Antenna: News in English (PM), 98-03-18

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

Last Updated: Wednesday, 18-Mar-98 21:56:47

CONTENTS

[01] Simitis-devaluation

[02] Drachmae-Market

[03] Kosovo

[04] Cypriots-Attilas

[05] Cyprus-Gordovez

[06] Weather

[07] Soccer

[01] Simitis-devaluation

Addressing member of parliament prime minister Kostis Simitis said, "Greece achieved a great victory which hasn't seen for many years". He added, "Greek and international markets estimate the future prospects of developments in the Greek economy are positive.

There was tension however as oppostion leaders used harsh words criticizing the recent decision of the government.

A new democracy MP addressed the prime minister saying, "You became the prime minister of taxes, unemployment, devaluation and now a liar, just as in the past saying there wouldn't be any elections be there have been".

In a more ironic statement the MP said, "The only thing modern about your policy is that it resembles the titanic. You are sinking the country and celebrating it. And the man accompanying you on the piano is finance minister Giannos Papantoniou".

Left coalition leader Nikos KonstantOpoulos said, "You have made Greece's participation in the EU synomous with the deterioration of the Greek people".

Democratic movement leader Dimitris TsovOlas said, "You've hit rock bottom. If you have a sense of dignity and sensitivity you should apologize and resign".

Simitis responded in a statement possibly alluding to Evert's statement yesterday accusing the finance minister's daughter of helping to broker a one- billion dollar loan to Greece from US Banks. By saying, "Insinuations in parliament. Whoever has any evidence should submit them to the public prosecutor. There should be no questions regarding other people's children who work abroad. No slanderous comments or insinuations of corruption".

[02] Drachmae-Market

The government says the 14 per cent devaluation is a step toward Greece joining the single European currency early in the next century.

Inflation will be an inevitable consequence of the drachma fall - initially on imported items.

Shoppers are showing increased interest in electrical appliances.

One electrical appliances store manager says prices haven't started going up yet, because there's still stock left from before the devaluation of 14 per cent.

He expects the price changes, when they come, to be in the neighborhood of 2 to 3 per cent.

Shoppers are also hitting the supermarket shelves hard, as the prices of basic foodstuffs - like, cheese, milk, and sugar - are also expected to start rising.

[03] Kosovo

According to the party of ethnic Albanian leader Ibraim Rugova, 50-year-old KerIm OUke was shot dead during a march in the town of Pech Wednesday.

The clash came as Western diplomats stepped up their attempts to get the two sides to the negotiating table.

Serb police responded with gunshots as ethnic Albanians marched through Pech.

Several other people were wounded according to ethnic Albanian sources.

There were protest marches in a number of towns and cities, including the capital, Pristina, where there was no Serb poice presence as 50 thousand people demonstrated.

But the marches and violence in Pech highlighted once again that tensions between the two sides run high a week after Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevich called a halt to police assaults on Albanian villages that left some 80 people dead.

Milosevich claims his target was militant separatists; among Albanians, who comprise 90 per cent of Kosovo's population, anti-Serb feeling runs high.

Under threat of Western-imposed sanctions, Milosevich offered to negotiate with the Albanian side a week ago; he's even offering the province some of the autonomy he stripped it of a decade ago.

But ethnic Albanian leaders, even the moderate Rugova, have refused to meet with the Serb delegation, calling the talks a PR ploy. They also say autonomy isn't enough. They want independence.

US envoy Robert Gelbart said on arriving in Pristina Wednesday that the danger of another round of violence increases the longer the start of talks between the two sides are delayed.

"Time is wasting", said the American diplomat before meeting with Rugova and other officials from the Kosovo Democratic League, the biggest Albanian party.

US undersecretary of state Strobe Talbot says the Yugoslavs are guilty of carrying out summary executions and a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Kosovo's Albanians earlier this month.

