Farmers in Thessaly announced Saturday they were temporarily suspending protests that crippled north-south transportation in Greece for the past two weeks. The decision came one day after Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou appealed to protesting farmers to end road and rail blocks that caused unprecedented traffic disruption and essentially split the country in half.
"We are suspending mobilisations in the region as a good-will gesture toward the government," said Yiannis Patakis, president of the committee co-ordinating the blockade in the fertile Thessaly plain. "With this move we expect the government to satisfy our demands and make specific commitments," he told thousands of farmers who gathered near Killeler Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of a violent farmers' uprising in 1910.
The premier was swift to praise the farmers on their decision, saying the government would stick to its promises to lower the price of fuel for agricultural use and increase their retirement pensions. "The decision to suspend the mobilisation is a positive move for the society, the national economy and the country's agricultural sector," he said.
"The government will stand by the specific commitments it has made... (its) decisions will exhaust all the possibilities available in the framework of economic policy and the endurance of the economy, with social sensitivity and responsibility," Mr. Papandreou added.
Political Spring party leader Antonis Samaras yesterday called on the government to set a date for a comprehensive parliamentary debate on the agricultural issue at party leaders' level. Police said normal traffic flow was slowly being restored in various parts of the main north-south national highway as scores of farmers cleared roads of tractors and heavy equipment. However, access roads to Thessaloniki's international airport remained blocked yesterday.
National Defence Minister Gerasimos Arsenis departs on a two-day visit to Brussels today to attend a special ceremony marking Greece's accession as a permanent West European Union (WEU) member.
Mr. Arsenis will speak at the WEU headquarters on the topic of relations between NATO and the WEU as well as problems concerning Europe's collective security system. He will also address the country's role in the Balkans, the south-eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, in Greece's capacity as a NATO, WEU and European Union member.
Mr. Arsenis will hold talks with his Belgian counterpart, Mr. Pinxten, and Foreign Minister Mr. Dereike, on the WEU joint foreign affairs and defence policy. In addition, he will have a special meeting and hold a joint press conference with WEU Secretary-General Jose Cutillieiro.
Greece became a full WEU member last month. Its entry into the organisation makes it the 10th country with full membership status. Three other nations that are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) -- Norway, Ireland and Turkey -- are associate WEU members.
Archbishop Anastasios of Albania was reported in stable condition after leaving the intensive care ward at Evangelismos Hospital in Athens, where he was treated for chronic asthma. Anastasios, the Archbishop of the Albanian Orthodox Church, a post he was appointed to by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, will be under medical observation at the hospital for a few more days.
Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos was due to leave for Tokyo yesterday to attend and address an international inter-religious conference. After Japan the Patriarch will visit the Korean Exarchate, which belongs under the Ecumenical Patriarchate's authority. The Patriarch will be received by the Korean president of the republic and visit monuments commemorating that nation's war dead.
Vartholomeos will be accompanied by the Metropolitan of Pergamos Ioannis, the Metropolitan of Philadelphia Meliton and university professor Christos Yiannaras. The historic trip marks the first time an Ecumenical Patriarch visits countries in the Far East.
A social insurance agreement between Greece and Australia will not be signed unless it is accepted by the Greek expatriate community. That assurance was given to expatriate representatives in Australia Saturday by Panayiotis Alatsianos, who heads a Greek Social Insurance Ministry delegation that arrived in Canberra for negotiations with the corresponding Australian Ministry. Mr. Alatsianos and his associates met in Canberra with representatives of expatriate organisations from across Australia to examine the issue.
The United Nations enjoys a relatively high prestige rating in Greece compared to other parts of the world, although Greeks have felt disappointment on many occasions when UN resolutions concerning vital national problems ultimately went ignored.
The general feeling, however, is respect for the New York-based international body, since in the eyes of Greek politicians and common citizens it continues to represent a strong desire for a happier and more peaceful world. It is recalled that Greece is among the founder members of the UN, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
The World Conference on Social Development held from March 6 through 12 in Copenhagen, Denmark, provided an opportunity for praise primarily due to the fact the UN is not solely preoccupied with politics, but is also active in the social and development sectors. A summary of the conference's activities and their possible repercussions constitute the nucleus of an Athens News Agency (ANA) bulletin.
