by National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou, was also attended by National Economy Under-secretaries Dimitris Georgakopoulos and Nikos Kyriazidis and the governors of Greece's three leading commercial banks. "The battle of the drachma has been won," Mr. Boutos said after the meeting, predicting that "the situation will de-escalate within one or two weeks". He said that he had made it clear to the commercial banks that "the Bank of Greece is not prepared to cover banks' losses". Finance Minister Alexandros Papadopoulos echoed Mr. Boutos' optimism, saying "there will soon be good results". Drachma: Interest rates ease as BOG raises market liquidity ----------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 1/6/1994 (ANA): Interest rates eased in the domestic money market yesterday, after the Bank of Greece raised liquidity in the market, returning to its normal intervention activity. Interest rates fell to 90-100% from 120-130% in the previous days. Market attention focused on the auction of high-yield state bonds and on special short-term deposits offered by commercial banks with interest exceeding those of the state banks. According to sources, during the first day of the auction about 300 billion drachmas worth of state bonds were sold, with a much bigger amount absorbed by commercial banks. According to other sources the Bank of Greece decided to continue raising liquidity in the domestic banking system in order to ease further interest rates.