A.N.A. Bulletin, 21/06/96

From: "Greek Press & Information Office, Ottawa Canada" <grnewsca@sympatico.ca>

Athens News Agency Directory

ATHENS NEWS AGENCY BULLETIN (No. 917), June 21, 1996

Greek Press & Information Office

Ottawa, Canada

E-Mail Address: grnewsca@sympatico.ca

CONTENTS

[1] Europarliament links aid to respect for EU's external borders

The European Parliament announced yesterday that Mediterranean countries must respect their neighbors borders to benefit from European Union financial and technical aid.

The EU assembly, backing a move to an eventual Euro-Mediterranean free trade zone, said they should respect "the territorial integrity and external frontiers of the member-states..."

With 312 votes in favor, nine against and 27 abstentions, the Europarliament approved the regulation for the financing of 12 Mediterranean non-EU member states by the Union through the so-called MEDA programme.

The regulation includes a stipulation that the amounts granted are entered in the Union's annual budgets according to country, so that the Europarliament may at its own initiative freeze disbursement to countries violating human rights, democratic liber ties and the principles of good neighborly relations.

Approval of MEDA by the EU Council of Ministers is still pending due to the reservations expressed by Greece following recent tension in Greek-Turkish relations. Turkey is included in the 12 recipient countries, contesting a significant part of the ECU 3.4 billion package for 1996-99. Last May, the Council of Ministers decided, with Greece abstaining from voting, to proceed to a process of consultation with the Europarliament, which has now been completed. The issue now returns to the Council. Apart from the distribution of funds according to recipient countries, the Europarliament included in Spanish Eurodeputy Enrique Barron Crespo's report on MEDA certain amendment proposals to the regulation which reflect the positions adopted by Greece in the Council. Specifically, it has asked that the general aims of the Community's Mediterranean policy include "respect for the territorial integrity and the external borders of the member-states of the EU and third Mediterranean countries, as well as respect for international law."

An amendment submitted by New Democracy party Eurodeputies Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos and Panayiotis Labrias stipulating that there be a correlation with other sources of finance to avoid "double" financing was also approved.

Concerning the human rights clause, the Europarliament has asked that a decision for its activation be adopted on reinforced majority (as opposed to unanimity), so that any one country may not be able to exercise a veto.

It should be noted that the European Commission has already stated that it cannot accept the amendments proposed by the Europarliament, because they would delay even more the final adoption of the MEDA Regulation, without which it would be impossible f or funds envisaged for 1996 to be disbursed.

In yesterday's voting, ND party Eurodeputies voted in favor of the Crespo resolution, in other words, in favor of approving MEDA "with the reservation of the amendments" of the Europarliament, while PASOK and Political Spring Eurodeputies abstained.

Mr. Dimitrakopoulos expressed the view that the MEDA programme "must be implemented despite the fact that Turkey systematically adopts methods that are in contradiction to the philosophy and the principles of procedures adopted in Barcelona, creating serious problems for Greece and Syria," because "it constitutes the financial instrument of the European Union's Mediterranean policy, and is eagerly expected by the other 11 Mediterranean countries, which will be able to improve their level of development. "

[2] Greece 'astonished' at Turkey's discomfit over stronger ties with Armenia

Greece yesterday expressed "astonishment" at Turkish criticism of the recent strengthening of Greek-Armenian relations.

Foreign ministry spokesman Costas Bikas said Greece desired relations of peace between all the countries of the region, "relations based on international law which promote bilateral and multilateral co-operation in all sectors".

Athens and Yerevan earlier this week signed a military defense and friendship agreement. Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Omer Akbel said Wednesday that the accord was "a new expression of the political tension that Greece is pursuing in the region".

"We don't understand," Mr. Bikas said, "how the development of Greek-Armenian relations, which can make a positive contribution to stability and economic development in the region, can be perceived as a threat by Turkey...". "Greece will continue its policy of peace and co-operation with all the countries of the region," Mr. Bikas added.

