From: "Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa" Subject: A.N.A. Bulletin 20/1/95 Athens News Agency Bulletin --------------------------- (Apo to Ellnviko Grafeio Tupou kai Plnroforiwv, Ottaba, Kavadas E-Mail Address: grnewsca@sympatico.ca * Premier: Economic Social Committee significant role to play in future * Premier on political climate * Commemorative coins mark Parliament anniversary * Italy wants to be observer at Black Sea Pact * Diplomatic sources say Skopje holds key to moving issue out of current impasse * Venizelos: Council of Ministers must agree on EU-Turkey customs union * Greece tells Karadzic it supports Contact Group plan for peace in Bosnia * Gov't no objection to making public contents of political leaders meetings * Mitsotakis calls for release of minutes of political leaders meeting * MOMA begins Dassin retrospective * European Parliament overwhelmingly rejects any move to remove languages from EU * Avgerinos head of PASOK group at Europarliament * Cyprus issue a 'challenge' for US-Turkish relations * Eurostat says Greek GDP decreases 0.53 per cent in 1993 * Eurostat: Greek agricultural sector decreases 3.1 per cent Premier: Economic Social Committee significant role to play in future -------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 20/1/95 (ANA): Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou yesterday attended the opening session of the Greek Economic and Social Committee (OKE) which aims at establishing common ground between blue and white collar worker representatives in a bid to produce expert opinion and make proposals to the government. The session took place at the Athens Concert Hall with the participation of government and party officials. "It is an institutional tool that can play a significant role in securing and promoting social equilibrium, particularly for the times ahead," Mr. Papandreou said. He said the committee aimed at promoting "economic and social democracy, a more creative co-operation between the state and the private sector as well as the establishment of a mechanism to act as a stabilising force in society." OKE is a branch of the advisory body at the European Commission and the Council of Ministers which produces expert opinions and forecasts, in co-operation with social partners, on the meshing of interests and formation of a common position. It is composed of 48 representatives of social partners and will be responsible for making proposals to the government on any economic issue, when it is requested to do so. It also has the right to express its view on any government decision on economic issues. Mr. Papandreou said OKE might have a substantial contribution to the establishment and reinforcement of social equilibrium, especially in the years ahead. "It is part of our efforts to improve and adapt institutions to the demands and hopes of our time," the premier added, noting the propelling force behind OKE's establishment was the late national economy minister Giorgos Yennimatas. Yennimatas' successor, Yiannos Papantoniou, said OKE would focus on labour relations, social security and taxation. He added that the government would take into consideration OKE reports in formulating decisions on related issues. Among the first issues to concern OKE will be upcoming government measures to curb rising unemployment. The inauguration ceremony was attended by several political party and government officials. Main opposition New Democracy party representative Stavros Dimas said ND supported the establishment of OKE and pledged to help its advancement. He said his party favoured the constitutional establishment of social dialogue which would be achieved through a review of article 106 of the Constitution. Political Spring party leader Antonis Samaras said OKE's development as a strategic body would depend on the extent of the political will which would be displayed. The Communist Party of Greece did not take part in the meeting. "The Greek people have no necessity of an institutional tool to interpret the government's anti-people policy," it said in an announcement yesterday. Coalition of the Left and Progress representative Grigoris Yiannaros called on the government to resist the temptation to dictate OKE's policy. He said OKE was called on to function on a very low annual budget. The Committee's annual budget is estimated at 20 million. General Confederation of Workers of Greece President Christos Protopappas called on the government and the political parties to "respect the institution, understand its autonomous nature and not feel intimidated by its decisions." Premier on political climate ---------------------------- Athens, 20/1/95 (ANA): "The political climate must adapt to the needs of the country," Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou said after yesterday's meeting of the Economic and Social Committee, in reply to a question regarding the effectiveness of attempts to establish a consensus in the midst of the recent political climate. He added that he would not involve himself in the match of statements by former prime minister Constantine Mitsotakis and others attributed to the President of the Republic. On another issue, he said the government would study a proposal for the taxing of state bonds. Commemorative coins mark Parliament anniversary ----------------------------------------------- Athens, 20/1/95 (ANA): Commemorative coins to mark the 150th anniversary of Parliament were put into circulation yesterday. The two 50-drachma coins and two silver and gold coins (3,000 and 2,000 pieces respectively) were produced at the National Mint. A total of 15 million have been minted. Italy wants to be observer at Black Sea Pact -------------------------------------------- Rome, 20/1/95 (ANA - L. Hatzikyriakou): Italy has requested observer's status to the Black Sea Co-operation Pact, it was announced yesterday. Italy's request, delivered by Italian Ambassador to Turkey to the organisation's secretary, will be considered by the Black Sea Co-operation's foreign ministers. The organisation's secretary Evgeni Koutovo, said Italy's request was "significant." The pact was established in 1992 and comprises Greece, Turkey, Russia, Romania, Moldova, Albania, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Diplomatic sources say Skopje holds key to moving issue out of current impasse -------------------------------------------------------------- United