Antenna: News in English (AM), 97-06-27

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From: Antenna Radio <http://www.antenna.gr> - email: antenna@compulink.gr

News in English, 27/06/97

TITLES

• The former president of the ethnic-Greek organisation Omonia is kidnapped in Albania.
• As the chaos continues in the run-up to elections.
• And, the best in Greek advertising.

ALBANIA/BEZIANIS

Thodoros Be-ziAn-is, a candidate in Sunday's national elections, was abducted Thursday, a few kilometres from the village of FrAstani.

As we hear in this report, his children say the kidnappers' motive is political.

Kostas Bezianis, the owner of the largest soft drink bottling company in southern Albania, is sure that his father was abducted because he refused to withdraw from Sunday's elections.

He and his sister say their father was threatened before the kidnapping, and told not to run for office on the ticket of the Greek-minority supported Human Rights Party.

Bezianis' daughter is also a Human Rights Party candidate. She is defiant, saying she will stay in the elections, and show the kidnappers and those behind them, that they won't win with terror.

Omonia president Giorgos LambovintiAdes told Antenna suspects the secret service Sik, controlled by Albanian president Sali Berisha, is behind the Bezianis abduction.

Kostas Bezianis' plant was riddled with bullets by gunmen Wednesday. "There's no state", he says. "We have to look out for ourselves".

He thinks he knows who the kidnappers are, and wrns that if anything happens to his father, they'll pay a high price.

Thodoros Bezianis has a long record of struggle against the injustices meted out to the Greek minority in Albania. Just a few years ago, he was one of five ethnic Greeks tried for treason by Berisha on trumped up charges. They were convicted, but international outrage led to their release.

ALBANIA

The violence and chaos continues in southern Albania just a few days before the elections. More on the dramatic situation there in this report.

For the second day in a row, the streets of central Vlore were the site of a raging gun battle between gangs vying for control of the city.

Five people were wounded. One man 26-year-old man was fatally-wounded by a stray bullet, in full view of Italian peacekeepers and journalists. The Italians, fearing for their safety, refused to take him to the hospital 3 kilometres away. He was eventually taken in a civilian car, but died en route.

Thursday's gang fighting broke out as the socialist finance minister in the interim government of prime minister Baskim Fino was scheduled to speak in the city.

Many people are convinced that the violence in the south, where Berisha is widely hated, is being instigated by Berisha's secret service men, who want to dissuade southerners from voting Sunday.

But Berisha says that the Socialist Party is behind the gangs in the south, and it will pay a high price for sponsoring them.

The Socialist Party is afraid of Berisha's election day plans, following his promise that Socialist Party members will never be allowed to take up seats in parliament.

If Berisha can't turn voters back from the polls, people fear he won't recognise the results.

With 1100 candidates from 25 parties running for parliament Sunday, voting stations are expected to work normally in large cities, with OSCE observers looking on. But in many remote villages, Greek peacekeepers believe the elections can't be held fairly. One soldier says it's not a problem of getting people to vote, but of getting their ballots safely to the city for counting.

Despite the problems, scores of Albanians, many of them ethnic-Greeks, are making the election journey by sea. This small boat carries people and their concerns rom Corfu to the Albanian port of Sarante.

One traveller told Antenna, "I'm afraid. It's a long trip from Sarante to my village.

He, like many other people, are afraid of agents provocateurs, intent on causing trouble to make the elections a failure.

Afraid or not, everyone on the boat believes something good can come out of the election, which is why they're going to vote.

Many voters are travelling from Greece to Albania overland. Thursday, for the first time in months, there were Albanian police patrols at the border. They and Romanian peacekeepers in armoured vehicles are putting in a presence, to inspire confidence in those making the trip.

The Greek villages in the south were quiet Thursday, and ethnic-Greeks held on to their optimism that the elections will be good for them.

But estimates are that 60 per cent of Albania is out of the authorities' control.

In the past 24 hours, 15 people have died in the violence.