Referring to recent Turkish statements calling for the "clarification" of certain "points" in the Treaty of Lausanne, Mr. Bikas said it belonged to "the logic of accumulating claims" against Greece.

"Turkey is discovering these so-called points for the first time since the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne (in 1923)," Mr. Bikas said, noting that Ankara was persisting in its "outrageous" disputing of Greek sovereignty of the island of Gavdos "and is in fact generalizing it in a way that cannot be tolerated by the international community." Mr. Bikas reiterated that if Turkey believed it had claims on the Aegean islet of Imia, it should have recourse to the International Court at the Hague, underlining that "up to now Ankara has not done so".

Ankara avoided commenting yesterday on unequivocal statements by the US State Department that the island of Gavdos was Greek. An announcement from the Turkish foreign ministry said there was a need "to clarify legal obscurities" concerning the Aegean an d claimed Greece was violating existing agreements by arming Aegean islands.

"We do not wish to comment at the moment on the statement by the US State Department representative regarding Gavdos," a written statement from the ministry said. "There are various points in agreements and documents which define the status in the Aegean, which must be clarified."

"The insistence on various geographical points, before there is recourse to legal avenues, will have as a result the further increase in tension between the two countries," it added. "Because Turkey prefers the resolution of its differences with Greece in peaceful, lawful manner it does not believe it is appropriate at this time for there to be geographical definitions. This does not mean that Turkey has changed its opinions in relation to whatever geographical point".

[3] Turkish memo

Asked later to comment on the memorandum forwarded by Turkey to the current Italian presidency of the European Union on the eve of the Florence summit, warning the EU not to adopt the principle of protecting the Community's external borders, as proposed b y Greece, Mr. Bikas said the following:

"By virtue of the positions which it expresses in the memorandum - a procedure which is unknown to the EU - concerning the non-implementation by Europe of the principles of protecting external borders and of Community solidarity, Turkey is confessing to its claims against Greece, something which the Greek government will underline where necessary." The memorandum, submitted a few days ago by Turkish Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay, asks the EU to refuse to adopt Greece's positions on Community solidarity, believing that this would create "an asymmetrical situation" vis-a-vis Greece and Turkey.

[4] Turkey's national assembly voices concern over what it calls 'bellicose climate' in Greece

A Turkish national assembly resolution adopted yesterday expressed anxiety regarding what it termed a "bellicose climate" that has arisen in Greece, describing it as "a dangerous development."

The resolution also called the right granted to the Greek defense minister of deciding on the use of violence as an "irresponsible step."

The resolution, proposed by Motherland Party deputy Kamran Inan, reiterates that "Turkey wishes really good relations with Greece," and refers to Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz's recent proposals for a beginning of dialogue.

"Turkey is in favor of resolving all differences through negotiations," the resolution also states.

[5] Gonensay says Ankara can react to Greece, Armenia agreement

Turkish Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay said yesterday that Ankara has "every way in which to react to the military co-operation agreement which Greece has signed with Armenia, if it constitutes a move to encircle Turkey."

Replying to reporters' questions after a meeting of the Turkish national assembly's foreign affairs committee, Mr. Gonensay said problems in the Aegean were discussed during the meeting.

"While the content of the (Greek-Armenian) agreement has nothing to do with Turkey, Greek officials made statements against Turkey which contained elements of threats, provocation and ill will," he said.

"We did not expect Armenia to become an organ of such behavior. Besides, a short while ago Armenia announced this is not an agreement which will be detrimental to a third country. Thus, the atmosphere which Greece wanted to create with this agreement fell through," the Turkish foreign minister added.

Mr. Gonensay stressed that "we will examine the content (of the agreement) and if we ascertain it concerns the encircling of Turkey, then we will react seriously, we have all the means for this."

[6] Balkan news agencies' general assembly begins today

The second general assembly of the Association of Balkan News Agencies (ABNA) begins in Athens today with the participation of the national news agencies of Albania, Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Romania, Turkey, Yugoslavia and Greece.