The conference's official documents contain information termed a "turning point" in the history of the UN's texts. The reader can easily discern a definite commitment by the international community to eradicate absolute poverty which is the "established order" in large parts of the planet. An important aspect of the conference is the fact that the UN decided to adopt "commitments" and not mere "basic principles" or "targets."
The view was also underlined that if the fundamental needs of peoples are not met this will mean an "affront to human dignity." Both negotiations and finalised conclusions focused on a shift to economic sources for development. The massive foreign debts of underdeveloped countries were carefully examined and viable solutions were sought.
The Copenhagen Conference is the first in the UN's history in which it was agreed that funds should be accumulated through the disposition of 20 per cent of national social programme budgets. Pledges by leaders present at the conference to strongly support the UN's operational expenditures in the development sector constitute additional proof that times are changing.
The conference agreed that confronting poverty was not enough. Along with the pursuit of social integration and combating unemployment, a general commitment was declared to place the needs of ordinary people at the focal point of development and international co-operation.
A political proclamation stressed the conference's historical significance and the urgent need for a radical handling of social problems in every country. Poverty, unemployment and social exclusion are the three main elements whose causes and grave consequences must be confronted on a world-wide scale.
The Greek delegation was headed by National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou and included government officials and representatives of non-governmental organisations. Some politicians taking the floor were extremely outspoken while others used more diplomatic language. Fore example, the Danish Prime Minister stated categorically that all saw the need to alter the course of history which, he said, contained unacceptable contradictions. He requested specific initiatives in the next few months aimed at writing off debts owed by Third World countries.
Most leaders addressed the conference and the general impression created was that issues discussed were taken very seriously and not as "public relations exercises." French President Francois Mitterrand said world leaders should make every effort to protect the planet from the danger of becoming a market in which the "right of the strongest" would prevail and where the main target would be achieving the biggest possible profit in the shortest possible time.
Cuban President Fidel Castro said social development was impossible for as long as the rich become richer and the poor poorer. He said the earth's population was increasing with explosive dimensions, while discriminations against coloured people and women continued and what prevailed was "the law of the jungle."
The 12th Conference of the National Committee for International Ditente and Peace (EEDYE) concluded yesterday with the election of a new board and passage of a resolution that includes a call for an immediate and viable solution to the Cyprus, Kurdish an d Palestinian problems.
The resolution cites transformed geopolitical balance as a result of the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and what it termed the subsequent "US dominance" of international organisations. It describes as nightmarish the continuing weapons proliferation, amounting to $1 trillion a year, and as negative the so-called new order "imposed by the United States" after the recent Gulf War and the American government's military interventions in various countries.
In the EEDYE resolution, NATO activity is criticised for encouraging armed ethnic conflict in order "to sell weapons" on the one hand, while mediating for peace with an ultimate aim of determining commercial and influence zones on the other.
A memorial service commemorating the 40th anniversary of the beginning of the struggle for the liberation of Cyprus from British rule by the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA) was held yesterday morning at the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral.
A representative for President Kostis Stephanopoulos later laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Greek Parliament building. The Cypriot embassy and Cypriot organisations in Athens also organised events that were attended by Cypriot Health Minister Manolis Christofides.
The Greek European Union Commissioner responsible for Energy, Tourism and Medium and Small Size Enterprises, Christos Papoutsis, met Saturday with Coalition of the Left (Synaspismos) leader Nikos Constantopoulos and Communist Party (KKE) Secretary-General Aleka Papariga to brief them on matters under his jurisdiction as well as issues of Greek interest in the European Union.
Mr. Constantopoulos said the nation faced serious problems of convergence and adjustment as the government's handling of major problems has had negative results and produced an unfavourable climate.
Ms. Papariga said the EU had become "a nightmare for the large majority of the Greek people." She said KKE wanted to prepare in an attempt to inform the Greek people on a 1996 EU Intergovernmental Conference which she said would "make matters worse."
The third Greek Cinema Festival held within the framework of the "Antipodes" Festival began in Melbourne Saturday with director Katerina Evangelakou's film "Iagouaros." A crowd of Greek expatriates and Australians attended the screening, while a grant provided by the Victoria State Fine Arts Ministry also allowed the Greek filmmaker to attend the Australian festival's premiere.
"It is a film of memories and I am moved to see it being screened for an audience of expatriates who are also struggling to maintain their memories," Ms. Evangelakou said. The film is based on a novel by Alexandros Kotzias depicting World War II-era events and the ensuing Greek civil war.