From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca (Theodore Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Mon, 7 Mar 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency Bulletin, Greece mourns Melina, world symbol of art freedom fighter -------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 7/3/94 (ANA): Culture Minister and world famous film star Melina Mercouri died in a New York hospital yesterday of post-surgical complications, after a lung-cancer operation last week. She was 69. "The country today mourns the loss of a woman who, through her art and struggles, made her name synonymous to Greece itself", Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou said in a statement. "The unique and irreplaceable Melina, the most important Greek woman, has entered eternity. A great loss for civilisation. A great loss for Greece", Alternate Culture Minister Thanos Microutsikos declared. "She died at 8:50 a.m. (15:50 Greek time) of complications from her illness", Pat Turi, a spokeswoman for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre said, according to a Reuter dispatch from New York. Mercouri had undergone surgery in late February to remove a small tumour from her right lung. She had been in the intensive care unit since with a series of complications. Reactions --------- Athens, 7/3/94 (ANA): President of the Republic Constantine Karamanlis said in a statement: "Melina, by her powerful artistic talent and dynamic personality established her presence not only on a Greek, but also a European scale". "Greece today mourns the death of Melina. A courageous fighter, a great artist, a wonderful person. The country today mourns the loss of a woman who, through her art and struggles, made her name synonymous with Greece itself", said Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou in a statement. "Melina was a Greek par excellence", said main opposition New Democracy leader Miltiades Evert. "Never on Sunday, But it happened on Sunday. The 'never' remains though, because Greeks will never forget Melina Mercouri", he said. Political Spring (Pol.A) leader Antonis Samaras stressed that "Melina's enormous contribution to the country makes her loss painful for all Greeks". Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Secretary General Aleka Paparriga said "we will always remember with emotion the sensitivity and humanity which characterised her personal and political behaviour in the social and political arena". Coalition of the Left and Progress leader Nikos Costantopoulos said: "Melina of liberty, Melina of democracy, Melina of Greece is no longer with us. We join all other Greeks, in mourning a great loss to our country with inexpressible grief". A PASOK ruling party statement said that "Melina was a person passionately loved by all Greeks. She responded with vindicating such adoration, by devoting all her strength for the rights of the people and Hellenism, right up until her final breath". In Nicosia, Cyprus, President of the Socialist EDEK party Vassos Lyssarides, said Mercouri's death was a "tragic loss not only to Greece and Cyprus but the entire world to". "Cyprus has lost a unique friend", he added. Mercouri's parliamentary seat will be taken over by Vassilis Toyias, current General Secretary for youth. Foreign reactions ------------------ Athens, 7/3/94 (ANA): In Paris, Former French Socialist Culture Minister Jack Lang said in a statement: "Cultural Europe owes Melina its existence and its hopes". He also paid tribute to Mercouri's "conquering enthusiasm". She was a "Greek patriot, deeply Greek and a universalist by passion and reason", he said of Mercouri, adding that the idea to name every year a city as Cultural Capital of Europe "was hers". Current French Culture Minister Jacques Toubon said Mercouri "symbolised the attachment of Greece to democratic values, some thing which she paid with exile and loss of citizenship". Mr. Toubon also underlined Mercouri's accomplished work" in excluding culture from GATT negotiations. In Brussels Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Elio di Rupo said Melina Mercouri was "the incarnation of the resistance against totalitarianism". "A grande Dame leaves us", he added. "A sense of spirit away. She was the incarnation of resistance against totalitarianism, the advancement of Democraty and supremacy of culture over all else", he said. Funeral service --------------- Athens, 7/3/94 (ANA): The Culture Ministry said yesterday that Mercouri's body would be flown home tomorrow, at a time to be announced today. It will be laid at the chapel of Athens Cathedral for the public to pay final tribute until Thursday. The funeral service will be held in the Cathedral at 2 p.m. local time Thursday. Burial will take place in the family vault at the Athens First Cemetery. Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou ordered that Melina Mercouri should be buried with full premier's honours, according to a statement by Alternate Culture Minister Thanos Microutsikos. Papoulias winds up M-East tour with Arafat meeting -------------------------------------------------- Cairo, (ANA/Reuter): Foreign Minister and current European Union Council of Ministers President Karolos Papoulias, yesterday had a 30-minute meeting at Cairo airport with Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat. Egyprian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa was present at the meeting. No statement was made after the talks. Mr. Papoulias, on a Middle East mediation tour on behalf of the EU, had come specially from Damascus for the meeting. He is due to fly directly to Brussels today to brief the EU General Affairs Council on the results of his tour, a Foreign Ministry statement said in Athens yesterday. In Damascus, Mr. Papoulias, accompanied