NEWS IN DETAIL

Premier defends the creation of an 'open society' against critics

Mr. Simitis was addressing the party's youth organisation political and organising conference on Saturday.

Replying to complaints by PASOK's youth wing's Secretary Tonia Antoniou on the government's social policy and the party's political orientation, Mr. Simitis criticised the "representatives of trade unions who put forward partisan interests at the expense of the general interest," referring to cotton growers in Thessaly as an example.

"The Coordinating Committee of Thessaly Farmers does not express Greek farmers, but cotton growers with large expanses of land. This is what figures say. They receive three times the international price of cotton thanks to European Union subsidies. Nobody has heard the poor farmers of Sparti and Pindos," Mr. Simitis said.

"Jobs necessitate investments and the latter cannot be achieved in an economy which is sliding, has huge fiscal deficits and resorts to loaning. Grants and subsidies are easy and they are paid for by society at large. Out of a thousand drachmas, 340 are paid in interest on loans of the past 15 years. These 340 drachmas could be used on education, welfare, culture and quality of life. The other course is all of us being poorer," he said.

Mr. Simitis stressed that the government does not fear critical thought but dogmatism.

New appeal to teachers to end strike

Mr. Arsenis stressed that the strike was hurting students and said increases granted to teachers were the highest in the public service and that they stood to gain an annual increase of between 300,000-800,000 drachmas.

Their appeal came after a threat from the high school teachers' union (OLME) that it would recommend the continuation of the strike at a meeting today if there was no positive response from the government.

In the course of a press conference, OLME board members accused the government of misleading the public on the size of their salaries, and reiterated demands for the appointment of 6,000 new teachers and 250,000 drachmas as net starting monthly pay.

Mr. Arsenis said that discussion on institutional demands was open but that the issue of economic demands was closed.

Lithuanian president begins official visit

President Brazauskas is expected to request Greek support for Lithuaniais applications for European Union and NATO memberships. Talks will focus on these issues as well as bilateral relations.

Talks on NATO membership will be of particular interest since Russia is reacting strongly to the accession of the Baltic states.

Details of these issues will be discussed by the foreign ministers of the two countries, Theodoros Pangalos and Algirdas Saudargas, while a cultural agreement is expected to be signed between Greece and Lithuania.

Defence Minister to visit Belgrade in March

In a meeting on Friday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Radoje Kodic, the Yugoslav government planned the framework for the talks Yugoslav Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic will have with Mr. Tsohatzopoulos.

The visit will take place at the invitation of the Yugoslav side and Mr. Tsohatzopoulos will have the opportunity of holding talks with Yugoslavia's civil and military leadership.

Turkish planes attempt to document defensive positions

The two reconnaissance RF-4 planes, specialised in taking photos, violated the Nicosia Flight Control Region on Thursday, flying over the area between Rhodes and Cyprus, while for about half an hour they flew over the sea region between Paphos and Limassol.

The planes first appeared 80 km west of Paphos and then flew 50 km south of the British base at Akrotiri.

From the moment they entered the Nicosia Flight Control Region they were placed under surveillance by the radar systems of the National Guard and the Nicosia Air Traffic Control Centre.

According to information by the National Guard General Staff and the National Defence General Staff, the Turkish aircraft were seeking out targets to photograph which are related to the unified defence doctrine, because programmes concerning the transfer of defence equipment to Cyprus are under way.

The government of Cyprus has lodged a demarche with the UN over the new provocation.

Holbrooke on Greek-Turkish relations

Mr. Holbrooke said he believed US policy towards Turkey had dramatically changed by the steadfast promotion it gave to Ankara's new image, while the European Union's decision to proceed with a customs union with Turkey was the result of strong US pressure.

"Many of you are aware that it was my personal hope, immediately after Bosnia, to turn my attention to the eastern Aegean, the eastern Mediterranean and maybe Cyprus. I stated this publicly many times at the end of 1995. Unfortunately, 1996 was not a year in which our dreams could be materialised. (There were) Political problems in Athens due to the illness of Prime Minister Papandreou and a long period until his replacement and a political situation in Ankara which was also fragile. These problems rendered the tackling of issues in the eastern Mediterranean to the necessary level more difficult," he said.

Mr. Holbrooke said two important allies of the US in NATO, Greece and Turkey, must remain allies of the US in NATO while it is being enlarged towards eastern Europe, and must also create a more natural relation between them.

"A stable and economically powerful Greece is in the interests of Turkey. I was pleased to hear that the Greek Ambassador Loukas Tsilas attended the dinner today. I think that it was very polite on his part and maybe a little courageous. Issues between Greece and Turkey are real. But I wish to stress that the present tension is unjustified," he said.

Meteora international airport plans unveiled

The project will be constructed by the "Meteora Airport S.A." company and "Daimler Benz Aerospace" with the cooperation of the firm Faulen Bach da Costa Airport.

The head of the Greek research team Haralambos Gotsis said the creation of the airport will facilitate a change in agricultural production in the region of Thessaly from cotton to perishable goods which will be able to be transported to central Europes peedily.

The president of the board of "Meteora airport S.A." Mr. V. Sommer assessed that work on the new airport will start in 1997 and will be completed in two years' time. It will be fully operational in 2012 and its construction will cost 105 billion drachma s.

Electronic info system for Kavala airport

Thousands of Greeks and foreign tourists will be able to obtain useful information through an audiovisual system on archaeological regions, sights, beaches, hotels, fiestas organised for tourists and other information useful to tourists.

Canada in Thessaloniki Cultural Capital events

Stressing the strong ties linking Canada and Greece, Eleni Bakopanou, a federal MP of Greek descent, said Canada's participation would be significant.

A message from Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy noted that Canada considered Greece to be a country which safeguarded the peace and security of the Balkans, due to its position in the European Union and NATO.

Pianist Alain Lefevre, Greek-Canadian artist Paul Soulikias, dance troupes Gala des Etoiles and Dancemakers, the Tafelmusik Baroque Ensemble, the New World Symphony Orchestra, Nexus, the Smith Gilmour Theatre Company, Canadian Brass Quintet and guitaris t Liona Boyd are some of the acts to perform in Thessaloniki.

Call for EU financial support for less-spoken languages

In a related development, the minister on Saturday announced that annual funding for teaching of the Greek language had been increased to 200 million drachmas this year, from 45 last year.

The minister was speaking at a meeting of Modern Greek studies institutes from Europe, Australia and America in Thessaloniki.

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