Subject: A.N.A. Bulletin 29/9/93
From: miltos@nfl2.irc.nrc.ca

Bulletin -------- , 29/09/1993 ()

	United Nations, 29/9/1993 (ANA - M. Georgiadou): Foreign
Minister Michalis Papaconstantinou met yesterday with US
Secretary of State Warren Christopher for talks "on matters of
particular interest to the Community and the Americans". Mr.
Papaconstantinou said afterwards they primarily examined
Yugoslav issues, reiterating the proposal he had made to the
Community that it should undertake an initiative for
Yugoslavia's recovery the day after the signing of a peace
accord. "The international community should not find itself
unprepared as was the case with the agreement between the
Palestinians and Israel", he said. 	Mr. Papaconstantinou further
said Mr. Christopher agreed with the proposal, adding that "we
shall see how we will be able to implement it". He said the
initial proposal is for a meeting to be held in Athens and to
include, apart from Community member states, countries bordering
former Yugoslavia such as Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.

	Foreign policy matters, Mr. Papaconstantinou said, cannot stop
due to the pre-election campaign. "Greece should be always
present and indeed dynamically both in the European Community
and the international Community and of course in the light of
(Greece's) assumption of the Community's presidency in January",
he said. Replying to a question, Mr. Papaconstantinou said Greek
national issues were not discussed with Mr. Christopher. He said
general matters, Yugoslavia and the Palestinian-Israeli peace
accord were discussed.

	Commenting on his private meeting with UN mediator on the
Skopje issues Cyrus Vance, Mr. Papaconstantinou said: "I
discussed general issues of the region with Mr. Vance and on
which Mr. Vance has great experience. I did not discuss the
matter concerning us, the Skopjan issue, since talks have been
postponed until after the elections".

	In exclusive statements to ANA, Mr. Papaconstantinou said the
meeting between the Greek delegation and the leadership of the
US Jewish Council Monday was "extremely friendly and warm",
adding that he met Jewish dignitaries on every visit to New
York. Commenting lastly on his meeting with Serbian Foreign
Minister Vladislav Jovanovic Monday, Mr. Papaconstantinou said
Mr. Jovanovic briefed him on his country's current positions and
aims, adding that the meeting focused on Greece's proposal for
the EC to undertake an initiative for the recovery of former
Yugoslavia.

	Athens, 29/9/1993 (ANA): Greek-Turkish relations and the Skopje
issue were the focus of statements on foreign policy by Prime
Minister Constantine Mitsotakis and main opposition Panhellenic
Socialist Movement (PASOK) leader Andreas Papandreou in separate
interviews on private television broadcast yesterday evening.

	Mr. Mitsotakis said potential problems that may arise from the
present instability in the government required careful and
responsible handling. "It is necessary to have a responsible
government in power, one that is not demagogic but that will
seek the nation's true supports, which are none other than
Europe, NATO and our natural allies in the West", he said.
"Greek-Turkish relations are a basic issue in Greece's foreign
policy, and I am an ardent proponent of dialogue", he added,
when asked to respond to opposition party accusations that the
government's policies were based on "compliance".

	Turning to the Skopje issue, Mr. Mitsotakis said his
government's policy was not merely "political realism but a
sound foreign policy". He also criticised opposition parties'
statements that Greece should not engage in a dialogue with
Skopje and withdraw from the United Nations mediator process.
"Even at the height of the Gold War, the United States kept open
channels to the Soviet Union ... To say that you completely
close all channels ... is dangerous demagoguery of the worst
kind. As far as Skopje is concerned, Greece's position is very
clear", he said.

	But Mr. Papandreou lashed out at both the prime Minister and
his former foreign minister, Political Spring leader Antonis
Samaras, saying they were both responsible for the "negative
developments" in the Skopje issue. "Dialogue, under the present
circumstances, is meaningless", he said. "Why did we enter the
United Nations (process) ... when Greece's position is
supposedly stark and simple: that is, that we will not recognise
(Skopje under the name 'Macedonia'), he said.

	W Both Mr. Mitsotakis and Mr. Papandreou also presented the
broad outlines of their parties' policies in their separate
interviews yesterday evening. Mr. Mitsotakis, whose ruling New
Democracy party is seeking re-election in the October 10 polls,
pledged to continue his government's economic recovery
programme. "Our goals are unchanged: modernising the Greek
economy, introducing the concept of competitiveness, which was
essentially non-existent in the 80s and building an economy that
can hold its own not only in a united Europe but also in the
broader international competition", he said. "This has a cost
... but we have reached the point where we have essentially
achieved (our goals)", he added.

	Mr. Mitsotakis said that despite large deficits run up by PASOK
during its two consecutive terms in office, his government had
succeeded in balancing the budget. "We achieved a budget that,
in terms of its primary deficit, is balanced and has a surplus.
We did not achieve a large enough surplus to pay all the
interest from the huge external public debt that we inherited,
but we did have a primary budget surplus and will have one this
year", he said.

