Greece reiterated yesterday that it would not be willing to recognise a state using the name "Macedonia" or any of its derivatives, Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said yesterday. He also said Greece would not lift its trade sanctions against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) unless Skopje stopped using an ancient Hellenic symbol on its flag and deleted irredentist sections of its constitution. He made the statement in response to comments by main opposition New Democracy party spokesman Vassilis Manginas, who accused the government of giving up on the issue of the neighbouring state's name in UN-sponsored talks.
Mr. Venizelos said the government's critics were contradicting themselves, since on the one hand they criticised the government for introducing trade sanctions against FYROM on Feb. 16, 1994, while at the same time criticised it for considering lifting the sanctions provided Skopje stops using the Greek symbols and amends the contentious sections of its constitution.
The Coalition of the Left and Progress party (Synaspismos) yesterday issued an announcement calling on the government to initiate talks with Skopje, lift the trade sanctions against its neighbour and formulate a climate of trust between the two countries. "Irrespective of (Skopje President Kiro) Gligorov's reaction to such a move, (the initiative) would benefit Greece," the announcement said.
"Greece is sensitive to environmental issues and complies with all the rules of international law," government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said yesterday replying to a question on nuclear weapons.
Mr. Venizelos was asked if Greece was adhering to an agreement on the non-proliferation of nuclear arms, following charges by the environmental organisation "Greenpeace" that nuclear weapons from the Cold War era were still being stored at Araxos Air Base in the Peloponnese.
Greek Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis said yesterday the role of national parliaments should be upgraded in preparing the European Union's institutional reforms. He was addressing the presidents of the EU member-state parliaments who convened an informal meeting in Paris yesterday at the initiative of French National Assembly President Philippe Seguin.
"It is a pity the national parliaments are fatalistically watching a process widening the democratic deficit we are all speaking about," Mr. Kaklamanis told reporters afterwards.
"Although the need to upgrade the role national parliaments could play in the framework of Europe was recognised by the Maastricht Treaty officially and outright, the way, extent and binding nature of the European parliaments' participation in European affairs have not yet taken on their final and integrated form," Mr. Kaklamanis said.
"The Inter-governmental Conference in 1996 constitutes, in this spectrum, a unique opportunity for an overall rapprochement and institutional resolution of issues posed by the participation of national parliaments in the EU's activities," he added.
Mr. Kaklamanis said the efforts of the known and existing democratic deficit should not only aim at the further strengthening of the European Parliament, particularly with regard to its representational nature, but also at upgrading the control national parliaments should exercise over national representatives at EU agencies.
Mr. Kaklamanis set out specific proposals which in his view will curb the democratic deficit and which focus on briefing parliaments on directions being set. Certain presidents, primarily of small countries such as Finland, set out views similar to those of Mr. Kaklamanis, whereas backtracking from past positions also occurred, such as in the case of Belgium.
The latter category could perhaps include France in the sense that in the past it championed a more substantive contribution by parliaments to revising the Maastricht Treaty, a view which has started to fade.
The presidents of the Swedish and Spanish parliaments, invoking constitutional reasons in their respective countries, opposed even the briefing of national parliaments, considering that the responsibility for handling the issue lay with governments.
President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos will visit Thessaloniki April 27 and 28 for a two-day visit, according to an announcement yesterday. Mr. Stephanopoulos will arrive in the afternoon and go directly to the city hall, where a reception will be held in his honour by Macedonia-Thrace Minister Constantine Triarides and the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Constantine Kosmopoulos.
The president will meet April 28 with Mr. Triarides, Mr. Kosmopoulos, visit the Third Army headquarters as well as the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, the Aristoteleion University and the University of Macedonia. He will also meet with representatives of trade and production sectors of Thessaloniki.
Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou and National Defence Minister Gerasimos Arsenis will celebrate Easter with the airmen at the Dekelia Airforce Base, according to a government announcement yesterday.
The Naval Chief of Staff, Adm. Ioannis Stangas, is in Brussels to participate in the European Navies Conference, an announcement stated yesterday. Next week the Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff, Adm. Chrystos Lyberis, and Adm. Stangas will participate in a NATO military committee meeting and strategic exercise on paper.
The Joint Greek-Albanian Committee ended meetings on bilateral issues last night, deciding to set up five subcommittees that will oversee co-operation in various fields. The joint committee was chaired by Greek Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Constantine Georgiou and Albanian Deputy Foreign Minister Arian Starova.