Nations, (ANA - M. Georgiadou): The public prosecutor's opinion at the European Court in February on the issue of Greek retortion measures against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) will only play a role in the event FYROM shows an indication of responding with tangible actions, diplomatic sources said yesterday. Otherwise, regardless of the public prosecutor's proposal, Greece's clear position will not change and, despite the combination of exhortations from various circles, the suspension of the embargo on FYROM cannot be expected in any way. A unilateral goodwill gesture by Greece is out of the question and this steadfast Greek position will not be affected by developments at the European Court, since it is not a legal dispute but purely a political issue. In addition, authoritative sources say jurists' views on the outcome of the issue at the European Court are 50 per cent in favour of Greece. The sources at the UN added that virtually since the day FYROM President Kiro Gligorov met the UN Secretary-General and his representative Cyrus Vance in Geneva, the deadlock in the problem has become "cemented." US President Bill Clinton's representative Matthew Nimetz had the opportunity of ascertaining this during his recent visit to FYROM and that President Gligorov continued his unacceptable intransigent stance. The sources also termed the rumour that Greece allegedly notified the UN that it intended to partially lift the embargo "absolutely groundless". At present there are no prospects for any mobility on the FYROM issue since President Gligorov is showing a negative attitude to the point of "incorporating" his negative attitude on the issue of his country's name on the issue of the flag. Neither Mr. Vance nor Mr. Nimetz, it was stressed, see any prospects of negotiations resuming under UN sponsorship at present. Mr. Vance does not speak at present of the possibility of submitting his mandate due to the continuing deadlock, despite wondering what to do. He has had no substantive contact with FYROM officials since the Geneva meeting. Venizelos: Council of Ministers must agree on EU-Turkey customs union -------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 20/1/95 (ANA): The Council of Ministers is the competent decision-making body on the issue of the EU-Turkey customs union and any decision must be unanimous, government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said yesterday. The spokesman was replying to press questions on the meeting scheduled by Turkey for 2 February in London to discuss ways of removing the obstacle of Greece's veto of the customs union agreement. Five countries will participate at the meeting -- Turkey, Germany, France, Britain and Italy. "What is important," the spokesman said, "is that the conditions set by Greece and other EU states are created." Commenting on the fact that Greece will not be participating in the meeting, Mr. Venizelos said that "in order for such talks to bring a result, the positions of all the interested parties must be taken into consideration". Greece tells Karadzic it supports Contact Group plan for peace in Bosnia -------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 20/1/95 (ANA): Greece favours acceptance of the Contact Group plan for a peaceful settlement of the Bosnian problem and set out this position in the message which Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias sent to Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, the government said yesterday. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said that the message would be handed to Mr. Karadzic by Foreign Ministry spokesman Costas Bikas who arrived in Pale yesterday as Mr. Papoulias' special envoy. Mr. Venizelos said that the European Union embassies in Athens had been informed of the Greek initiative. "Greece," he added, "has acquired considerable and valuable experience in the issue, both as a member of the European Union and as a Balkan country." An ANA dispatch from Belgrade late last night said Mr. Bikas had delivered the message. Gov't no objection to making public contents of political leaders meetings --------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 20/1/95 (ANA): The government said yesterday that it had no objection "in principle" to making public the minutes of the meetings of political leaders chaired by President Constantine Karamanlis during which Greece's position on the Skopje issue was decided. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos stressed however that in addition to the element of "domestic political disagreements", the minutes also contained certain "classified" matters concerning the exercise of Greek foreign policy. From a procedural point of view, he added, the issue of the minutes is handled by the office of the President of the Republic "within the framework of its regulatory role". Mitsotakis calls for release of minutes of political leaders meeting ------------------------------------------------------------ Athens, 20/1/95 (ANA): Former prime minister Constantine Mitsotakis yesterday made follow-up statements to his Athens Rotary Club speech Tuesday on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia issue, asking for the release of minutes kept during the political leaders' council meeting under the President of the Republic in April 1992. He described government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos' statement that the government considers itself bound by the decisions adopted during that meeting as "totally wrong", and called on the prime minister to reconvene the council, "so as to give it the freedom of movement which the circumstances demand". Finally, commenting on press information according to which "circles close to the President of the Republic reported he was angry with Mitsotakis' references to his person", he said he would not open a dialogue with "unnamed and irresponsible circles". The president ought to be protected from these circles who act and speak in his name, he added. MOMA begins Dassin retrospective -------------------------------- New York, 20/1/95 (ANA - M. Georgiadou): The New York Museum of Modern Art today begins showing a series of films directed by Jules Dassin, seven of which star the late Melina Mercouri, his wife. European Parliament overwhelmingly rejects any move to remove languages from EU ------------------------------------------------------------- Strasbourg, 