	Mr. Papandreou, in a later interview, lashed out at the
government's economic policy, describing it as "catastrophic".
"The government increased the gap between rich and poor, and
through its austerity policies brought two-to-three million
Greeks to the edge of hunger", he said. The opposition leader
also rejected the government's statements that it had produced a
primary budget surplus, saying it had merely "capitalised" the
interest on Greece's external debt and deferred it to future
budgets. "As far as the debts supposedly run up by PASOK, in
1988 we had a deficit of about 5.6 trillion drachmas ... Today
we have a debt totalling 20 trillion drachmas", Mr. Papandreou
said.

	Asked whether his party would introduce new taxes, the PASOK
leader said his party would not introduce a tax on either bonds
or savings. "The people cannot bear a further shrinking in their
real incomes. On the other hand, an atmosphere of trust among
the business community is necessary and a key to the growth
programme which we envision", he said. "The main issue for us is
how to free the economy from stagnation and set it on course
towards growth ... Our strategy is to deal with inflation first,
through a voluntary crusade in the framework of a social
contract and reduce inflation and interest rates", Mr.
Papandreou added.

	Athens, 29/9/1993 (ANA): Greece's 8,456,513 registered voters
will cast their ballot for one of 29 parties, ranging from the
ruling New Democracy party to the Greek Hunters Party, in the
October 10 elections. Voters' choices range from the four main
political parties U New Democracy, the main opposition
Panhellenic Socialist Movement, the Coalition of the left and
Progress, and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) U and the
recently formed Political Spring, led by former conservative
foreign minister Antonis Samaras, to a host of smaller groups
and electoral coalitions. The choices, although varied, are
fewer than in the April 1990 elections when 42 parties fielded
candidates. The official list of parties that may field
candidates in next month's elections, released by the Supreme
Court late Monday, includes several leftist parties, two extreme
right parties, four ecologist parties U including two parties
claiming the title 'Greens' U and the Greek Hunters Party.

	The list also features several parties with more cryptic
titles: Olympism; Self Respect-Truth; Destiny; and Trust. But
among those whose applications were rejected are the monarchist
Royalist Renewal. Even with the addition of 650,371 new voters,
none of these fringe parties have any hopes of winning a
parliamentary seat under the current system of enhanced
proportional representation, which requires a party to garner at
least three per cent of the national vote in order to be
represented in parliament. In 1990 Olympism won barely 696 votes
while 17 fringe parties collected a total of 599 votes. The
three per cent threshold, however, would also exclude parties
such as the Ecologtists/Alternatives, which polled 50,921 votes
or 0.77 per cent of the national aggregate in 1990, from winning
a parliamentary seat. The Ecologists-Alternatives and the
Democratic Renewal party (DHANA), which had each won a seat in
the last elections, are not participating in next month's poll.

	United Nations, 29/9/1993 (ANA - M. Georgiadou): Greece and the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) yesterday decided
to postpone further talks on resolving their differences until
after October 10, due to the forthcoming Greek elections. "The
delegations of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia have just concluded their second direct meeting
pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 845 (1993). The
meeting took place in a cordial and businesslike atmosphere", an
announcement issued by UN special envoy on the Skopje issue
Cyrus Vance at the end of the two-hour talks said.

	Mr. Vance met with Greek representative ambassador George
Papoulias and Skopjan representative Ivan Tosevski. "In view of
the forthcoming Greek elections, both parties agree that further
direct talks under my auspices on the substance of the remaining
issues between them should be deferred until after the holding
of the elections on October 10th", he added. "In the meanwhile,
I stand ready to facilitate the process, as requested by UN
Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali".

	Mr. Tosevski said he was pleased with the continuation of the
talks, adding that the Skopjan side looked forward to the
resumption of meetings by the end of October. "I wish to express
once again our satisfaction over the continuation of direct
talks under the aegis of Mr. Vance and we look forward to the
resumption of our meetings by the end of October", he said.

	Ambassador George Papoulias said a useful exchange of views
took place on both matters of direct interest and the situation
in the entire region. "Today's meeting was of a procedural
nature. A very interesting exchange of views took place on both
matters of direct interest and the situation in the entire
region", he said. Mr. Vance said he was due to meet Greek
Foreign Minister Michalis Papaconstantinou yesterday afternoon
and Skopjan President Kiro Gligorov on Friday. Asked whether the
issue of the name had been discussed to date, Mr. Vance said it
had but refused any further comment but said it was not
discussed yesterday, adding that he hoped progress will be
achieved when negotiations resume. Mr. Papoulias said the
objective was to resolve differences with Skopje in the
interests of Greece peace and security and good relations in the
region.

	W Greece has sent two fire-fighting helicopters to the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to help authorities there combat
fires raging in forests near Skopje, a government announcement
said yesterday. It said the helicopters had been sent following
an appeal for aid from the former Yugoslav republic.

