Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 97-06-17
From: The Greek Press & Information Office, Ottawa Canada <grnewsca@sympatico.ca>
ATHENS NEWS AGENCY BULLETIN (No. 1213), June 17, 1997
Greek Press & Information Office
Ottawa, Canada
E-Mail Address: grnewsca@sympatico.ca
CONTENTS
[01] Simitis says EU summit decisions on employment a turning point
[02] Economy Minister on stability
[03] OTE finalizes share price, issues new ones
[04] ECOFIN issues resolution on employment
[05] Kranidiotis in US for talks on Greek-Turkish relations
[06] Greek athletes shine in Mediterranean Games
[07] 2004 Olympic Games in Europe Samaranch says
[08] Death toll hits highs again
[09] President wraps up tour of Cyclades
[10] Visit to Catholic diocese on Syros
[11] Turkish experts report cites 30 points of dispute
[12] Turkey must stop provocations, Kaklamanis says in Xanthi
[13] President denies resignation rumours
[14] Young Greek artist receives Biennale prize
[15] Trade attaches visit Pella processing plants
[16] Actor Marlon Brando to visit Athens
[01] Simitis says EU summit decisions on employment a turning point
Amsterdam, 17/06/1997 (ANA/S. Liarellis)
Prime Minister Costas Simitis said the decisions taken by the
summit in Amsterdam yesterday are an important intervention in
the European Union's (EU) policy on employment and the economy.
Mr. Simitis was referring to decisions concerning the inclusion
of a special chapter on employment and the convening of an
extraordinary summit in autumn to discuss the problem.
He attributed these decisions to the "wider majority formulated
within the framework of the EU", following political change in
France and Britain where the majority which prevailed have
employment as their focal point.
Mr. Simitis said the EU's 15 member-states decided to set out
special policies to fight unemployment by closer coordination, a
heightening of efforts in providing training for working people,
the use of tax measures and contributions, the creation of a
special committee to monitor developments in the labour market,
the reconsideration of old programs through renewed funding by
the European Investment Bank and the intensifying of social
dialogue.
He said that with the decisions it took yesterday the EU proved
that it wants to preoccupy itself with the problem of
unemployment, adding that the Summit Council decided to assign
ECOFIN with examining the process of political control over the
Central European Bank.
Mr. Simitis said the message is clear in that to date the EU has
proceeded in the primary direction of stability which, however,
is not enough and an effort must also be made in the direction
of development and employment. He said developments are very
satisfactory, adding that an important and big step was made,
but pointed out that "much work is still required."
The Prime Minister further said National Economy Minister
Yiannos Papantoniou "contributed to negotiations substantively
so that an agreement could be reached."
[02] Economy Minister on stability
Athens, 17/06/1997 (ANA)
Mr. Papantoniou said there is no question of slackening economic
policy in any European country, adding that the socialists
accept that "economic stability and fiscal restructuring
constitute its foundations".
However, he stressed that these are not enough and for this
reason the 15 EU members took the historic decision yesterday of
strengthening employment policy and letting placing political
features prevail in exercising economic policy.
Referring to the decision to assign ECOFIN with submitting a
proposal at the next Summit Council on political control of the
Central European Bank, Mr. Papantoniou said that in all the
countries of Europe the central banks are independent but
operate within the framework of parliamentary institutions and
democratic governments.
Mr. Papantoniou added that this cannot take place in the EU and
for this reason it was decided that ECOFIN will elaborate a
special plan and submit it to the Summit in Luxembourg.
Mr. Papantoniou explained that in the framework of employment
policy there is no question of reallocating funds in the EU
budget. Meanwhile, Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou
said disagreements appeared at the council yesterday afternoon
on the implementation of Common Foreign Policy and Security
Policy.
[03] OTE finalizes share price, issues new ones
Athens, 17/06/1997 (ANA)
The final price for shares of the Hellenic Telecommunications
Organization (OTE) offered on sale last week was settled at
6,600 and 6,400 drachmas for institutional and private investors
respectively, the National Bank of Greece, Salomon Brothers, and
the HSBC Investment Bank announced yesterday.
Due to the strong demand for the new 45-million share issue,
which was oversubscribed three times, the state will issue an
additional 2,109,970 shares. An extra 6,330,000 shares will be
made available under option rights to the lead managers. Thus,
the total issue will amount to 53,439,970 shares.