20/1/95 (ANA - P. Stangos): After Wednesday's call by French President Francois Mitterrand for the maintenance of all languages used in European Union member states without distinction "as a confirmation of its cultural identity through differentiation", the European Parliament yesterday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution categorically rejecting any attempt to reduce them. The resolution, adopted by 234 votes in favour, one against, and one abstention, rejected the financial and technical translation problems initially invoked by French European Affairs Minister Alain Lamassoure, stating that "it is resolved to fight any attempt at instituting a distinction between official and working languages in the EU", and that the equity of languages is "a fundamental element of the political equality of its member states". Mr. Lamassoure was not present, but Commissioner Hans van den Broek came out in support of the speakers, saying that if at the intergovernmental conference of 1996 such an issue is raised, he hopes that "the political, social, and cultural dimension will prevail over the organisational and technical one...". More than 15 deputies, all representing countries whose languages were 'threatened' by the Lamassoure initiative, took the floor. Invoking the French President's phrase that he preferred speaking French, New Democracy Euro-MP George Anastassopoulos said, "And we prefer speaking the language of Homer, Plato, Aristotle, and Sophocles, which gave Europe its name and other European languages many of their roots". PASOK Eurodeputy Angela Kokkola spoke about the "blind laws of the market which blinded the inspirators of the reduction in the number of languages in the EU...". Communist party deputy Vassilis Efraimidis accused the French minister of "linguistic racism which ridicules declarations about democratic principles". Meanwhile, New Democracy Eurodeputy Nana Moschouri raised the issue during a brief meeting with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppi, and later briefed her colleagues from all political groups. She said she planned to discuss the issue with Mr. Juppi more thoroughly in future, as well as with Mr. Lamassoure himself, and French Culture Minister Mr. Toubon. Avgerinos head of PASOK group at Europarliament ----------------------------------------------- Athens, 20/1/95 (ANA): Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou has appointed Paraskevas Avgerinos as head of PASOK's parliamentary group in the European Parliament, Yiannis Roubatis as Vice-President of the socialist group, and Michalis Chrysohoidis, Trade Under-Secretary, and Thanassis Theodorakis, the Foreign Ministry's Secretary-General for European Affairs, as members of the presidium of the European Socialist Party. Hitherto Foreign Under-Secretary Yiannos Kranidiotis is to replace recently appointed European Commissioner Christos Papoutsis as Euro-MP. Cyprus issue a 'challenge' for US-Turkish relations --------------------------------------------------- Washington, (ANA - D. Dimas): The Cyprus issue, human rights, and the issue of copyright are the three matters which constitute a "challenge" in US-Turkish relations, US ambassador to Ankara Mark Grossman said in the course of a US-Turkish trade conference here yesterday. "President Clinton believes it is the right moment for progress to be recorded on the (Cyprus) issue, leading to a solution that will benefit the whole region," he said. Eurostat says Greek GDP decreases 0.53 per cent in 1993 ------------------------------------------------------- Brussels, 20/1/95 (ANA - V. Demiris): Greece's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased 0.53 per cent in 1993 compared to 1992, according to the European Union Eurostat bulletin published in Brussels yesterday. The bulletin disclosed that the GDP per capita in Greece in 1993 was the lowest among EU partners and represented 63.09 per cent of the EU average. The biggest GDP increase in 1993 compared to 1992 was registered in Luxembourg with 4 per cent. It was followed by Ireland with 3.99 per cent, Britain 2 per cent and Denmark 1.49 per cent. GDP decreased in seven EU member-states, including Greece. GDP also decreased over the same period in the three new EU member-states, dropping 2.03 per cent in Sweden, 1.98 per cent in Finland and 0.08 in Austria. In comparison, GDP increased 3 per cent in the US and 0.08 per cent in Japan while the average decrease in the EU was 0.33 per cent. Luxembourg again tops the list of EU countries regarding income per capita with 160.4 per cent of the EU average. It is followed by Belgium with 113.23 per cent, Denmark 112.41 per cent, France 110.01 per cent and Germany 108.2 per cent. Countries at the bottom of the list are Ireland with 80.97 per cent, Spain 77.80 per cent, Portugal 68.99 per cent and Greece 63.09 per cent. Corresponding figures for the three new member-states are 111.79 per cent for Austria, 99.03 per cent for Sweden and 90.78 per cent for Finland. GDP per capita for the US is 143.55 per cent and for Japan 120.63 per cent of the EU average. Eurostat: Greek agricultural sector decreases 3.1 per cent ---------------------------------------------------------- Brussels, 20/1/95 (ANA - V. Demiris): Agricultural employment decreased 3.1 per cent in Greece in 1994, compared to 1993, according to the European Union Eurostat bulletin published in Brussels yesterday. Greece had one of the highest reductions in agricultural employment in the EU in 1994. Germany had the biggest decrease with 7 per cent followed by Ireland with 5 per cent, Luxembourg 4.5 per cent and France 3.4 per cent. The average decrease in the EU was 2.5 per cent. Agricultural employment in 1993, compared to 1992, decreased by 2.3 per cent in Greece while the EU average showed a 5.4 per cent decrease. In 1992, compared to 1991, Greek agricultural employment increased 5 per cent while the EU average decrease was 5.1 per cent. Greek agricultural employment has been decreasing annually by 2.3 per cent between 1973 and 1994. More specifically, employment in family farms decreased by 2 per cent a year over the past 10 years, while the decrease in employment in independent farms amounted to 4.9 per cent. EU averages over the same period decreased by 3.2 per cent and 3.3 per cent respectively. Greece and Ireland have the highest percentages of family farms in the EU (92 per cent of all farms).