National Defence Minister Gerasimos Arsenis leaves today for Tirana on a two-day official visit and talks with the Albanian government and political leadership on expansion of defence co-operation between the two nations.
Mr. Arsenis is due to meet with Albanian President Sali Berisha, Prime Minister Aleksander Meksi, his counterpart Shathet Zhulali, the chiefs of the armed services and also with the head of the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania, Archbishop Anasta sios.
Defence ministry sources told ANA the talks will focus mainly on the modernisation of Albania's arms industry, the staging of joint military exercises and possible training of Albanian officers and non-commisioned officers in Greek military academies. According to informed sources, an estimated 900 Albanian officers and NCOs are currently being trained in Turkey.
The same sources say Mr. Arsenis, whose visit will be the first by a Greek defence minister in many years, will also discuss improvements in health services of the Albanian armed forces and possible construction of a new wing in a military hospital out side Tirana.
In addition, talks will include a "co-operation plan" agreed to by the two countries during the 1992-93 period which has been described as "sufficiently good" by the defence ministry, the sources said.
Albanian President Sali Berisha yesterday expressed his optimism for the future of Greek-Albanian relations in an exclusive interview with the Athens News Agency.
"Albania needs Greece and Greece needs Albania," Mr. Berisha said. "We are neighbours and we have the will to live side by side in peace," Mr. Berisha said, adding that in recent months there is an increasing awareness of the need for friendship between the two countries. "I am optimistic about our relations," he said, "our duty is to agree to be friendly and have good neighbourly relations."
Mr. Berisha expressed satisfaction at the fact that Greek investments toward Albania increased stating: "I am very happy to note that Greeks come to invest in Albania." He added that "this shows a real contribution to the friendly co-operation of the two countries. All Greek investors are welcome," he said.
Commenting on the approximately 250,000 to 300,000 Albanians working in Greece, Mr. Berisha noted that conditions for them are better now. "We will continue negotiating the issue with the Greek government." He said the legal status of the illegal workers is currently being debated.
The secretary of the ruling PASOK Central Committee, Akis Tsohatzopoulos, said yesterday the party doesn't suffer from a leadership problem, adding that Prime Minister and PASOK leader Andreas Papandreou ensured unity.
"Andreas Papandreou is the political leader ensuring unity and the prospects of the movement," Mr. Tsohatzopoulos said during a PASOK prefectural confederation meeting in Thessaloniki. "PASOK does not face a leadership issue, therefore issues of a post-Papandreou era are untimely," Mr. Tsohatzopoulos told the meeting, organised prior to an upcoming PASOK meeting.
Mr. Tsohatzopoulos said those claiming PASOK faces leadership problems are "underminers of PASOK's policies and evaders of the real problem of the party, which is finding solutions to problems of Greek society."
On the other hand, he acknowledged the existence of "ideas" and "trends" within the party which he said "are allowed under the party's articles of association." He rejected, however, the existence of "organised trends" within the party. "No one can undermine the unity of this movement of the left," Mr. Tsohatzopoulos said, saying the upcoming meeting would signal a new beginning for the modernisation process of the political system.
The Australian federal minister of immigration, Nikos Bolkas, will officially visit Greece this month. The minister, who is of Greek origin, will travel to the island of Kastellorizo and meet with members of the Greek government. Mr. Bolkas' family is descended from the tiny Greek island that hugs the southeastern coast of Asia Minor.
On his itinerary are also trips to Italy and Malta. In addition, Mr. Bolkas will attend the reopening of the Australian Embassy in Beirut, closed since 1984 for security reasons.
Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou will brief President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos today on the outcome of the latest European Union summit in Cannes, France, and more particularly on Greece's position on EU-Turkey relations.
During the summit, Mr. Papandreou strongly reacted to French President Jacques Chirac's double swipe at Greece, first when he stated the EU should invite Turkey to its next summit - a move supported by the next EU presidency, Spain - and that Greece sho uld lift trade sanctions on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
The prime minister will also update Mr. Stephanopoulos on all Greek national issues, while the president will inform Mr. Papandreou on his contacts in Bucharest last week during the Black Sea Economic Co-operation Council's (BSEC) second summit.
The President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos will hold a meeting Thursday with Coalition of the Left and Progress President, Nikos Constantopoulos. The meeting, scheduled at the request of Mr. Constantopoulos, will focus on Greece's national issues and the need to re-draft the government's foreign policy, as well as establish a Foreign Policy Council.
A general strike by the Greek Seamen's Union was suspended last night as workers returned to their positions, warning, however, that unless demands are met by the end of July they'll strike again.
The strike lasted four consecutive days despite a Piraeus court decision ordering seamen to return to work and threatening violators with stiff fines. However, the Merchant Marine Ministry said several routes on the Saronic Gulf as well as the Aegean islands and northern Greece operated regularly.
The work stoppage began Thursday, stranding thousands of tourists and travelers on passenger ships in the midst of the heavy summer season. The ministry said six passenger ships heeded to the court's warning and resumed routes on the Igoumenitsa-Italy crossing, while 10 resumed service on the Patras-Italy lines.
Following an appeal from the Shipowners' Union, the Piraeus First Instance Court late Friday ordered the Seamens' Union (PNO) to suspend their strike, while imposing a 100,000 drachma fine on members violating the order. The union responded with another 48-hour strike until 6:00 a.m. yesterday.
