From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca (Theodore Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Sat, 17 Dec 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency Bulletin --------------------------- (Apo to Ellnviko Grafeio Tupou kai Plnroforiwv, Ottaba, Kavadas E-Mail Address: grnewsca@sympatico.ca) * Greece lashes out at 'unjustifiable' pressure on Turkey-EU customs union issue, veto to stand, Kranidiotis says * Troika meeting changes nothing, Kranidiotis says * Breach between EU, Turkey possible if customs union not realised * Milosevic due in Athens Monday for talks with premier, Papoulias * Premier tells PASOK deputies that party unity must be defended * Kranidiotis on Delors * Veteran politician, journalist Athanassios Kanellopoulos dies of heart failure at 71 * Tributes * ANA board convenes * No progress, says Nimetz, after two-hour meeting with Gligorov * Greece supports efforts for peace in Nagorno-Karabakh, willing to send observer with UN peacekeepers * Evert, Varvitsiotis meet with Sarbanes on bilateral, Greek issues * Greek Union for Atlantic and European Co-operation symposium: The nation-state defines the problem of security in Europe, Venizelos says * EIB loan to fund SME activity in Greece Greece lashes out at 'unjustifiable' pressure on Turkey-EU customs union issue, veto to stand, Kranidiotis says ---------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 17/12/94 (ANA): Greece yesterday singled out the German EU presidency among its European Union partners for exerting pressure on it to advance the customs union between Turkey and the European Union and the convening of the Association Council. "We are not very happy with the behaviour of certain of our partners which, despite having listened to our reservations and objections, nevertheless insist -- very often in an unjustifiable manner -- on pressing for the advancement of the EU-Turkish customs union and the convening of the Association Council," Foreign Under-Secretary for European Affairs Yiannos Kranidiotis told reporters yesterday. "We are not daunted. We shall maintain our positions and the Greek veto on the issue of customs union will stand," he added. Mr. Kranidiotis later left for Brussels to discuss the issue of the EU-Turkey customs union with the German EU presidency, ahead of the scheduled meeting of the Association Council on Monday on the sidelines of the General Affairs Council. "I have on occasion been taken aback by the effort of the German presidency in particular to cater to Turkish demands and interests," Mr. Kranidiotis said. He criticised the presidency for not showing "the necessary sensitivity at a time when the entire public opinion of Europe is alarmed, including the European Parliament as illustrated by its latest resolution". Mr. Kranidiotis was referring to the European Parliament resolution passed overwhelmingly Thursday criticising Ankara for the sentencing of eight Kurdish deputies to jail terms of up to 15 years. The European Parliament said that negotiations between Turkey and the European Union on the customs union should stop and the Association Council scheduled for Monday postponed. It called for the verdict to be quashed, saying members of the assembly would have the right to reject a customs union if and when it was approved by EU member states. "If we want Europe to progress, then this should be a Europe of law, human rights and democracy and not of selective application based on strategic and economic interests," Mr. Kranidiotis said. "I'm sorry to say that the great (powers) within Europe press ahead with this selective application of principle." Although he criticised the German presidency's stance on the customs union issue, Mr. Kranidiotis praised the presidency's role at the recent European Council, describing it as "truly constructive". "The outcome of the European Council was considerably balanced and I believe it satisfied all sides," he said. Mr. Kranidiotis underlined the positive role of Luxembourg which, together with Greece, argued for the postponement of the EU-Turkey Association Council. He stressed that Greece did not make any distinction between the customs union and the activation of the fourth financial protocol of EU aid to Turkey which Athens has consistently blocked, linking its stance with progress towards a settlement of the Cyprus problem. "If a date is set for the commencement of negotiations for a Cyprus EU accession, a date which would be acceptable both to Greece and Cyprus, and as long as the rest of the terms are satisfied ... then we will have a very good basis for discussion and (an excuse to) overcome our hesitations," Mr. Kranidiotis said. In Nicosia meanwhile, President Glafcos Clerides criticised Germany's attitude on Cyprus' bid to join the European Union. "Germany's stand is unacceptably negative," Mr. Clerides told reporters following reports that Bonn was not willing to respond to Greece's demand that the EU set a specific date for accession talks on the Cyprus application. Mr. Clerides said he would comment further after receiving a full report from his foreign minister, Alecos Michaelides, who discussed the issue with his German counterpart Klaus Kinkel in Bonn on Thursday. The ANA reported from Bonn that Mr. Kinkel, instead of supporting Greece's request, had urged Cyprus to put pressure on Athens not to veto Turkey's bid for the EU customs union. Mr. Kranidiotis on Thursday held a meeting with the ambassadors of Germany and Britain to