Attending the conference will be the general directors of Anadolu (Ankara) Mehmet Akarca; ATA (Tirana) Ilir Zhilla; BIP (Sofia) Stefan Velev, who is also the ABNA secretary-general; BTA (Sofia) Milen Vaikov; MPA (Thessaloniki) Spyros Kouzinopoulos; MPB (Skopje) Milovan Stefanovski; Rompress (Bucharest) Neagu Odroiu; Tanjung (Belgrade) Slobodan Jovanovic and ANA (Athens) Andreas Christodoulides, who is also the current ABNA president.

Two observers will also be sent: Fevzi Kahraman, the general director of the Ankara-based independent IHA news agency and Ali Ibranimoglu, the IHA news coordinator.

The conference will be briefed on issues including the progress of the "Diavlos programme", which envisions creation of an inter-Balkan financial and economic data bank in Thessaloniki as well as preparation for the exchange of financial information between ABNA members. In addition, certain charter changes will also be discussed for the better operation of the association.

The general assembly begins at 9 a.m. at the Asteras resort in the seaside suburb of Vouliagmeni. A dinner will be held Saturday evening in honor of the general directors of the news agencies, who will visit Sounion on Sunday.

The Athens News Agency will host a reception for the visitors on Sunday evening.

The Athens Medical Center is sponsoring the events.

[7] July set for final approval of armed forces' procurements programme

The drafting of the armed forces armaments programme is nearing completion and will be put to the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) for approval in early July, National Defense Minister Gerassimos Arsenis said yesterday.

"It is the first time that politicians, political parties and journalists have taken positions on issues of which they know nothing," Mr. Arsenis said, commenting on the response to the recently announced armaments programme, focusing mainly on how it is to be financed. "What has been said and written to date does not reflect reality," he added.

The arms programme is nothing new, Mr. Arsenis said, clarifying that in effect it is an ongoing, five-year programme which is reviewed annually.

The General Staffs have completed their work on the issue, Mr. Arsenis continued, and by the end of the month it will have been completed at ministerial level.

"We want to present the country's arms requirements in a more coordinated manner than in the past," he said.

Mr. Arsenis's recommendations concerning the arms programme will be accompanied by specific proposals relating to its funding.

After it has been approved by KYSEA, it will be submitted for discussion by the standing parliamentary committee for foreign affairs and defense.

The programme has been drawn up with the Turkish threat in mind, Mr. Arsenis said, adding that its total cost could be in the region of three billion drachmas.

"But this cost will most likely be covered over a period of 20 years," he added.

[8] New recruits get a helping hand

The minister also presented the newly-released "A guidebook to service in the Greek military", written with the aim of giving new recruits basic and practical knowledge about their rights and duties and to "break the ice" by extending a hand of friendship to them.

The guidebook was put together with the contribution of all three general staffs and will be distributed to all new recruits at training centers.

[9] Samaras calls for "National Fund" for new weapons

Political Spring party leader Antonis Samaras yesterday proposed the creation of a "National Fund" to support the armed forces' procurements programme.

"National security is a matter that concerns all of us," Mr. Samaras said. He said the fund would "gather goodwill contributions for national defense and regional peace", adding he was certain that all of Hellenism would respond to this aim, as would parties, the church and other bodies.

[10] EU summit apparently won't discuss Ankara's memo to the Union

It appears that a memorandum sent by Turkish Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay to Italian Foreign Under-secretary Piero Fasino will not be discussed during sessions of the European summit in Florence.

Mr. Fasino stated yesterday that the memo "will be discussed by the European foreign ministers troika during a meeting they will have Saturday afternoon with the Turkish delegation," adding that the troika will discuss, in general, with the Turkish delegation relations between the EU and Ankara.

Commenting on the Greek proposal to release financial aid to all other Mediterranean countries except Turkey, Mr. Fasino said: "It is impractical and the majority of European partners do not agree."

