From: than...@athena.mit.edu (Thanos Tsekouras)
Subject: Athens News Agency.  Bulletin - 29/06/1993
Date: 30 Jun 1993 02:11:42 GMT

	Athens, 29/6/1993 (ANA)  Greece yesterday said it had sought
recource to international organisations over the expulsion of a Greek
orthodox clergyman from Albania.
	"The unacceptable incident at Gyrokastr is a clear example of
how the Albanian government interprets respect for human rights and
democratisation", foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Papaconstantinou
said in a statement.
	"The expulsion of Archimandrite Chrysostomos is not only aimed
against a Greek clergyman and does not only violate the religious
freedoms of the Greek minority (but) has broader effects that concern
Orthodoxy in Albania and ... the course of democratisation in the
neighbouring country", he added.
	Mr. Papaconstantinou said Tirana had not provided any
explanation of the incident and Greece would seek recourse to
international organisations, incuding the United Nations and the
Conference of Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).
	Athens, he said, had also raised the issue before the World
Council of Churches, Amnesty  International and the Helsinki Watch
Group.
	Albanian police Friday broke into the home of Archimandrite
Chrysostomos in Gyrokastr and expelled him from the country on the
grounds that he did not have a legal residence permit.
	Many Albanians and ethnic Greek nationals in Gyrokastr clashed
with police when they tried to block the authorities from deporting the
Greek cleric.
	Their attempt was met with brutal violence.
	Greece reacted to the incident with the mass deportation of
illegal Albanian immigrants in the country.  More than 8,000 illegal
Albaninas have been swept out of the country since last Friday.
	Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis on Sunday condemned
Albania's "continuing policy of unjustified provocation", cautioning
Tirana to respect the rights of the Greek minority in Albania in
accordance with the UN charter and the Treaty of Paris.
	Yesterday, police continued their mass round-up and deportation
of illegal refugees.
	Police sources said that a total of 8,926 Albanians "without
visas have been arrested and transported to the Greek-Albanian border
for deportation".
	The sources said that the repatriation of Albanians in Greece
illegally would continue over the next 24 hours.
	The operation was ordered by the public order ministry on
Saturday.
	Police estimates put the number of Albanians in Greece illegally
at 200,000.
	Meanwhile, government spokesman Vassilis Manginas yesterday said
the government was deeply concerned wiht developments in the wider
region and reiterated the government's steadfast position that it would
work the escalation of conflict in Kosovo.
	Mr. Manginas said Greece's leading role in the Balkans would not
be altered or overturned by the fact that problems existed in relations
with Albania.  "Greece", he said, "will continue its efforts for as long
as possible and will contribute in the direction of a peaceful
settlement of all problems".
	In Tirana yesterday, Albania's Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi
claimed the expelled clergyman's behaviour had gone "against Albanian
laws and international norms", while the government denounced movements
"whose aim (it) is to turn southern Albania Greek" on television.
	Speaking to Agence Frnace Presse, Mr. Serreqi said Albania "will
not tolerate any action opposing law and serving an anti-Albanian
policy".
	Greece's charge d'affairs in Tirana Nikos Karelos told AFP the
expulsion would effect relations between the two countries, adding that
the religious leader had been the victim of "acts of violence", a charge
police denied.

	Tirana, 29/6/1993 (AFP)  Albanian President Sali Berisha
yesterday requested the UN, CSCE and the EC to mediate in settling the
dispute between Athens and Tirana over the expulsion of a Greek Orthodox
clergyman from Gyrokastr last Friday.
	In a letter to UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali, the
CSCE and the EC, President Berisha wrote the Greek churchman had become
involved with Greek political and religious circles in formulating
territorial demands, and was handing out maps and other propaganda
material calling for the union of South Albania with Greece.

	Athens, 29/6/1993 (ANA)  The government yesterday confirmed that
Dimitris Avramopoulos, director of the Prime Minister's Diplomatic
Bureau, held a meeting yesterday in Geneva with UN mediator Lord Owen
and Bosnian Serb Radovan Karadzic.
	"These meetings are held within the framework of ongoing efforts
by the Greek goverment and Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis to find
a peaceful solution to the issue of Bosnia-Herzegovina", government
spokesman Vassilis Manginas told the press yesterday.

	Athens, 29/6/1993 (ANA)  The maritime industries FORUM yesterday
called for the incorporation of the maritime sector in the EC's 4th
Research, Technology and Development Programme.
	At a two-day plenary session in Vouliagmeni which ended
yesterday, the FORUM said that from 1994 onwards, 10 to 15 per cent of
the EC recearch budget should be allocated to research into maritime
resources and new marine technologies.
	By accepting this demand, the FORUM said, the maritime sector
would be at the same level as the aerospace industry.  In the long term,
it added, "This support would guarantee work for the 2.5 million employees
of the maritime industry in Europe and increase the competitiveness of
marine technology on the world market".
	The plenary session was attended by European Commissioners
Martin Bangemann and Karel Van Miert.

	Athens, 29/6/1993 (ANA)  The Greek Centre for European Studies
and Research (EKEM) and the Hellenic Foundation for Foreign and Defense
Policy (ELIAMEP), with the participation and support of the European
Commission, are to host a conference on "the European Community and the
Balkans" on Corfu July 2-5.  The conference will focus on the transition
to western-type economies and democracies of former Communist countries
and will also consider the role which the European Community can play in
the region, in areas such as the development of inter-Balkan networks,
water resources, environment, trade and training and migration of the
labor force.

	Athens, 29/6/1993 (ANA)  Russian President Boris Yeltsin arrives
in Athens today to sign a series of economic cooperation agreements with
Greece.
	Mr. Yeltsin will meet President Constantine Karamanlis tonight
and sign the bilateral agreements tomorrow after scheduled talks with
Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis expected to focus on developments
in Bosnia, Russia's relations with the EC, the Skopje and Cyprus issues
and bilateral relations.
	The Russian president will also meet with main opposition
Panhellenic Socialist Movement leader Andreas Papandreou and hold a
second round of talks with the Greek Premier before departing Thursday
afternoon.
	Mr. Yeltsin will also tour Greek archaeological sites during his
three-day stay.

	Athens, 29/6/1993 (ANA)  Professor Jean Claude Chermand of the
Marseilles Research Centre yesterday told the 9th Annual Congress of
the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting in
Thessaloniki that there were renewed hopes of finding a vaccine for
AIDS.
	The French scientist explained a new method has been devised for
isolating the AIDS virus.  The method is similar to a process of cell
measurement used in diagnosing certain forms of cancer which has been
used with satisfactory results.
	Professor Chermand said there were strong hopes the method might
prove successful in isolating the virus, making it possible to prepare a
vaccine.

[Copied by Thanos Tsekouras]