In Bulgaria, Talbot warned that the viability of Yugoslavia hinges on Belgrade's ability to resolve the Kosovo crisis.

US diplomats aren't the only ones taking an active interest in Kosovo. The French and German foreign ministers embarked for talks in Zagreb and Belgrade in further efforts to help resolve the crisis.

And in Hungary Wednesday, Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis said both the Serbs and the Albanians of Kosovo need to make compromises.

Meeting with Hungarian premier Gyula Horn, Simitis said they agreed there should be no border changes in the Balkans, meaning no independent Kosovo.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian parties are divided over the issue of illegal presidential and parliamentary elections for the self-declared Republic of Kosovo. Rugova's moderate Democratic League wants the elections - which Serbia will not recognise - to be held as planned in a few days.

But the more militant parliamentary party of Adem Demachi and the Kosovo Liberation Army, want them postponed. Inviting Albanians to boycott the ballot box and join its struggle for freedom, the KLA says elections should be held only after independence is achieved.

[04] Cypriots-Attilas

Businessman Michalis Kyprianou refuses to divulge the whereabouts of the 14. He says only that they are alive in a neighboring, non-European country which doesn't have good relations with Cyprus. They fear that if their whereabouts became known, they would be hunted down by the local authorities or Turkish agents.

Some 1600 Greek-Cypriots have been missing since the twin Turkish invasions of 74, and Turkey remains in occupation of the northern part of the island.

Kyprianou says 14 of those people still alive were near death in Turkish prisons when they were thrown into the sea several years ago. Fishermen spotted them and saved their lives.

The patrons of the 14, adds Kyprianou, are Greeks living in the same country.

The Cypriot businessman says he doesn't have any of their names, but the president of the Pancypriot Committee of Families of Missing People is asking for a full examination of the information released by Kyprianou.

[05] Cyprus-Gordovez

During his five-day stay on the island, Cordovez will meet separately with Cypriot president Glavcos Clirides and Turkish-Cypriot leader Raouf Denktash.

At Cordovez's last meeting with the two leaders, in Switzerland in August, Denktash threatened to boycott future meetings unless the European Union cancelled its decision to start talks on Cypriot accession to the EU.

When the EU reaffirmed its intention to start those talks this year, Denktash demanded recognition of his breakawy state in Turkish- occupied northern Cyprus. Only Turkey recognises it.

At an EU summit in London last week, Clirides renewed his invitation to Turkish-Cypriot delegates to join his team as it negotiates entry into the EU. The admission talks begin at the end of March.

Given the tensions that exist, Cordovez says the difficulties in making progress with the Cyprus problem shouldn't be underestimated. But he adds that UN secretary general Koffi Anan feels strongly that the search for a solution should continue.

[06] Weather

Snow chains were a familiar sight on the main thoroughfares to the mountains of Parnitha and Pendeli, while some smaller roads in the region were completely blocked off due to snow.

To the delight of students, schools remained closed for the second straight day in many suburban schools in Athens.

Some adventurous drivers took the opportunity to test their driving skills, much to the chagrin of the local traffic police. They urged drivers to exercise caution - ice made roads slippery.

Those heading up north on the national highway were faced with heavy snow in the region of Malakassa, making snow chains a necessity.

The island of Crete also saw its fair share of snowfall. Low temperatures and strong winds whipped the island leaving mountains snowcapped and low- lying cities shrouded under a steady fall of sleet and snow.

Clean-up crews and residents worked round the clock to clear the roads of snow, which created some problems. Many farmers watched in despair as their their crops were destroyed by the snow, and a number of mountain villages were left without electricity.

[07] Soccer

They're bundled up against the chilly weather in Thessaloniki, but that doesn't stop Panionios scoring - Dimitris Nalitzis makes it one-nil.

Paok gets one back from Vrisis, making the final score 1-1. And Panionios advances to the final by virtue of its one-nil triumph in the first leg of that match-up.

(c) ANT1 Radio 1998

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