During a break in the European Socialist Party (ESP) session last night, Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis stated that European socialist leaders initially discussed the issue of unemployment and what must be included in the new treaty.

The Greek premier arrived in Florence earlier yesterday in order to participate in the European summit meeting, scheduled for today and tomorrow. He was due late yesterday evening to attend a dinner hosted by Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.

"The question is how these provisions are expressed and how the specific policies are applied in practice. What we must achieve at a first stage is to establish the view that the central theme of the new treaty is employment," the Greek premier added during the break in the ESP session.

Mr. Simitis added that he would bring up for discussion Greek-Turkish differences.

In addition, the Greek delegation is expected to request the solidarity of European countries after the support it gained through a resolution issued by the European Parliament, which condemned Turkey's use of violence as being a danger to the territorial integrity of Greece. The Europarliament and Mr. Simitis are requesting the resolution to be discussed today during the European summit's sessions.

Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization Minster Akis Tsohatzopoulos is also expected to be present during the meetings.

[11] Samaras calls on Gov't to take advantage of Europarliament decision

Political Spring party leader Antonis Samaras called on Prime Minister Costas Simitis to take advantage of the European Parliament's positive resolution in the forthcoming European Union summit in Florence.

Mr. Samaras said expression of Community solidarity by the European Council to Greece "will provide an obstacle to Ankara's paranoid plans."

[12] EU, FYROM pave the way for bilateral economic, trade agreement

The European Union and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) yesterday settled an issue concerning an economic and trade agreement, with an exchange of letters between FYROM Deputy Prime Minister Yiane Miliofski and the head of the General Directorate on foreign policy issues for the European Commission.

The Commission's letter uses the name FYROM, while Mr. Miliofski's letter states that the text of the agreement is acceptable, but not the name FYROM.

The final text of the agreement, according to Mr. Miliofski, will be signed in a month's time, with its ratification to follow.

The Skopje newspaper "Nova Makedonia" wrote yesterday that the problem arose because of the insistence of Greek representatives in the European Commission to use Article II of the New York interim accord, stipulating that Greece has the right to obstruct "Macedonia's" membership into international organizations under a name other than FYROM.

[13] Gov't determined to change Greece's tragic road deaths record

Transport and Communications Under-secretary George Daskalakis said yesterday that the government was working on new legislation to improve road safety.

"We are proceeding with the reform of legislation concerning the procedures, prerequisites and instruction for the acquisition of driving licences," Mr. Daskalakis said. "It is known that our country holds first place for road accidents among the European Union member states, with a big difference between the EU average and a much smaller percentage of vehicle ownership," he added.

Recent figures showed that a total of 24,000 road accidents take place in Greece annually, resulting in approximately 2,000 deaths and 32,000 injuries, 4,000 of which are serious.

The ministry plans to produce programmes and screen community announcements on television and distribute leaflets at toll points.

In addition, a circular to local authorities by the public order ministry has stressed that the law on excessive speeding be implemented. New guidelines for the granting of driving licences will be decided by the ministry by the end of the month. The new regulations will be valid as of January 1, 1997.

Some of the proposed changes are: more stringent rules for passing the written test (only one error will be permitted); those failing the driving examination will be allowed to re-take the test after 30 days, and not 15; and those failing to pass three consecutive times will be allowed to re-take the test only after three months has elapsed from the time of their last test.

Motorcycle licences will also be more stringently examined.

[14] Ninety per cent of workers still take summer holiday

Nine out of 10 working people continue to take some sort of a holiday despite the existing economic crisis, according to research recently conducted by the PRC firm on behalf of the General Confederation of Greek Workers' (GSEE) labor institute.

According to the study, economic differences between individuals are not eliminated during the summer holiday period since 65 per cent of wage earners say they do not have the holidays they would like due to lack of money.

The average time for vacations is 20 days a year, while low wage-earners relax for 17 days and those belonging to higher income brackets for 24 days.

