From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca (Theodore Zarros)
Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Mon, 23 May 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa).

Athens News Agency Bulletin, 

Greece renews "respect ethnic Greek minority's rights" warning
to Albania
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	Athens, 23/5/1994 (ANA): Greece Saturday renewed its warning to
Albania, that a basic condition for improving relations between
the two countries is that Tirana should safeguard the human
rights of the ethnic Greek community in southern Albania. "The
Greek government links improvement of Greek-Albanian relations
with full and absolute respect for human rights of ethnic Greeks
in Albania", government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said.

	Mr. Venizelos was referring to the recent arrest of six
high-ranking members of the ethnic Greek "Omonia" party in
Southern Albania. Albanian authorities are preparing to put the
arrested men on trial on charges of "espionage, fomenting
separatism and possessing weapons without a licence". They were
also charged with maintaining links with the Greek secret
service. Greece has repeatedly accused Albania of repressing
ethnic Greeks living in the south of the country.

	"Albania should prove it is a civilised state of justice. This
is not only a prerequisite for improving relations with Greece,
but with the European Union as well", the spokesman told
reporters in Thessaloniki. He said the government had lodged
protests with the United Nations, CSCE, European Union, and the
United States against Albania's treatment of the 400.000 strong
ethnic Greek minority living in the south of the country.

	Political Spring (Pol.An) party leader Antonis Samaras Saturday
said Greece should give a "potent reply" to Albania's recent
provocations. Mr. Samaras said Greece should project the issue
before international organisations to demonstrate to world
public opinion that Albania imprisoned six persons for their
attempt to defend the rights of the Greek minority.

	In a related announcement, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE),
yesterday said it "has repeatedly warned that, since the
outbreak of the Balkan crisis, minority issues have become the
favourite method and tool for legalising intervention and
policies of sharing-out markets and spheres of influence.

	"The government should defend the right to equality and respect
of Greek minority ethnics in Albania through stable and cool
policies..", the announcement added. A Coalition of the Left and
Progress party (Synaspismos) spokesman Saturday described the
recent arrests of ethnic Greeks by the Albanian authorities "a
veiled attempt to exercise pressure on the Greek minority, to
force it to flee to Greece". "Such an outcome should be
averted", the spokesman said, calling on the government to react
in a "firm and cool manner, avoiding falling into traps
engineered by the Berisha regime".


Greek-German relations rest on firm ground - Tsohatzopoulos
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	Hamburg, 23/5/1994 (ANA-P.Stangos): Greek-German relations rest
on firm ground, visiting Greek Interior Minister and
Secretary-General of the ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement
(PASOK) Akis Tsohatzopoulos said yesterday. "We may have gone
through certain difficulties, but they now belong to the past.

	Greek-German relations rest on firm ground, and are not
influenced by temporary upheavals", Mr. Tsohatzopoulos told a
group of Greek and international pressmen. Mr. Tsohatzopoulos
arrived in Hamburg, in his capacity as PASOK Secretary-General,
to participate in events to be held by the Social Democratic
party through the rum-up to Euroelections.

	He told questioners Greece felt "bitter" about the attitude of
many of its European partners, including Germany, "who have yet
to acquire a proper understanding of Greek positions on the
Skopje issue" and "display an attitude of tolerance on the
continuing occupation of Northern Cyprus by Turkey...".

	Asked to speculate on a solution to the Skopje issue, Mr.
Tsohatzopoulos said he was more or less optimistic, but
cautioned "a normalisation course does not imply a quick and
direct solution...".