From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca (Theodore Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Thu, 14 Apr 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency Bulletin, Greece suggests Albanian, Greek officials meet over dispute ---------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 14/4/1994 (ANA): Greece yesterday proposed to Albania a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries in a bid to resolve the row between the two Balkan neighbours following an attack on a conscript training centre in Gjirokastr at the weekend. "If it were necessary to meet with my (Albanian) counterpart Alfred Sereqi on neutral ground, I would be willing to do so," Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias told reporters. It is an "open proposal" to Albania, Mr. Papoulias said, as Tirana yesterday recalled its ambassador in Athens, Hyssen Selaudin Cabej "for consultations", and asked the Greek ambassador to Tirana to reduce his diplomatic staff from 10 to six. Albania has accused Greece of being behind Sunday's attack in which, according to Albanian television, two soldiers were killed and three others wounded. Greece has flatly rejected Albania's claims. The row took a new turn Tuesday, when Greece expelled the Albanian embassy first secretary, Kastriot Robo, in retaliation for Tirana's decision to declare the Greek Consul General in Gjirokastr persona non grata. Mr. Papoulias said that there had been no further incidents on the Greek-Albanian border where "all was quiet", adding that Greece's aim was to maintain good relations with its neighbours. "I have always tried personally to normalise our country's relations with Albania," Mr. Papoulias said, clarifying that the army had not been put on alert along the border with Greece's northern neighbour. Mr. Papoulias said that many obstacles had been overcome in his talks with the Albanian leadership during his recent visit to Tirana. "Unfortunately," he went on, "the Albanian government's reaction (to Sunday's attack) was inopportune. It does not contribute to what I believe is the desire of our two peoples for good neighbourly relations." Replying to press questions, Mr. Papoulias said that he was in constant touch with the Greek ambassador in Tirana, who had met with Mr. Sereqi to detail Greece's positions. At the same time, he added, Foreign Ministry General Secretary Christos Zaharakis had been instructed to make clear Greece's positions in response to a letter from the Albanian government to the UN Security Council asking that Greece be condemned "for the incidents of April 10". Mr. Papoulias said that "all the competent Greek authorities" were trying to gather information on Sunday's incident, but that it was difficult because the attack had taken place in Albania. He added that Tirana was not willing to collaborate with Greece in order to shed light on the incident. "Greece is proposing to Tirana," Mr. Papoulias said, "that a joint Greek-Albanian committee be set up to gather all available information on the incident and we are awaiting the reply of the Albanian government." Mr. Papoulias said it was not acceptable that Albania should provoke Greece "when it knows that Greece's contribution to the democratisation of Albania, to its economy and reconstruction has been very considerable". "The Albanian government cannot speak of Greek provocations when Greece is host to 250,000 Albanians who live, earn money and sustain the Albanian economy and their families. "(Albanian Premier Alexandr) Meksi cannot attack Greece, while being well aware of the efforts made by the Greek government for stability in the region," Mr. Papoulias said. Earlier yesterday Mr. Meksi told the Turkish Anatolian news agency that his government "will take all kinds of measures on the borders with Greece to increase security of our country." The Albanian Prime Minister said the Greek government "must make serious efforts to seek those behind the incident, adding such incidents do not contribute to stability in the region". "We asked the UN Security Council and the GSCE to examine the issue," Mr. Meksi added. Government spokesman -------------------- Athens, 14/4/1994 (ANA): Meanwhile, government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said that Mr. Papoulias had sent a letter to Mr. Sereqi proposing specific ways of defusing the tension between the two countries, including a meeting between the two foreign ministers. Mr. Venizelos accused Albania of "making systematic efforts to escalate tension in relations between the two countries" and described Tirana's reaction to Sunday's incident as "provocative and groundless and, in itself, breeds tension". He said that Greece was following developments "with great care, cool-headedness and self-restraint so as not to contribute to the creation and recycling of the climate of tension." The spokesman reiterated that Greece was in no way connected with Sunday's incident. However, "as an indication of extreme good will", as he put it, the spokesman did not rule out "the theoretical possibility" that some "extremist elements" may have been involved in the incident. Mr. Venizelos also referred to Greece's proposals for a joint approach to major problems such as illegal immigration and smuggling, "in which the Albanian government has shown no interest". Greece's steadfast position, the spokesman said, is to make efforts to improve Greek-Albanian relations, and assist in Albania's development. He added, however, that