Demand from domestic private investors amounted to 50 million
shares, from domestic institutional investors to 17.5 million,
and from foreign investors to 82 million, of which 45 per cent
came from the US, 23 per cent from Britain, and 32 per cent from
the rest of the world. Domestic private and institutional
investors will receive 35 and 17 per cent of the shares
respectively, and foreign institutional investors 48 per cent.
Meanwhile, at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting held on
Saturday, the board of OTE proposed an increase in the
organization's share capital amounting to 23,737,436,250
drachmas.
The equity capital increase will take place between June 18 and
July 18, with six new shares for every 80 old ones. A total of
31,649,915 new shares will be made available to old shareholders
at 750 drachmas per share.
The capital to be accumulated by issuing new shares is expected
to fund OTE's investment program. Over the period covering
1997-2000, OTE plans to continue modernizing the telephone
network through an investment program amounting to about 1.2
trillion drachmas. It also intends to invest about 612.5 billion
drachmas, or over 50 per cent of the total investment program,
to convert the existing network to digital.
OTE's investment program also includes investments in the
international telecommunications network and overall
international activities amounting to 154 billion drachmas.
[04] ECOFIN issues resolution on employment
Amsterdam, 17/06/1997 (ANA/C. Haralambopoulos)
The issue of employment should remain on top of the European
Union's (EU) political agenda, the ECOFIN Council said in a
resolution issued yesterday on development and employment.
"It is a priority to give a push towards keeping the issue of
employment steadfastly at the top of the European Union's
political agenda," the resolution said.
"The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the Stability Pact
will strengthen the internal market and encourage an
anti-inflationary macroeconomic environment with low interest
rates, which will strengthen conditions for economic development
and job opportunities," it said.
It further says that "social protection systems must be
modernized so as to strengthen their functions to contribute to
competitiveness, employment and development, initiating a strong
base for social cohesion."
The resolution points out that greater attention must be given
to improving European competitiveness, which is a focal point
for development and employment so that among other targets more
jobs can be created to which European citizens will have access.
The European Council agreed to specific actions on the
attainment of the greatest possible progress in integrating the
internal market. This will be done by "creating more effective
rules, avoiding the painful tax competition and conveying the
objective targets in integrating the market, resulting in the
shaping of an internal market for the benefit of citizens."
On the question of targets set by the European Investment Bank
which are described in the treaty, the resolution notes that the
European Investment Bank must contribute by maximizing the
possibility of using capital market funds so as to promote
investment plans in accordance with the practices and conditions
of the banking sector.
[05] Kranidiotis in US for talks on Greek-Turkish relations
Washington, 17/06/1997 (ANA/T. Ellis)
Foreign Under-secretary Yiannos Kranidiotis is here for talks on
the Cyprus issue and Greek-Turkish relations with prominent
Clinton administration officials and members of the United
States Congress.
His scheduled contacts include his US counterpart Thomas
Pickering, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Paul Sarbanes (D) and Richard Lugar (R), and the chairman and
members of the House of Representatives Foreign Relations
Committee, Ben Gilman and Lee Hamilton respectively. Mr.
Kranidiotis will also discuss Greek-Turkish relations with
National Security Council director of European Affairs Alexander
Versbau.
The Greek official arrived here from Atlanta, where he attended
the sessions of the Bildenberg Club.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the international TV network CNN
yesterday, Mr. Kranidiotis said that a settlement to the
protracted Cyprus problem constituted a prerequisite for the
normalization in Greek-Turkish relations.
He also expressed the view that now there existed an opportunity
for resolving the problem through the European Union's decision
to include Cyprus in the next phase of enlargement, underlining
that the US and the EU had the responsibility of helping in
order for a just and viable solution to be found.
He said that the prevailing political instability in Turkey was
a negative factor in Greece's effort to find a reliable
interlocutor on the Turkish side.
Answering a question on NATO's planned enlargement, he said
Greece believed that enlargement should include Balkan countries
in order to secure peace and stability in this sensitive region.
[06] Greek athletes shine in Mediterranean Games
Athens, 17/06/1997 (ANA)
Greek athletes won a total of five gold, five silver and one
bronze medals in individual sports on the third day of the 13th
Mediterranean Games in Bari, Italy, yesterday.