by EU External Affairs Commissioner Hans van den Broek, was received yesterday by Syrian President Hafez Assad. According to the Syrian news agency Sana, the talks focused on the Middle Est peace process and the mission of the European Union delegation in the region, in the wake of the massacre of some 50 Palestinians in the Hebron mosque late February. The event held back PLO-Israeli negotiations on details of the self-rule agreement they signed in Washington last September. Mr. Papoulias and Mr. van den Broek arrived in Damascus Saturday after two days of talks in Cairo. Mr. Papoulias delivered a message to President Assad from Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou dealing with the peace process and bilateral Greek-Syrian relations. President Assad reiterated Syria's support for the Middle East peace process and voiced scepticism about Israel's seriousness about this process, according to the Syrian agency. President Assad reminded the delegation that Syria has always called for an active European role to help push the peace process forward. Mr. Papoulias and Mr van den Broek yesterday also met with Syrian Vice-President Abdul Halim Khaddam. The EU delegation had its first round of talks in Damascus with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Charaa late Saturday. The talks also dealt with relations between Syria and the EU. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Mr Papoulias stressed that the EU and the Arabs desire the peace initiative to be renewed and negotiations begin as soon as possible. "All of us speak about the need for peace and is acceptable by all sides. We have carried precisely these ideas on the need for a continuation of the negotiations, because the European Union does not see there is another way. "Relations between the European Union and Syria are on a good course, the EU recognises Syria's role and considers it an important regional power. These are many programmes in which Syria is included. The Syria-European Union Co-operation Council will meet within the second half of the year", said the Foreign Minister. Cairo talks ----------- Cairo, (ANA/Reuter): Mr. Papoulias held talks in Cairo with President Hosni Moubarak, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and Secretary General of the Arab League Essmat Abdel Meguid on the Middle East peace process Friday and Saturday. Speaking to reporters after his talks with Mr Moussa, the Greek Foreign Minister said Greece in its capacity as current president of the EU "can play a role in overcoming current obstacles to the peace process". Mr Moussa and Mr van den Broek signed Friday night an accord for the establishment of an EU embassy in Cairo, according to Mena, the Egyprian news agency. Greece willing to swap retortion for Skopje's proof package ------------------------------------------------- Athens, 7/3/94 (ANA): Greece is prepared to lift trade restrictions against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) if Skopje provides the package of concrete examples of good will as demanded by Athens, the government said yesterday. "Greece is ready to lift trade restrictions against Skopje, which are purely political in nature, on the understanding that (FYROM President Kiro) Gligorov provides concrete examples that it will back down on national (Greek) symbols, its Constitution and propaganda", government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said in Thessaloniki yesterday. "This way", the spokesman added, "the dialogue procedure will get under way within the framework of the United Nations, where the issue of the name will be raised, and Greece's position is already known". Mr Venizelos said that Greece was "fully prepared to enter into substantive dialogue under UN auspices". The Skopje issue will probably be discussed at a two-day EU General Affairs Council meeting to be chaired by Alternate Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos in Brussels today and tomorrow. Mr Pangalos said Friday Skopje had not been placed on the agenda, but he thought it might be. Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias will be in Geneva on March 10, to meet with UN mediator Cyrus Vance. It is not certain that Mr Vance will consider it appropriate to consult with the Skopje government after meeting with Mr Papoulias, although certain press reports take it for granted. That round, in conjunction with EU External Affairs Commissioner van den Broek's continuing efforts inevitably stimulate a new mediation round, considered likely to produce certain results. A certain amount of mobility to the same end is also reported in the US, where recruitment of the Greek community has produced some progress. The majority of members in the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives have drafted a letter to President Clinton requesting there should be no establishment of diplomatic relations with Skopje before Greek anxieties are taken into account. Representatives of the US-Greek community are scheduled to meet with the President at the end of next week. It is anticipate two-thirds of Foreign Relations Committee members will have signed the letter before it is forwarded to the White House today. The letter draws attention to Greece's strategic contribution in the Eastern Mediterranean, and her increasingly important role in the stabilisation of the fragile democracies in the Orthodox countries of the former Soviet Union, the Balkans and Eastern Europe. President of the United Greek-American Congress Andy Athens said the letter would carry a strong message to President Clinton. In Adelaide, Australia, about 20,000 persons took part Saturday in a rally to protest the Australian government's decision to recognise the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.