From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca (Theodore Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Tue, 2 Aug 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency Bulletin --------------------------- * Gov't welcomes Security Council Cyprus Resolution * Foreign Under-secretary Kranidiotis holds Nicosia talks * Skandalides to table new local Gov't bill * Evert raps Gov't, charges Administration ducks issues * Venizelos * Serb, Croat presidents' meeting would be a "very positive development" - Venizelos * Greece protests US move over Skopje passports, assured "no change in policy" * Opposition deputies withdraw from AGET probe C'ttee * Noteworthy Greek Australians' contribution to Macedonia cause Gov't welcomes Security Council Cyprus Resolution -------------------------------------------------- Athens, 02/08/94 (ANA): The government yesterday welcomed Friday's UN Security Council Resolution 939 on the Cyprus problem, saying that it contained "many positive points". Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said the fact that "clear differentiation" made between the essence of the problem and the Confidence Building Measures was "undoubtedly positive". The spokesman also welcomed the fact that the resolution had noted the "unacceptability" of the present status quo on the island-republic and had set a more limited time schedule for subsequent moves. Other positive points noted by the spokesman included the resolution's insistence that the problem be solved with respect to its "substance", based on the unity and independence of the Cyprus Republic. Mr. Venizelos said that the Greek government's satisfaction would have been "total" had the resolution also condemned the stance of the Turkish-Cypriot and Turkish side for their continuing intransigence. He added, however, that clear reference had been made to Turkish-Cypriot and Turkish intransigence in other texts, most notably UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's latest report. Foreign Under-secretary Kranidiotis holds Nicosia talks ------------------------------------------------------ Nicosia, 02/08/94 (ANA/CNA): Foreign Under-secretary in charge of European affairs Yiannos Kranidiotis arrived here yesterday on a three-day visit, at the invitation of Cyprus Foreign Minister Alecos Michaelides. Mr. Kranidiotis, who is of Cypriot origin, had a round of meetings with local party leaders in the afternoon. His visit will pave the way for more talks and decisions between Greece and Cyprus during Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias' visit to Nicosia in the final week of August. Today, Mr. Kranidiotis will call on President Glafcos Clerides and Archbishop Chrysostomos, and have talks with Mr. Michaelides, which will continue tomorrow with the participation of other officials from both sides. Mr. Kranidiotis told reporters at Larnaca airport that the aim of his visit was the co-ordination action between Greek and Cypriot governments in promoting Cyprus' application for full European Union membership. He said the two governments would chart a common policy on the matter, in view of the re-examination of Cyprus' application in January 1995 by the EU. EU leaders stated recently during their two-day summit in Corfu that Cyprus and Malta would be "involved" in the next EU enlargement. Mr. Kranidiotis said the two sides would also examine ways of fully implementing a July 5 European Court of Justice ruling, banning agricultural imports from the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus by EU member-states. Skandalides to table new local Gov't bill ----------------------------------------- Athens, 02/08/94 (ANA): Interior Minister Constantine Skandalides stated yesterday he will submit to Parliament a new supplementary draft bill on second-tier local government at prefecture level in the next few days. He made the statement after meeting with New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert, whom he briefed on the preparations for the autumn municipal and prefectural elections, including issues relating to the new local government institution. According to reports, Mr Evert described the present form of the relevant law as "dangerous for nationally sensitive regions" and reiterated his reservations regarding the application of certain of its provisions. Evert raps Gov't, charges Administration ducks issues ------------------------------------------------------ Athens, 02/08/94 (ANA): Main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert yesterday launched a stinging attack on the government, accusing it of "adopting an evasive attitude and indifference" toward the country's crucial economic and external problems, and of symptoms of administrative paralysis. He told reporters after conferring with Interior Minister Constantine Skandalides, that he had been left even more disquieted by the government's "makeshift attitude with which it has faced such an important legal framework" as the one concerning second-tier local government, which "does not address the problem created in nationally sensitive regions". He reiterated his party's stand in favour of the new institution, "but not in the manner it is going to be applied", and called for the formation of broader regions and indirect election of prefects. Commenting on a recent International Monetary Fund report (IMF) and Institute of Economic and Industrial Studies (IOBE) reports on the Greek economy, Mr Evert spoke of a "tragic picture". He also expressed anxiety over developments in the US concerning passports issued by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, describing them as a "prelude to (acceptance of) a double name" for that state. Referring