The gold medals were won by Costas Gatsioudis in the javelin
with a throw of 89 metres and 22 centimetres (a Panhellenic and
Mediterranean Games record and the best performance in the world
this year), Katerina Thanou in the women's 100-metre race who c
locked 11 seconds and 13/100 (a Mediterranean Games record),
Angelos Pavlakakis in the men's 100-metre race with 10.13 (a
Panhellenic and Mediterranean Games record), Anastasia Kelesidou
in the discus with a throw of 66 metres and 18/100 (a
Panhellenic re cord and the 3rd best performance in the world
this year) and Niki Xanthou in the long jump with a jump of 6
metres and 72 centimetres.
Silver medals were won by Christos Polymerou in the javelin with
77 metres and 88 centimetres, Leonidas Kokkas in the 91-kg
category who lifted 160 kg in the snatch, the swimmer Dimitris
Manganas in the 200-metre free-style race with 1:52.89, Stella
Tsikouna in the javelin with 61 metres and 96 centimetres and
Dimitris Meletoglou in the triple jump with 16 metres and 50
centimetres. The sole bronze medal was won by Leonidas Kokkas
who lifted 197.5 kg in the jerk.
In team events, the Greek soccer team beat San Marino 4-1, while
the men's handball team lost to Croatia 30-24.
In all individual and team efforts, Greece won 25 medals in
total -- 11 gold, 9 silver and 5 bronze.
[07] 2004 Olympic Games in Europe Samaranch says
Helsinki, 17/06/1997 (ANA)
Africa and South America do not seem as likely candidates for
hosting the 2004 Olympic Games, Chairman of the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) Juan Antonio Samaranch said on Saturday,
hinting that the games would be hosted by a European city.
"Africa and South America do not seem to me to be ready as yet,"
Mr. Samaranch said while on a visit to Finland, for celebrations
marking the centennial since the birth of legendary Finnish
runner Paavo Nurmi.
Mr. Samaranch declined to comment on which city was favoured to
host the 2004 Olympic Games, saying that he doesn't even take
part in the voting by the Committee.
Athens is one of the bidding European cities, along with Rome
and Stockholm.
[08] Death toll hits highs again
Athens, 17/06/1997 (ANA)
Twenty-two people died in road accidents over the three-day
weekend and 325 were injured, 17 of them seriously, the Public
Order Ministry said late yesterday.
Releasing its latest figures since the Friday exodus of
Athenians, the ministry said until yesterday afternoon there had
been 244 car accidents on national and main roads.
[09] President wraps up tour of Cyclades
Athens, 17/06/1997 (ANA)
President Kostis Stephanopoulos defended politicians and said
"the feeling of bitterness people have for politicians is a
token of prosperity".
Speaking on Andros on Sunday in the framework of his tour of the
Cyclades islands, Mr. Stephanopoulos said that "we are living in
a period of proper management and our demands are products of
luxury rather than necessity", but conceded that "there still
exist problems of unemployment and poverty."
During a speech at the Andros Town Hall, Mr. Stephanopoulos said
that "the charges leveled against politicians and parties are
exaggerated and unjust, since politics is a difficult art and
it's not right to say that politicians are not patriotic or
hard-working".
[10] Visit to Catholic diocese on Syros
Athens, 17/06/1997 (ANA)
During his visit Saturday to Ano Syra, on Syros island,
headquarters of the Roman Catholic diocese on the island,
President Stephanopoulos expressed his love and appreciation for
the "sister Catholic Church."
Speaking during a ceremony which declared him an honourary
citizen of the city, Mr. Stefanopoulos stressed that the
constitutional formulation relating to the dominance of the
Eastern Orthodox religion did not mean superiority over the
Roman Catholic religion, but rather that the majority of the
Greek people were Christian Orthodox.
"I feel upset when the impression is given that discriminations
exist", said the President.
During his speech, Roman Catholic bishop Frangiskos Papamanolis
referred to a resolution by the area's Catholics calling for the
abolition of the "fascist and outdated laws of the Metaxas
fascist regime", which have been giving Roman Catholics and
other religious minorities a hard time since 1939.