convey Greece's positions on the issue. Yesterday he held a meeting with the French ambassador. "We are being accused that we block Turkey, and therefore I would like to say that Turkey also blocks Greece in certain international fora," he said citing the cases of Turkey's veto on the Mediterranean Forum and the Larissa NATO headquarters. Turkey's chances of sealing a customs union with the European Union have foundered on rising European anger over the jailing of Kurdish parliamentarians. According to Reuters, EU officials say the Association Council meeting is not expected to result in any concrete progress on the pact and may not even take place. "If the (Turks) come, they will go away empty-handed having heard about human rights," Reuters quoted one EU diplomat as saying. Even if the meeting does take place, it will be held following a barrage of complaints by European leaders about Turkey's human right record, notably the jailing of the Kurdish parliamentarians. They were jailed last week for alleged support of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a 10-year battle for control of the largely Kurdish Southeast. The EU and Turkey have been negotiating an agreement that would bring Turkey closer to the EU than any country outside Norway and Iceland, which are linked through the free trade European Economic Area. It calls for Turkey to remove external tariffs on EU goods, set its third-country tariffs at the same rate as the EU does and accept preferential agreements with other countries that the EU has negotiated. In exchange, Turkey would get access to the huge EU market in most sectors other than agriculture and services. But the deal has most recently been complicated by the Kurdish jailings, condemned throughout Europe. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe also warned Turkey that it had to respect human rights to win closer ties with the union. Troika meeting changes nothing, Kranidiotis says ------------------------------------------------ Brussels, 17/12/94 (ANA-P. Pantelis, V. Demiris): Greek reservations on the customs union have not changed, Foreign Under-Secretary for European Affairs Yiannos Kranidiotis said yesterday after the EU troika met for two hours. The meeting, called by the German EU Presidency, was "a last-ditch effort", Mr. Kranidiotis said, to find a compromise solution to customs union to be discussed by the Association Council on Monday. "There was no convergence of views," he said. "We reiterated Greek positions and supported the Greek veto against customs union. We stressed that there is no reason for the Association Council to convene on Monday." Mr. Kranidiotis clarified that the Greek veto referred to the entire package of customs union relations and did not dissociate the issue of customs union from the fourth financial protocol or other economic relations between united Europe and Turkey. Mr. Kranidiotis left the meeting, saying the problem of whether the Association Council will convene belonged to the German Presidency. Breach between EU, Turkey possible if customs union not realised ---------------------------------------------------------------- Ankara, 17/12/94 (AFP): Co-chairman of the Turkish-European Parliament Joint Commission Tunc Bilget yesterday warned against a process that might lead to a "breach" between Turkey and the European Union, in the event the Association Council meeting -- scheduled for Monday in Brussels -- is called off. "Eventual deferment of the meeting, or a negative decision on customs union, would reduce European Union influence on Turkey to naught, while engendering a 'breach' with Europe," Mr. Bilget told a press conference in Ankara. Milosevic due in Athens Monday for talks with premier, Papoulias --------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 17/12/94 (ANA): Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic will pay a working visit to Athens on Monday to meet with Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou and Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias, the Foreign Ministry announced yesterday. An ANA dispatch from Belgrade reported that preparations for President Milosevic's visit to Athens had been underway for the past two months. The visit, Mr. Milosevic's first to Greece since the October 1993 elections and only his third official trip abroad in the past two years, is taking place at a time of intense diplomatic activity, aimed at restoring peace in former Yugoslavia. Mr. Milosevic is considered a key player in these attempts. President Milosevic will be accompanied by Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic and the director of his private office Goran Milinovic. Mr. Jovanovic said recently that Greece had followed an objective policy from the start of the Yugoslav crisis -- a policy which had now been recognised by the international community -- and that Greece, as a member of the European Union troika, could contribute to speeding up the peace process. Premier tells PASOK deputies that party unity must be defended -------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 17/12/94 (ANA): Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou yesterday said the Panhellenic Socialist Movement was open to dialogue and criticism but that personal attacks undermined the unity of the party. "The road to trivialisation and self-destruction is open, but the road to the weakening of PASOK's unity is and will remain closed," he said at a meeting of the PASOK parliamentary group