From: than...@athena.mit.edu (Thanos Tsekouras)
Subject: Bulletin of News from the Athens News Agency for May 26, 1993
Date: 27 May 1993 01:58:41 GMT

To: Boston, USA		From: Geniki Grammateia Typoy	5-26-93 10:38 am

Bulletin, 26/05/1993
A.N.A.
	Brussels, 26/5/1993 (ANA - K. Verros)  Greek warships will not
participate in NATO's stricter implementation of the naval blockade of
Montenegro and Serbia following its agreement by NATO defense ministers
during the alliance's defence planning committee meeting yesterday.
	National Defense Minister Ioannis Vavitsiotis represented
Greece.
	NATO's Mediterranean Permanent Naval Force is applying the UN
Security Council's resolution on the blockade of Serbia and Montenegro.
The UN resolution foresees various grades of implementation and tighter
sanctions were agreed yesterday.
	Mr. Varvitsiotis said that a letter had been delivered to NATO
Secretary General Manfred Woerner several days ago underlining that
Greece would not participate in these new measures.  The letter was
included in the records of yesterday's meeting.
	The meeting focused almost exclusively on the situation in
Bosnia and ministers had an extensive exchange of views on the issue.
	Mr. Varvitsiotis said the general conclusion drawn from the
meeting was that the Vance-Owen peace plan "is not dead" and is still on
the negotiating table and the new peace strategy decided by US, Britain,
France, Spain and Russia in Washington has not yet been clarified,
requires further examination and a relevant decision by the UN Security
Council before any action is taken.
	Greek positions were reiterated at the meeting: Athens is
opposed to military intervention of any kind and has said it will not
participate in military operations and is opposed to the participation
other Balkan countries in these.
	Mr. Varvitsiotis also said only Turkey opposed the view that the
Vance-Owen peace plan continues to be on the negotiating table and that
it took "extreme positions".
	Turkey requested more "dramatic" solutions to help Bosnian
Moslems.
	Clarifying a statement he made in Athens on Monday prior to his
departure for Brussels, Mr. Varvitsiotis said Greece felt no military
threat from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the sole
threat, which he termed permanent, came from Turkey.

	Athens, 26/5/1993 (ANA)  Greece and Armenia will sign a
top-level friendship and cooperation accord within the year, Foreign
Minister Michalis Papaconstantinou said yesterday.
	Mr. Papaconstantinou was speaking to reporters after two hours
of talks with his Armenian counterpart, Vagan Papazian, who arrived here
yesterday for a two-day official visit.
	During their talks, the two officials signed a protocol
providing for consultations and cooperation between the Greek and
Armenian foreign ministries, as well as an agreement for the protection
of investments.
	Mr. Papaconstantinou said that the friendship and cooperation
accord would be signed by the Prime Ministers of the two countries
before the end of the year.
	During their meeting, Mr. Papaconstantinou and Mr. Papazian
exchanged views on international and bilateral issues, particularly
developments in the Caucasus and the Balkans.
	Mr. Papaconstantinou said that the two countries would continue
their cooperation in all sectors "since there is a common tradition and
special interest in international peace".
	He said Armenia had adopted Greece's positions on the Skopje
issue and had assured Athens that this stance would not change until the
question had been resolved.
	The large Armenian minority in Greece, Mr. Papaconstantinou
said, enjoyed full equality before the law along with all Greek people.
	Mr. Papazian said Greece and Armenia were linked by
longstanding ties of friendship and that cooperation with Greece was of
primary importance for his country.
	Replying to press questions, Mr. Papazian said that he believed
in the improvement of relations with Turkey "if (Ankara's stance) is
also positive".

	Athens, 26/5/1993 (ANA)  National Defense Undersecretary Spilios
Spiliotopoulos will visit Sofia next week, reciprocating the visit to
Athens of his Bulgarian counterpart Mr. Tomov.
	Mr. Spiliotopoulos will review bilateral issues with his
counterpart.

	Athens, 26/5/1993 (ANA)  President Constantine Karamanlis had
talks yesterday with Czech President Vaclav Havel on bilateral and
international issues, particularly the situation in the Balkans and
problems in Europe.
	Mr. Havel was awarded the prestigious Alexander S. Onassis
Foundation "Athinai Prize for Man and Mankind" in Athens Monday.

	Athens, 26/5/1993 (ANA)  The heir to the throne of Thailand,
Prince Mana Vajiralongkorn yesterday paid a formal call on President of
the Parliament Athanassios Tsaldaris.  Mr. Tsaldaris also accompanied
Prince Mana on a tour of the building.

	Athens, 26/5/1993 (ANA)  Greece and Italy will sign an agreement
aimed at combatting drug trafficking by exchanging information through
the "TELE-DRUG" computer system.
	The agreement will be signed in Rome by Public Order Minster Nikos
Gelestathis and his Italian counterpart on the sidelines of the
conference on "European drug routes" to be attended by the competent
ministers from 39 countries.
	Also participating in the two-day conference which opens
tomorrow will be officials from the European Commission, Interpol, the
United Nations and Europol.
	Mr. Gelestathis will then fly on to Copenhagen to attend a
meeting of EC ministers responsible for immigration issues.

	Athens 26/5/1993 (ANA)  National Defense Undersecretary Spilios
Spiliotopoulos criticised the Catholic Church of Greece yesterday saying
it purposely misconstrued statements he had made on the funding of
Bosnian Moslems by the Vatican Bank.
	Mr. Spiliotopoulos said the Catholic Church of Greece aimed to
create an unfavorable climate not only against Orthodoxy and Hellenism
but against the efforts Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis for a
peaceful solutions to the Yugoslav crisis.
	Defense ministry sources said the undersecretary made the
accusations in a letter to Archbishop Nikolaos of the Catholic Church of
Greece.
	The Greek reaction was prompted by a protest letter of the Holy
Synod of the Catholic Church of Greece to Defense Minister Ioannis
Varvitsiotis condemning statements by Mr. Spiliotopoulos on the funding
of Bosnian Moslems.
	The same sources said Mr. Spiliotopoulos noted in his letter
that his accusations, made during a parliamentary meeting of the Western
European Union in Paris in December, concerned the Vatican Bank and not
the prelate of the Catholic Church.
	He called on the Holy Synod of the Catholic Church of Greece to
take all necessary measure to resolve the issue.

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