SIMITIS RTC

Kostas Simitis said there are three main areas the Council has got to concentrate on: seeing that the private lives of people are protected from the media; that quality in broadcasting is maintained; and that the economic doings of media moguls are transparent.

"The government, the political parties, business, and the people expect great things of you", the prime minister added.

Press minister Dimitris Reppas said the media have a duty to maintain ethical standards, and that ordinary people also have a watchdog role to play, by demanding quality programmes and objective news reporting.

ND

Wednesday night, Kostas Karamanlis told a meeting of party members from the Athens area that Pasok is hiding behind its economic watchword "modernisation".

As we hear in this report, he also talked about Albania, and his own party.

Referring to a recent dispute between the development and finance ministers over corporate taxes, Kostas Karamanlis told party members Wedneseday it's not possible for modernising government to have two of its most important economic ministers quarreling in public. He said Greece can't attract investors if it has a zig- zagging tax policy, and makes periodic tax forays to fill in the state deficit hole.

Addressing the Greek Vision 2000 forum Thursday, Karamanlis outlined what he thinks the economy needs: less state, lower deficits, and more privatisations. The state has proved it's not a good businessman, he said.

In his speech to party members Wednesday, Karamanlis also talked about the situation in Albania. He said it's important that Sunday's elections go well. Otherwise, the future will be uncertain. He added that ethnic-Greeks must be given assurances that they can return to Albania to vote.

Karamanlis believes the ethnic-Greek vote being felt, is vital to ensuring that the rights of the Greek minority are respected in the future.

The New Democracy president received enthusiastic applause when he insisted that there can be no favouritism and bitterness from the past in his party. He said the party wants all its supporters to be actively involved in politics. "We don't just want people to applaud on the sidelines", he explained. "We don't want waterboys, or people we hold in contempt except when we're chasing their vote two weeks before an election".

KARAMANLIS

Meeting with County officials from around the nation, he said what their authority is, has got to be clarified. Steady funding of regional government is also necessary, he added, if they are to reach the goals they've set themselves.

Hearing Karamanlis's thoughts, Evangelos Ko-loUm-bis, president of the Athens and Piraeus county government committee, said he believes regional government is starting a new relationship with New Democracy.

INTEREST RATES

Retroactively to the middle of this month, people who've been making loan instalments on time for the past two years will be getting 2 per cent knocked off their interest rate.

Similar arrangements are being made for credit card users.

Bank director Thodoros Ka-rA-tzis says it's an incentive for conscientious clients.

BASKETBALL

In its second group A game, Greece is up against an old rival, Russia.

This looks like a cake walk at the outset. Greece blows out to an 18-5 lead, but the Russians close the gap to ten with some trays before the intermission.

The Russians continue their comeback in the second half, and draw level at 52 with eleven minutes to play.

Greece's zone, and centre Evthimios Rentzias dominating play in the paint help it to survive, and escape with a 74-72 victory.

SIMITIS/OLYMPICS

Prime minister Kostas Simitis says a successful Athens bid for the 2004 Olympics would be a boon for Greece in many ways.

Simtis was briefed by the Athens 2004 committee on the results of its contacts with members of the international Olympic committee.

The prime minister said that after his briefing, he's confident Athens will get the nod for the games.

He pointed out that the landing the Games would help Greece win understanding on its foreign policy positions from the international community.

"The Games will let us show that Greece has a lot to offer to peace and friendship, and so is deserving of solidarity where its national security issues are concerned".

The winning city will be announced on September fifth.

AD AWARDS

Amirati Puris Lintas advertisers got the prize for the best commercial, a shaving cream ad.

there were other awards.

The best campaign prize went to Dot and Dash. Saatchi and Saatchi won top honours for the best ad campaign.

Antenna was well represented at the festival. Thodoris Kyriakou, the station's administrative consultant was there, as were Antenna's marketing director Panagiotis Papandreou, and the station's public relations chief, Lola Daifa.

© ANT1 Radio 1997

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