Forty-five per cent of holiday-makers are obliged to use a family village residence as first choice, where 62 per cent of the housework is done by a wife and/or mother. A hotel is only a good choice for the well-off, followed by rented rooms.

Foreign tourists vacationing in Greece spend on average 6,300 drachmas a day compared to 6,150 drachmas by Greek tourists, despite the fact that 45 per cent of Greeks spend their holidays at their village homes or at friends' residences.

Average expenses per capita for holidays is 123,000 drachmas, but in the case of low wage-earners it falls to 95,000 drachmas.

[15] ND meets for national conference this weekend

The main opposition New Democracy (ND) party's 6th National Conference opens this evening with an address by ND leader Miltiades Evert.

ND said today that a total of 1,441 delegates will be participating in the conference, 267 of whom will take the floor.

Of ND's 118 deputies and Eurodeputies, 85 have requested to address the conference which ends on Sunday evening.

According to informed sources, Mr. Evert's speech will stress the importance of party unity. He is expected to call on cadres to work together in order to achieve the party's aims.

Honorary ND president and former premier Constantine Mitsotakis is also expected to promote unity within the party, while also raising a number of political issues.

[16] New Greek ambassador to Belgrade presents his credentials

Greece's new ambassador to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Panayiotis Vlassopoulos presented his credentials to Yugoslav President Zoran Lilic yesterday.

Mr. Vlassopoulos noted the long relationship of friendship between the two countries and spoke of the friendly sentiments felt by the Greek people toward the Serbian people.

The new ambassador stressed the message he carried was one of the consolidation of friendship and the wish to further bilateral relations between Greece and Yugoslavia with the aim of promoting peace and stability in the Balkans.

Mr. Lilic greeted Mr. Vlassopoulos in a friendly atmosphere and stressed the interest his country has in developing bilateral relations in all areas, particularly in the economic sector.

During an interview granted by Mr. Vlassopoulos to Serbian state television, he said that a new page in bilateral relations over the past three years was being turned with the presentation of his credentials.

Mr. Vlassopoulos said that after the completion of the Dayton peace agreement, bilateral relations will develop further in all sectors.

"Greek-Yugoslav relations and Greek-Yugoslav friendship are important and have been and will remain important factors of stability in the Balkans," Mr. Vlassopoulos said.

"After the completion of the peace process, new prospects for co-operation are opening in the Balkans. Prospects which must be based on certain stable principles - on the principles of international law, equality and good neighborliness," the new ambassador concluded.

[17] Slight revision in Athens Metro completion date

The construction of the Athens Metro is expected to be completed by May 1999, seven months after the original expected completion date.

The delay in construction was caused by the 14-month breakdown of one of the Metro drilling machines at Karaiskaki Square. Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis said yesterday that the construction consortium is to blame f or the delay, not the public sector.

Mr. Laliotis said 45 per cent of the construction work has been completed, and added that the change of the route of 'line three' has been studied in order to solve problems arising with the existence of ancient finds in the area of Keramikos.

Over nine kilometers of tunnels have been built already, and the first rail tracks, with a total length of six kilometers, are being laid in the Sepolia area.

Thirty Metro compartments have been built to date in Nuremberg, Germany, while six of them are currently in France for electrical and mechanical work.

The first metro drilling machine which had not been able to advance from Karaiskaki Square due to the unsuitability of the ground began drilling again and is expected to reach Omonia Square in September. The second drilling machine is expected to reach Syntagma Square tomorrow.

Most of the 21 stations are already at an advanced construction stage.

[18] Amendment on ad tax approved

Parliament ratified a joint amendment on the controversial advertising tax (aggeliosymo) with a majority vote yesterday, which was jointly tabled by the labor and press ministries.

The amendment, containing improvements in the method of receiving and returning the ad tax revenues to journalists and media employees' funds, was ratified following strong reactions created among the country's press employees after a law on mass media was ratified by the previous Andreas Papandreou administration.