[11] Turkish experts report cites 30 points of dispute
Istanbul, 17/06/1997 (ANA)
The Turkish experts committee report on Greek-Turkish
differences mentions 30 points of disagreement between the two
countries, Turkish sources said yesterday.
The report is part of an initiative by Dutch Foreign Minister
Hans van Mierlo, who is presiding over the European Union (EU)
Foreign Ministers Council, calling on Greece and Turkey to
submit separate reports of disputed issues as a means of working
towards solutions.
In Turkish press reports, the sources criticized the Greek
committee report, while a high-ranking Turkish Foreign Ministry
official has allegedly stated that Greece is hampering efforts
towards resolving differences between the two.
Sources also attributed the failure of a recent visit to Athens
by Turkish Under-secretary Onur Oymen and the "freezing" of
meetings between Oymen and Greece's Alternate Foreign Minister
George Papandreou to a "Greek manoeuvre".
They accused Athens of having turned a cold shoulder on the
proposal for committees of experts for each side, citing what
they claimed was the Greek government's refusal to accept the
decisions of the Turkey-EU Association Council taken on April
29, which they said resulted in the committee's standstill from
the start.
[12] Turkey must stop provocations, Kaklamanis says in Xanthi
Athens, 17/06/1997 (ANA)
Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis warned Turkey to stop
its provocations towards Cyprus, Thrace and the Aegean, during a
visit to the northern city of Xanthi on Sunday to unveil a
monument for Greek refugees.
"We are making it clear to all that no sovereign right of Greece
is negotiable and we are ready to support this decision by any
means," he said.
Referring to the region of Thrace, Mr. Kaklamanis said the state
must intensify its efforts to promote solutions on a series of
issues such as high unemployment and the settlement in Thrace of
Pontic Greeks returning to Greece from other countries.
[13] President denies resignation rumours
Athens, 17/06/1997 (ANA)
President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos on Sunday denied
press reports that he intended to resign because of health
reasons.
Speaking to reporters on the island of Kea, at the end of a
three-day tour of the Cycladic islands, Mr. Stephanopoulos said
the rumours apparently stemmed from his brief visit to a
hospital recently to check on a "common infection."
[14] Young Greek artist receives Biennale prize
Rome, 17/06/1997 (ANA/L. Hatzikyriakos)
The youngest artist in the Greek delegation to the Biennale in
Venice, Alexandros Psychoulis, 31, was awarded the "Prize of
sponsors."
His contribution to the exhibition was a multi-media
presentation of a combination of words and images titled 'Black
Box".
The prize was given by Italian Culture Minister Valter Veltroni
in the presence of Greek Culture Secretary General Evgenios
Yiannakopoulos, Greek Ambassador to Italy Mr. Frangoulis, art
historian Efi Strouza and other artists.
Alexandros Psychoulis has also participated in the Biennale for
Young Artists in Marseilles in 1990 and in Valencia in 1992.
[15] Trade attaches visit Pella processing plants
Athens, 17/06/1997 (ANA)
Trade attaches from 25 countries visited the eastern Macedonian
prefecture of Pella over the weekend, to visit local production
facilities and attend a briefing on the area's export potential.
The diplomats' meeting, organized by the Greek Exports'
Promotion Organization (OPE), was addressed by Under-secretary
to the Prime Minister's Office George Paschalidis and the
prefect of Pella George Tanos.
Mr. Paschalidis referred to the area's strong agricultural
production, the capability of the local processing sector, and
the potential for tourism development in Pella, which combines
archaeological sites and natural attractions. Mr. Tanos in his
speech stressed the fact that Pella processes and exports 50 per
cent of the world's canned peaches production and another 50 per
cent of the world's canned snail production, adding that the
area is renowned for the quality of its cherries and asparagus.
OPE president Giannis Tzes announced the opening of a local OPE
office in Edessa to assist local businesses in increasing
exports.
[16] Actor Marlon Brando to visit Athens
Athens, 17/06/1997 (ANA)
World renowned American actor Marlon Brando will address a
meeting on the protection of the environment on June 23 in
Athens.
Mr. Brando, who was invited by Eurobank, will speak on the theme
"Environmental dilemmas of our times".
Mr. Brando has in recent years shown great interest in the
urgent need for environmental protection.
End of English language section.
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