yesterday. The premier's comments came after a stinging attack on two senior government members by former transport and deputy foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos. Warning party members to refrain from making public statements which undermined party unity, Mr. Papandreou said he considered it necessary to position himself, "prompted by statements by Mr. Pangalos and other cadres". He said he considered dialogue and criticism necessary, but that at present, there was a climate of conflict and party cadres were engaged in personal attacks, instead of making constructive proposals. "The Movement is going through a manufactured crisis," he said, "which ... can open the road to a rift and split." The premier later described the meeting as very constructive and serious and said it would continue in the New Year. Mr. Pangalos was present at the meeting but left without making any statements. His speech to a student gathering at the University of Thessaloniki Thursday was critical of country's foreign policy over the last 20 years, as exercised by all governments and parties, but also included a personal attack on Press and Mass Media Minister and government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos and Public Order Minister Stelios Papathemelis. He said that the main issue facing Greece was the whole spectrum of relations with Turkey, with Cyprus being the critical factor. He described the pursuit of political friendship and co-operation with Turkey as "a national illusion", stressing the need for the carving of a national strategy for dealing with the Turkish threat. He added that Greece must support all those fighting the Turkish establishment, citing first and foremost the Kurdish people. He also said Greece should extend its territorial waters in the Aegean, because the acceptance of Turkish objections is tantamount to being under its hegemony. He described the disputes with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania as being of "minor significance", saying Greece ought to promote co-operation with the former, mainly through providing economic benefits and work permits to its citizens, in exchange for the acceptance of geographical definition in the name of the republic, such as Macedonian Republic of Skopje. Mr. Pangalos is one of the four senior PASOK members who were recently characterised by the press as forming a dissenting group within the party. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos expressed his regret that Mr. Pangalos' views did not agree with those of the vast majority of the Greek people on national issues. Kranidiotis on Delors --------------------- Athens, 17/12/94 (ANA): Foreign Under-Secretary for European Affairs Yiannos Kranidiotis yesterday said the departure of European Commission President Jacques Delors was a loss for Greece. "Mr. Delors' love and sensitivity for Greece were well-known," Mr. Kranidiotis said. He also regretted Mr. Delors' decision not to stand for president of France. Veteran politician, journalist Athanassios Kanellopoulos dies of heart failure at 71 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 17/12/94 (ANA): Veteran politician and journalist Athanassios Kanellopoulos, a main opposition New Democracy party MP and former deputy prime minister, died early this morning of heart failure. He was 71. His funeral will take place today. Mr. Kanellopoulos was born in Andritsaina, in the prefecture of Eleia in the Peloponnese, and studied at the Athens University Law School as well as the Athens University's political and economic departments. He was a consultant with the Ministry of Co-ordination (now National Economy Ministry) from 1940-1950. A member of the Athens Union of Journalists (ESHEA), he worked as a journalist for the newspapers 'To Vima' and the financial pages of 'Ta Nea' and as editor of the financial magazine 'Ekonomikos Tachydromos'. Following the restoration of democracy in Greece after the rule of the colonels, he was a founding member of the Centre Union-New Forces party in 1974, and in 1978 joined the New Democracy party. Under the premiership of Constantine Mitsotakis, Mr. Kanellopoulos held the post of deputy prime minister. Mr. Kanellopoulos served as government spokesman, and in various ministerial posts -- commerce, agriculture, justice -- in the ND governments, and wrote books on economy, politics, sociology and philosophy. Tributes -------- Athens, 17/12/94 (ANA): "Athanasios Kanellopoulos has been my friend and associate and I had the opportunity to appreciate his great intellectual and moral virtues," President of the Republic Constantine Karamanlis said on hearing of Mr. Kanellopoulos' death. Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou said Mr. Kanellopoulos' death was "a loss for the country." Speaking on behalf of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, PASOK Central Committee Secretary-General Akis Tsohatzopoulos expressed "deep grief", deeming it a "great loss" for the political and intellectual life of the country. Press and Mass Media Minister and government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said Mr. Kanellopoulos was "the last renaissance man who excelled as a politician, teacher and author." President of Parliament Apostolos Kaklamanis said Mr. Kanellopoulos was a "distinguished figure of the political and intellectual leadership who contributed immensely to the progress of the country and participated actively in the national, democratic and social struggles of the Greek people." Honorary president of the New Democracy (ND) party and former prime minister Constantine Mitsotakis expressed his grief over the loss of Kanellopoulos "a man with profound knowledge and many social and human sensitivities." ND leader Miltiades Evert said Parliament had lost a "brilliant politician and the ND a brilliant associate, friend and mentor." A New Democracy announcement later said the party flags would fly at half mast for the following three days. Political Spring leader Antonis Samaras said that academics, parliamentarians, intellectuals and the whole of Greece shared his grief at the death of Mr. Kanellopoulos. Coalition of the Left and Progress president Nikos Constantopoulos said "the death of a distinguished politician and an honourable and consistent deputy and intellectual is a loss for the country." Mr. Kanellopoulos' parliamentary seat will be taken by Niki Tzavela. ANA board convenes ------------------ Athens, 17/12/94 (ANA): Athens News Agency General Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors Andreas Christodoulides yesterday presided over the first board meeting since the agency became a public liability company under Presidential Decree 150/1994. Discussion focused on current operational affairs. It was decided to fill two senior editorial posts, which will be advertised in the next few days. The members of the board are: Georgios Alexandrakis, personnel manager and representative of ANA staff; Nikos Kiaos, representative and Vice-President of the Athens Union of Journalists (ESHEA); Georgios Aidinis, representative of the Union of Daily Newspaper Owners (EIHE); Vassilis Nikolopoulos, journalist and government appointee; Dimitris Tsaousidis, representative of the Macedonia-Thrace Union of Journalists; and Kostas Tsatsaronis, journalist and government appointee. No progress, says Nimetz, after two-hour meeting with Gligorov -------------------------------------------------------------- Skopje, (ANA - M. Vichou): The US president's special envoy on the dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) yesterday indicated no progress had been made after a two-hour meeting with FYROM President Kiro Gligorov. "It is obvious that no solution was found during these talks," Matthew Nimetz told reporters after the talks. Mr. Nimetz met Mr. Gligorov and his foreign minister and delivered a letter from President Clinton. "President Gligorov read it," he said. Mr. Nimetz said they discussed various ideas on resolving issues linked to the name of the state, its symbols, the trade embargo and normalisation of relations between the two countries. He clarified that he brought no package or plan with him but merely discussed all aspects of the problem. "The question is how ways will be found to resolve the difficult problems existing between the two countries," Mr. Nimetz said. He said, however, that he felt they could be resolved and that the leaderships of the two countries wanted them to be resolved. He said he told President Gligorov and FYROM officials of the content of his meeting with Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou "to enable them to understand Greek positions better." He said FYROM wanted the dispute resolved "but wants this to take place in the framework of positions suiting its country. The same goes for Athens." He said he would brief UN mediator Cyrus Vance and the US government on his return to the US to help find, through diplomatic channels, the points where the two sides could achieve some progress. Referring to President Clinton's letter to Mr. Gligorov, Skopje Radio said the US president congratulated the FYROM leader on his re-election, adding that the decision taken by the people of FYROM was encouraging since unrest currently prevailed in the Balkans. He further expressed the hope a solution would be found to the dispute between Greece and FYROM and that it was in the interests of the Balkan peoples to be reconciled and turn to building the region's economic future. Greece supports efforts for peace in Nagorno-Karabakh, willing to send observer with UN peacekeepers -------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 17/12/94 (ANA): Greece said yesterday it supported efforts to bring peace to war-torn Nagorno-Karabakh and the wider region, provided that the interests of the Armenian population were not undermined. Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias, speaking after talks yesterday with his Armenian counterpart Vahan Papazian, said Greece would be willing to send an observer to Nagorno-Karabakh in the context of a UN peacekeeping mission. Mr. Papazian was in Athens on an official visit to sign agreements providing for cultural exchange and an air service between Athens and Yerevan. "Greece and Armenia have excellent relations which are constantly developing," Mr. Papoulias said. He said other co-operation agreements between the two countries were nearing completion and would be signed either during his visit to Yerevan or when the Armenian president visits Athens. Mr. Papazian also signed his country's accession to the 11-nation Black Sea Co-operation Group, currently chaired by Greece. Mr. Papoulias said that Armenia supported Greece at all international fora and that the friendship between the two countries also had a "strategic" nature. "Both countries have historical ties of friendship and today are facing common threats," he said. Mr. Papoulias said that Greece supported the Minsk peace process