to published extracts of a Foreign Ministry document on the ethnic Greek minority in Albania Sunday, he termed it "unacceptable", calling for publication of the entire text. "The country has problems, external, economic, and social. What it doesn't have is a government", Mr Evert concluded. Venizelos --------- Athens, 02/08/94 (ANA): In reply to Mr Evert's statements, Press Minister Evangelos Venizelos described the opposition leader's attitude on second-tier local government as "negative and totally vague". "He devoted much time to monotonous danger-mongering on all issues. He did not produce any new data. He appeared to be... adopting 'information' on the FYROM issue and on government positions regarding the Greeks in Albania, which reflect an unjustifiable, makeshift attitude on such matters, and sterile, old-fashioned opposition mood", he said. Mr Venizelos went on to point out that New Democracy bore quite recent and very specific responsibilities for the development of these two national issues. Serb, Croat presidents' meeting would be a "very positive development" - Venizelos -------------------------------------------- Athens, 02/08/94 (ANA): The government said yesterday that a meeting between Serb President Slobodan Milosevic and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in Athens would be "a very positive development" in efforts for a settlement of the Bosnian crisis. "Greece is engaged in substantial activity in the region, in its added capacity as previous president of the European Union. The axis around which Greece's efforts revolve is a settlement of the crisis and achieving peace, and Greece will contribute as much as it can to achieve those aims," government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said. Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias said on Sunday that a meeting between Mr. Milosevic and Mr. Tudjman might be held in Athens "soon". Mr. Papoulias last week visited Belgrade and Pale, Bosnia, where he had talks with Mr. Milosevic and Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, as part of a diplomatic initiative by Greece aimed at convincing Bosnian Serbs to agree to the Contact Group's peace plan for Bosnia. On Saturday, Mr. Papoulias attended the Contact Group's meeting in Geneva. Greece protests US move over Skopje passports, assured "no change in policy" ------------------------------------------------ Athens, 02/08/94 (ANA): The government yesterday expressed dismay at a decision by US authorities to directly stamp visas on passports issued by Skopje in the name of the "Republic of Macedonia", but downplayed the significance of the move. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said that the Greek Ambassador in Washington had lodged a protest with the State Department over the decision. "The US has given assurances that the visa decision is a purely administrative measure which does not entail any change in US policy on the Skopje issue," Mr. Venizelos said. He added the explanation had been accepted by Athens because "it separates the levels on which we are moving." Greece is engaged in a dispute with the former Yugoslav republic, arguing that the use of the name 'Macedonia' and ancient Greek symbols by Skopje conceal territorial designs against its northern province with the same name. Last February, Athens imposed a trade embargo on the former Yugoslav republic as retortion measures against Skopje's intransigence. Opposition deputies withdraw from AGET probe C'ttee ---------------------------------------------------- Athens, 02/08/94 (ANA): New Democracy party deputies participating in the parliamentary committee of inquiry into the AGET Co. slush fund case yesterday withdrew permanently from its sessions. The deputies stated that after dismissal of charges for breach of faith by the Athens Appeals Council last week, against former president of the Organisation for the Rehabilitation of Ailing Enterprises Mr Papageorgiou, no charges against former PM Constantine Mitsotakis and former ministers Andrianopoulos and Palaiokrasas could be supported. Noteworthy Greek Australians' contribution to Macedonia cause ------------------------------------------------------------ Athens, 02/08/94 (ANA): The contribution of Greek Australians to the promotion and support for the national cause of Macedonia is noteworthy, Foreign Under-secretary Gregory Niotis, in charge of Overseas Greek Communities Affairs, said yesterday, after meeting with member of Parliament and deputy leader of the Agricultural Party of the State of Victoria, Dimitris Dollis, who is in Greece on an official visit at the invitation of the Foreign Ministry. Such support has born fruit and Australia has maintained an especially important supportive stand toward our national issue since last February, said Mr Niotis. It has recognised the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), but not under the name they are currently using, which fakes Greek history, and has set specific conditions regarding respect for the symbols, abandonment of irredentist propaganda and a change of constitutional provisions, he added. Discussion between the two men included establishment of a Council of Expatriate Hellenism, Greek Australian educational and cultural issues. Australians of Greek descent form at least 5% of the population in that country. Mr Dollis described Greek-Australian relations as excellent and added that Australia will never upgrade its relations with FYROM as long as they persist in using the name 'Macedonia' and the Greek symbols on their flag. "The Greek community and the Australian Government will not accept the Skopje's efforts to monopolise the name and the propaganda against Greece", he said.