any improvement in relations was dependent on respect for the ethnic Greek minority in Albania. Mr. Venizelos said that Mr. Zaharakis would be sending a letter to the Security Council containing the Greek reply to Albania's claims, while the General Director of the Foreign Ministry's Political Affairs Department, Pavlos Apostolidis, had summoned the ambassadors of the Security Council member-states to brief them on the issue. At the same time, the spokesman continued, Mr. Papoulias has sent written instructions to all Greek embassies and diplomatic missions to brief governments of the countries to which they are accredited on the issue. Opposition parties ------------------ Athens, 14/4/1994 (ANA): Main Opposition New Democracy party yesterday called on the government to assume an initiative for a meeting of the Greece's and Albania's Foreign Ministers on neutral ground to de-escalate tensions between the two countries. A Communist Party of Greece (KKE) spokesman deemed as "Albanian provocation", the neighbouring state's claims that Greece was behind the incident. The spokesman said both Greece and Albania should avoid taking action which could lead to an escalation of tension. Ghali anxious ------------ Athens, 14/4/1994 (ANA): UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali has expressed anxiety over the incident at the Albanian recruit camp near the Greek border. Speaking while on a visit to Bonn yesterday, Mr. Ghali added he was not aware of the text of the Albanian leadership's letter. On the other hand, he appeared confident on the outcome of forthcoming consultations on the Skopje issue in New York. Yugoslav FM dismisses Albanian charges against Greece ----------------------------------------------------- Belgrade, (ANA/Nikos Georgiadis): Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic, who is expected in Athens tomorrow, yesterday dismissed allegations that Greece is responsible for the escalation of tension with Albania. "I do not know the issue very well, but I do not believe that Greece is responsible in this dispute ... This country (Albania) has recently been a source of destabilisation in the region", he said. Asked whether the same might be said of FYROM president Kiro Gligorov at present, he replied that it was difficult to tell, as FYROM currently faced a number of problems with its neighbouring countries, resulting from its secession from former Yugoslavia. "Yugoslavia's interest is in the solution of this problem through a commonly acceptable scheme. If something depends on Yugoslavia, we are all ready to help", said Mr Jovanovic. Vance has talks with FYROM FM, also to meet Greek delegate ---------------------------------------------------------- New York, 14/4/1994 (ANA): Mediator Cyrus Vance yesterday held talks lasting over two hours with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski, who afterwards termed the meeting "useful and constructive." Asked whether or not he will make any goodwill gesture toward Greece, he said that what mattered was finding a way to continue dialogue. Replying to another press question, Mr. Crvenkovski said he is unaware of whether or not a joint meeting might take place between Christos Zaharakis, Cyrus Vance and himself. Mr. Crvenkovski, told a questioner the issues of (FYROM) symbols and Constitution articles had not been discussed with Mr. Vance. Mr. Vance told reporters he will be meeting again with Mr. Crvenkovski and Greek representative ambassador Christos Zaharakis, today. He said further meetings with representatives of the two sides could not be ruled out. Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias' letter on the Albanian issue was to be delivered to the UN Security Council by permanent Greek representative to the UN charge d'affaires, ambassador Adamantios Vasilakis, yesterday afternoon, New York time. Croatian Vice President stresses Greece's role could be decisive ----------------------------------------------------------------- Athens 14/4/1994 (ANA): Croatian Vice-President and Foreign Minister Mate Granic said yesterday that Greece's role in the Bosnia peace process could be decisive. Speaking to reporters after talks with Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias, Mr. Granic said that following a cease-fire in Bosnia, the peace process must continue with the participation not only of the European Union, but also of the US, Russia and Greece "which, as a Balkan country and current EU president, can play a substantial role". Mr. Papoulias said that Greece's role was to provide its good offices so that problems in Bosnia-Herzegovina might be overcome. The Greek government, he said, believes that relations between Croatia and Serbia are a fundamental prerequisite for stability in former Yugoslavia, adding the normalisation of such relations would greatly contribute to peace. "The Greek government has been in the past and is again moving in this direction," Mr. Papoulias said. During the discussion on the situation in former Yugoslavia, Mr. Papoulias reiterated the firm position of the Greek government that military operations do not facilitate the peace process "rather encouraging extremist elements instead". Both ministers expressed their conviction that priority should be given to securing an immediate end of hostilities in Bosnia and resumption of negotiations. The main target of Greek foreign policy, Mr. Papoulias said, is to do everything possible to contribute toward Serb-Croat rapprochement. Mr. Papoulias and Mr. Granic also discussed bilateral issues. Greece and Croatia will soon sign a number of agreements on cultural, economic, technological, shipping and tourist co-operation. Mr. Granic expressed satisfaction at Greece's decision to set up an embassy in Croatia. Asked by reporters to comment on a statement by Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou accusing Germany and the Vatican of being responsible for the crisis in former Yugoslavia, Mr. Granic replied: "All these years that I have been in politics, both as Vice-President and Prime Minister, both Germany and the Vatican have played a positive role toward finding a settlement of the crisis." Mr. Granic arrived in Athens yesterday for talks with Greek officials. Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic is due in Athens tomorrow for similar talks. Fresh Albanian attempt to escalate tension ------------------------------------------- Athens 14/4/1994 (ANA): The usual state of alert along the Greek-Albanian border is not related to recent incidents at the Episkopi border post in Albania, a National Defence Ministry spokesman said yesterday. "It is the Ministry's duty to exercise round-the-clock vigilance throughout the year," he added. Meanwhile, Defence Ministry sources said Albanians "have again attempted to escalate tension" between the two countries, by claiming there was an exchange of fire Tuesday night between Albanian and Greek soldiers at the Episkopi check-post near the Greek-Albanian border. The sources attributed the "so-called incident" to "further Albanian provocation aimed at escalating tension". The Greek side was closely monitoring the situation "with appropriate caution and calm" the necessary caution and cool- headedness", sources noted. Greece shocked over Istanbul arson, demands respect of Greek minority human rights ----------------------------------------------------------------- Athens 14/4/1994 (ANA): Greece yesterday expressed indignation at the attempted arson against the Greek Grand National Academy in Istanbul, and called on Turkey to show respect for the rights of the Greek minority there. According to an ANA dispatch from Istanbul, unidentified persons tossed burning torches into the yard of the Academy, in Phanar district late Tuesday. The fire was extinguished immediately with Fire Brigade assistance. No damage was reported. "The Greek government expresses indignation at the attempted arson against the Greek Grand National Academy," Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantine Bikas said. "The government," he added, "calls on the neighbouring country to take serious measures to safeguard both churches and schools, as well as members of the Greek minority there, whom Greece is determined to protect with all legal means." "The government calls on Turkey to respect the rights of the Greek minority living there, in accordance with its (Turkey's) international legal commitments and ethics prevailing in all civilised countries," the spokesman added. The Academy's Alternate Director Nikolaos Mavrakis told the ANA no damage had been caused to the Academy building by a small fire which broke out, but only a wall was blackened by the flames. The Patriarchate and other Greek school buildings in the historic Phanar district have been targeted by unknown vandals who write threatening slogans on walls. There have been at least two other occasions on which arson attempts had been made, while the Islamic and nationalist press is continuing its campaign against the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Phanar district has been flooded by immigrants from Anatolia, as a result of urbanisation in recent decades, and radically altered the city's character. Election of an Islamic Welfare Party candidate as Mayor of Istanbul has raised fears about the security and freedom of the Orthodox Church and Greek expatriate centre, while Turkish authorities appear indolent in the face of such growing surge of intransigence. Commission referral decisions 'extremely unfortunate, contradictory' ----------------------------------------------------------------- Athens 14/4/1994 (ANA): The government yesterday described as "extremely unfortunate, inappropriate and contradictory" the European Commission's confirmation yesterday of its recent decision to refer Greece to the European Court of Justice in an attempt to compel Athens lift its trade sanctions against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos added the decision "undermines common (European Union) foreign policy, and an initiative by UN mediator Cyrus Vance, further enhanced by President (Bill) Clinton's special envoy Matthew Nimetz efforts, and the EU's own initiative." A spokesman for the Commission earlier said the European Union's executive had agreed to go ahead with the case after giving Greece a week to reopen the port of Thessaloniki to FYROM or face court action. "The Commission ... has confirmed the decision it made last week," a spokesman told a new conference in Brussels, adding that filing the case with the Luxembourg-based court might be made in a mater of days. EU sources said the case, the first of its kind before the court, would be held behind closed doors, to allow Greece to reveal state secrets in its defence, if it so wished. "As far as the Greek government is concerned," Mr. Venizelos said, "the European Court is another forum for Greece to set out important and numerous political arguments to serve as complements to legal ones."