Air fares increased an average of 7 per cent on all of Olympic Airways' domestic flights, the Ministry of Communications announced. In addition, the ministry said that as of Saturday, taxi fares also rose by an average of 8 per cent, or four drachmas per kilometre. The flag fare remains the same at 200 drachmas.
A concert against racism was organised yesterday by the National Committee Against Racism in co-operation with the government's Youth General Secretariat. Meanwhile, a passenger train leaves today from Athens headed for Strasbourg to participate in the "European Campaign Against Racism."
The concert was held within the framework of the "European Campaign against Racism, Xenophobia, Anti-semitism and Non-tolerance," introduced by the European Council. The train, called "Greek Youth Train against Racism" will join another five rail convoys leaving other European capitals for Strasbourg, where a European youth week entitled "All Different-All Equal" will be held from July 10-17. The campaign includes a series of events to be held through the end of 1995.
Ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) Central Committee Secretary Akis Tsohatzopoulos bitterly criticised yesterday a group of 10 parliament deputies of the main opposition New Democracy party who attended the London wedding Saturday of the for mer king Constanine's son to an American bride.
Mr. Tsohatzopoulos called on ND to apologize to the Greek people for allowing the presence of ND deputies at the wedding. "The problem with New Democracy is that it cannot control a significant percentage of its officials and deputies who are influenced by pro-monarchy views," Mr. Tsohatzopoulos said.
On Saturday, the ex-king's son, Pavlos, married millionaire American heiress Marie-Chantal Miller in a ceremony attended by royals from at least 12 countries. The former king and his family have lived in London since the monarchy was abolished in a 1974 referendum. The former royals are barred from returning to Greece until they recognise the validity of the referendum.
A handful of ND parliamentary deputies were reported to have accepted invitations to the wedding, which several newspapers reported as being issued by the "King and Queen of the Hellenes," causing a furor within the party.
PASOK has strongly criticised ND leadership for allowing party members to attend the wedding in defiance of senior ND leaders. Other opposition parties also criticised ND leadership.
Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Central Committee official, Antonis Skylakos, implied yesterday that ND royalist sympathisers used the occasion to promote a return to a monarchy. "We consider the actions of those who in one way or another promote the monarcy as a provocation," Mr. Skylakos said. He said, however, that "we must also condemn those who promote this as a highly significant issue instead of finding solutions to the people's problems. "Promotion (of the issue) by both sides only helps the ex-king," he added.
Coalition of the Left and Progress issued an announcement stating that "the regime of the country is not endangered by the vain pursuits of the ex-king. "Concern with the large, real problems of the people and the country is the best defence of the country's democratic regime," it stated.
In a statement later, ND spokesman Vassilis Manginas said the "country's regime is undisputed." Mr. Manginas was replying to earlier statements by Mr. Tsohatsopoulos. He said that the form of government had been cemented in the 1974 referendum, adding that attendance at an Orthodox wedding does not endanger democracy.
Yugoslavia beat Lithuania 96-90 to win the 29th European Basketball Championship in Athens last night. The Lithuanians led 49-48 at halftime. Earlier, Croatia defeated Greece 73-68 to take the bronze medal, having trailed the Greek team 39-35 at haltime. Greece's fourth-place showing in the championship tournament was good enough for qualification to next year's Olympic Games in Atlanta, along with the three medalists: Yugoslavia, Lithuania and Croatia.
In the fifth-place playoff, Italy downed Spain 82-75 and Russia defeated France 108-89 to finish in seventh place. In Saturday's semi-finals, Lithuania beat Croatia 90-80 and Yugoslavia overcame Greece 60-52.
In classification matches Saturday, Italy beat Russia 80-70 and Spain defeated France 75-74. Final standings: 1) Yugoslavia 2) Lithuania 3) Croatia 4) Greece 5) Italy 6) Spain 7) Russia 8) France.
The draw for the qualifying round of the 1997 Men's European Basketball Championship to be held in Spain was also held yesterday in Athens The draw was made by FIBA General Secretary Borislav Stankovic and is as follows:
A group: Greece, Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Byelorussia,
Georgia, Slovakia. B group: Russia, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Portugal, England. C group: Italy, Slovenia, Finland, Czech Republic, Hungary,
FYROM. D group: Croatia, Turkey, Bulgaria, the Ukraine, Netherlands,
Romania. E group: Lithuania, France, Sweden, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland.
The qualifying matches will begin in October and will end in February 1997. The first two winners from each group and the best four of the teams in the third place will qualify for the finals, along with Spain and Yugoslavia.
Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou on Saturday sent congratulations to the leader of Greece's national basketball team, Panayiotis Yiannakis, on the team's performance during the on-going European Basketball Championship in Athens.
"I follow the triumphant course of our national basketball team with pride, like the whole Greek people," the premier said, in commending the team for reaching the tournament's final four and thus qualifying for the Atlanta Olympics next year. It is the first time a Greek basketball team will attend the Olympics.
Political Spring party leader Antonis Samaras also congratulated the members of the team, wishing them "new and great successes" at the '96 Atlanta games. Coalition of the Left and Progress leader, Nikos Constantopoulos, also sent a congratulations to the coach and members of the team.