	Athens, 29/9/1993 (ANA): Senior North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation officials and representatives of the alliance's 16
member-states are scheduled to participate in the 39th general
assembly of the Atlantic Treaty Association, which begins at the
Athens Concert Hall today. The four-day meeting on "Nato's
response to current challenges in Europe" is hosted by the Greek
Association for the Atlantic and European Co-operation.
Organisers said more than 400 delegates from NATO and former
Warsaw pact countries have registered to participate in the
meeting.

	Sofia, 29/9/1993 (ANA): The Association of Greek Businessmen in
Bulgaria has opened an office in Sofia and is now operating, it
was announced yesterday. The association will provide all Greeks
wishing to do business in Bulgaria with any information they
might need, free of charge. Services offered by the association
include guidance on how to found a company and lists of lawyers
and accountants with estimates of costs and time for their
services. This way, the association hopes to help prospective
Greek investors in Bulgaria avoid possible pitfalls and protect
them from unscrupulous operators. In addition, association
members have priority status on all flights and up to 35 per
cent discounts on airline tickets, 50 per cent discounts at
hotels and newspaper advertisements. The Sofia offices are open
to the public between 5 and 7 p.m. daily at 29 Tsar Osvoboditel St.

	Vienna, 29/9/1993 (ANA): Greece's Ambassador to Austria
Panayiotis Tsounis will also represent Greece in Slovenia. He
presented his credentials last week to the president of Slovenia
Milan Kucan in Ljubliana. During the ceremony, President Kucan
laid emphasis on the importance he attributed to the
establishment of relations between the two countries at
ambassadorial level. He said Slovenia would soon accredit an
ambassador to Athens, who will assume his or her duties before
Greece's assumption of the EC Presidency on January 1.

	Athens, 29/9/1993 (ANA): National Economy and Finance Minister
Stephanos Manos yesterday defended the government's austerity
programme, saying the Greek economy was on the road to recovery
and a socialist return to power in next month's elections would
have devastating effects. "The Greek economy is ready to boom.
The road to development and a united Europe has opened. If this
course is reversed now, it will be too late to repent", Mr.
Manos said. He was speaking at a news conference where he
presented a report on the latest developments and prospects of
the Greek economy.

	Pointing to colour charts, graphs and statistics, Mr. Manos
lashed out at main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement
(PASOK), accusing it of stalling the country's growth, running
up state expenses and resorting to unnecessary foreign borrowing
during its eight years in power. He said that under the
conservatives, Greece's growth rate in 1993 alone was 1.5 per
cent higher than the average growth rate of the European
Community. Throughout the years of socialism, he said, Greece
had lagged behind its Community partners by an average of 0.5
percentage units. Mr. Manos forecast that Greece's double digit
inflation, currently at 13 per cent, would drop below 10 per
cent by the end of the first quarter in 1994. He said the
average rate of inflation during the eight years of PASOK's rule
was 12.2 per cent higher than the EC average.

	Mr. Manos said the government had succeeded in curbing the
country's foreign debt from 29.5 per cent of the Gross domestic
Product (GDP) in 1989 to 25 per cent. He said the volume of
Greek exports had also increased, noting that foreign exchange
reserves in August alone totalled 8.4 billion dollars, the
highest ever. A record high was also noted in the level of
private investment between 1990 and 1993. Mr. Manos reiterated
that the government, if re-elected in October, would press ahead
with its privatisation programme, raise salaries and pensions,
clamp down on rampant tax evasion, and continue with large-scale
public works projects but ruled out additional taxes.

	Athens, 29/9/1993 (ANA): About 160 ethnic Greeks evacuated from
Georgia's Abkhazia province are scheduled to arrive in
Thessaloniki today under the third phase of Operation Golden
Fleece, the National Centre for the Reception and Resettlement
of Repatriated Greeks (EIYAPOE) said yesterday. It said the
evacuees were being flown to Greece in a chartered plane from
Minvondi. The ethnic Greeks were evacuated from Sukhumi, which
was captured by Abkhazian rebels on Monday, and will be housed
temporarily at a EIYAPOE reception centre in Naoussa.

	In August, the Greek government mounted a mission to evacuate
more than 1,000 ethnic Greeks by sea from Sukhumi to escape the
civil strife there. A second group of 152 ethnic Greeks were
evacuated by air earlier this month under the second phase of
Operation Golden Fleece. The ethnic Greek community, 1.9 per
cent of Georgia's 5.5 million population traces its ancestry
back to the ancient kingdom of Pontus on the shores of the Black
Sea. The evacuation mission was named after the Greek myth of
Jason and the Argonauts who sailed to Colchis, present-day
Georgia, to steal the fleece of a fabulous ram guarded by a
dragon. The second phase of the mission was mounted after
Abkhazian rebels launched an attack against Georgian troops
earlier this month, shattering a July 28 peace agreement reached
after more than a year of fighting. Meanwhile, officials in
Geneva said United Nations-sponsored peace talks scheduled to
begin today between the Georgian government and Abkhazian
separatists have been postponed.