as a way of bringing peace to Nagorno-Karabakh and the greater region "without harming the interests of the Armenian population". "Greece," he added, "is prepared to send an observer if a UN peacekeeping force is sent to Nagorno-Karabakh". Mr. Papazian said that Armenia was "completely satisfied" by the resolution adopted at the recent Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) summit in Budapest, adding that "it provides the possibility to establish peace". He underlined however that Yerevan was opposed to the participation of Turkish troops in the UN peacekeeping force to be sent to Nagorno-Karabakh. Negotiations were necessary, Mr. Papazian said, on the structure and composition of the peacekeeping force, both between the CSCE member states and the parties directly involved, namely Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Mr. Papazian said that Turkish troops should be excluded from the force "because Ankara is directly linked with the conflict and two years have already passed since Turkey imposed a blockade against Armenia, not even allowing humanitarian aid to enter, an act which Armenia considers as hostile". The Armenian foreign minister also had talks with Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou and National Defence Minister Gerasimos Arsenis. Mr. Papazian and Mr. Arsenis discussed issues of bilateral interest. Evert, Varvitsiotis meet with Sarbanes on bilateral, Greek issues ----------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 17/12/94 (ANA): Main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert yesterday met with visiting US Senator Paul Sarbanes to discuss bilateral issues as well as Greece's national issues, the Cyprus problem and problems of the greater Balkan region. Mr. Evert said he briefed Mr. Sarbanes on current developments and detailed his party's positions on the issues. Mr. Sarbanes also held a meeting with ND Vice-President Ioannis Varvitsiotis. Political Spring party leader Antonis Samaras and Coalition of the Left and Progress Nikos Constantopoulos also held separate meetings with Mr. Sarbanes. On Thursday Mr. Sarbanes told reporters the US should keep efforts to help solve problems in the Balkans and the wider region. He said his contacts with the political leadership in Athens and Nicosia were held in view of the new term of the American Congress commencing January 4. Greek Union for Atlantic and European Co-operation symposium: The nation-state defines the problem of security in Europe, Venizelos says ------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 17/12/94 (ANA): The problem of security in Europe is now being determined at the level of the nation-state or in broader regions, Press and Mass Media Minister Evangelos Venizelos said yesterday at the opening of an international symposium on 'The New Architecture of Security in Europe', being held at the Zappeion Hall. The symposium has been organised by the Greek Union for Atlantic and European Co-operation. Referring to Greece's position in the Balkans, Mr. Venizelos pointed out that although Greece has had the historical advantage of an uninterrupted evolution in the West since 1949, having become a member of both NATO and the EEC, it still has problems of security and stability. The term security, he explained, does not only mean military threats, but also the safeguarding of the status quo and other possible threats. Greece has an ongoing problem in its relations with Turkey, whose threats acquire the form of unilateral claims or even invasion and occupation, as in Cyprus. With regard to the issue of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Venizelos said the problem was not posed on the level of historical or symbolic sensitivity, but was one of stability for the whole region, stability which small states may threaten because of their peculiar ethnic composition or behaviour. President of the Permanent Parliamentary External Affairs and Defence Committee, PASOK deputy Eleftherios Veryvakis gave an overview of security in Europe in the five years since the collapse of Communism, saying that although NATO constitutes the only integrated security organisation in the Euro-Atlantic area, in the last five years it has failed to create a stable environment in Europe, guaranteeing peace and prosperity. Romanian Foreign Under-Secretary Virgil Constantinescu, who referred to the dangers facing his country, said that after the end of the war in Bosnia, there will be programmes of co-operation with all countries in the Balkans, and especially with Greece, with which there are programmes of economic co-operation in the broader Black Sea region. UN press representative in Greece Panayiotis Karafotias said that in the post-Cold War era, the role of non-governmental organisations must be revised, due to new realities in the political field, and their aims redefined under the banners of peace, democracy and development. EIB loan to fund SME activity in Greece --------------------------------------- Athens, 17/12/94 (ANA): The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted the Athens branch of Banque Nationale de Paris five billion drachma loan (17.1 million ECU) to finance small and medium-sized enterprises in Greece. The loan agreement was signed yesterday by EIB Vice-President Panayiotis Yennimatas and BNP General Director in Athens Mr. P.H. Joannier. The funds will be used to support investments in industry, tourism, services environmental protection and energy conservation.