Main opposition New Democracy party Parliamentary representative Dimitris Sioufas said ND would not vote in favor of the amendment in protest over the government's decision to send Parliament into recess today, in addition to tabling the amendment with out presidential decrees having been signed beforehand.

However, four ND deputies - Korahais, Besdrevanis, Kakalos and Kassimis - voted in favor of the amendment.

The Political Spring party opposed the amendment, while the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) supported it.

Labor Minister Evangelos Yiannopoulos accused ND of serving expediencies, adding that in the past its own government used to close Parliament in May.

[19] Pachtas confident EU absorption rates will be up to 100 per cent by year's end

National Economy Under-secretary Christos Pachtas yesterday expressed optimism over the absorption of funds from the Community Support Framework, with 100 per cent absorption for 1996 and the further possibility of using funds not applied in the period 199 4-95.

Mr. Pachtas told a press conference that Greece had attained 12 per cent absorption of Community funds in the first four months of 1996, a figure which he described as satisfactory given that it is higher than the other EU countries participating in the Community Support Framework.

At the same time, he announced that the procedure for selecting proposals for tourism and culture projects under the INTERREG programme had been completed. A total of 36 projects have been selected with an overall estimated cost of 3.4 billion drachmas.

On Monday and Tuesday next week, the committee charged with monitoring Community Support Framework projects will meet and brief European Commission representatives on progress in implementation to date.

[20] Measures for SMEs

At the same time, Mr. Pachtas announced the implementation of measures to make small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) more competitive; the total cost of the measures come to 23.5 billion drachmas.

The measures include business plans for SMEs in border prefectures and the Thessaloniki prefecture on investment activity, construction, equipment, training and managing administrative expenses. This measure is estimated to cost 10 billion drachmas, with each business plan ranging from 100 to 400 million drachmas, and will be implemented by the end of the summer.

The measures also foresee co-operation between SME support agencies in an attempt to provide information and support services for those firms considering co-operation and expansion in neighboring markets.

Business centers with exhibition and storage facilities to promote cross-border commerce are planned for border regions and large transit centers, while an Investment Fund to grant investment support to firms in neighboring Balkan countries by sharing in their capital and reducing the investment risks is also planned.

SMEs active in the tourism sector will be supported by a 4.5 billion drachma action plan.

[21] OTE releases figures showing increased growth

The Greek Telecommunications Organization (OTE) should have no difficulty in retaining the lion's share of the market, despite facing increasing competition, according to 1995 figures presented yesterday by OTE board president Dimitris Papoulias.

Mr. Papoulias announced the findings during an address at OTE's 44th annual general convention.

According to the OTE board president, the telecommunications monopoly's performance in 1995 showed that the organization has an advantage in a number of areas, which he said will maintain its domestic market share in the future.

Investment in non-liquid assets last year came to 156 billion drachmas, while in 1996 the figure is expected to rise to 267.7 billion drachmas.

Loan servicing indicators for 1995 remained low, reaching 41.4 per cent as opposed to 42.5 per cent in 1994, with profits before taxes and payments being more than sufficient to cover the organization's total borrowing, according to the findings.

Referring to efforts by OTE's management and the emphasis placed on its commercial policy through the development of new services and by providing maintenance and support for clients, Mr. Papoulias pointed out the following achievements:

An increase in the density of main telephone connections per 100 residents, which rose to 49.4 per cent as opposed to 47.3 per cent in 1994.

A significant rise in the number of cardphones- up 27.4 per cent over 1994. The number of cardphones in 1995 came to 24,000.

An OTE construction programme that increased capacity by 341,000 connections.

Improvements in quality achieved not only by improving services but also by the training OTE personnel at a modern training center in Athens and its departments in Thessaloniki and Patra.

The increased rate of digitalization of telephone services, which exceeded 37 per cent in 1995 as opposed to 31 per cent in 1994.

End of English language section.