The designated subcommittees will begin work in mid May and be assigned respectively to: economic matters and border-crossing points within the PHARE-INTERREG programme; education and cultural relations; labour and employment; border control and defence; public order and security as well as consular and juridical matters.
It is envisaged that the education and cultural relations subcommittee will deal with a Greek demand for the free teaching of Greek in the whole of Albania, while the labour and employment group will tackle Albanian interest in the settlement of the legal status of illegal Albanian workers in Greece.
The Greek side handed the Albanian delegation for consideration a draft text for a Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation, Good Neighbour Relations and Security, which holds the prospect of sealing the full restoration of bilateral relations.
On the sidelines of the Joint Committee sessions, Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias met with Mr. Starova. The joint committee will convene again in June in Tirana.
A recent visit by a delegation of the Albanian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee resulted in substantial talks aimed at further improving relations between Albania and Greece, a joint Greek-Albania n committee said yesterday.
During their visit to Athens, the delegation members met with the President of the Greek Parliament Apostolos Kaklamanis, their counterparts under the chairmanship of Eleftherios Veryvakis, Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias and other political party representatives and members of Parliament.
The Albanian Parliamentary Committee described as "very positive" the "spirit of understanding and the desire for further improvement in relations between the Greek and Albanian Parliaments and also between the two countries."
The Committee said the issue of illegal Albanian workers in Greece was also discussed together with Greece's support for Albania's accession into European institutions, especially the Council of Europe. The issue of the Greek minority in Albania "as a bridge between the two countries," as well as regional policy issues, had also been discussed.
The government expressed its regret and aversion yesterday over the house search of ANA's correspondent in Istanbul, Alkis Kourkoulas. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said "it is hoped that competent Turkish authorities will want to fully clarify the true circumstances" surrounding the search.
Replying to other questions, Mr. Venizelos said the government was "not expecting anything specific" from yesterday's meeting between US President Bill Clinton and Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller.
"What is important is for the vocabulary of artificial tension to be avoided," the spokesman said, adding that statements attributed to Turkish officials were often not accurately reported.
Asked to comment on an article in yesterday's edition of the Athens newspaper "Stohos" (target), Mr. Venizelos said accredited diplomats and journalists in Greece enjoyed complete protection. The article, accompanied by photographs of Turkish diplomats, urged unnamed persons "to stop" the diplomats.
"The government does not concern itself with extremist articles or extremist views which have a limited reach. We do not underestimate (such phenomena) but also, we do not attach greater importance to them than they deserve," Mr. Venizelos said.
The Supreme Court yesterday decided to waive charges against two key figures implicated in a telephone tapping scandal that rocked the previous New Democracy government.
Retired police commander Nikos Gryllakis and telephone company employee Christos Mavrikis were accused of setting up eavesdropping operations on prominent political figures under orders from the government.
Parliament first ordered former premier Constantine Mitsotakis to stand trial for involvement in the scandal only to drop charges in January, a few days before the trial would begin. Citing precedent, the Court ruled that parliament's dropping of charges against the political figures involved in the case necessarily extended to 16 non-political individuals implicated, including Mr. Gryllakis and Mr. Mavrikis.
The legal precedent invoked by the Court concerned former Greek Telecommunications Organisation (OTE) general director Theophanis Tombras, who had similar charges against him waived during the tenure of the previous government and after the suspension of penal proceedings against present premier Andreas Papandreou.
The Coalition of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos), commenting on the dropping of charges against the accused, said that despite the fact it was expected on the basis of existing legislation, the ruling constituted, nevertheless, an affront to logic and the public sense of justice.
Greece is present wherever it is summoned by the international community to offer its good offices in support of world peace and maintaining order. At present, Greek officers and non-commissioned officers from all three branches of Greece's armed forces serving under the sponsorship of the United Nations.
Greek military personnel are participating in missions in northern Iraq to provide humanitarian aid to Kurdish populations on the border between Iraq and Kuwait to maintain observance of a cease-fire, and in the Western Sahara to provide assistance for carrying out a referendum in the region. Moreover, they are providing humanitarian aid and controlling observance of a cease-fire on the border between Georgia and Abkhazia.
In the former Yugoslavia, Greek personnel serve as European Union observers to control implementation of cease-fire measures and provide humanitarian aid.
According to reports, Greece is also considering the possibility of sending a Greek officer to participate in a peacekeeping force which might be set up in the Nagorno Karabakh region. The mission is being planned by a special CSECE committee that includes Greece.
A series of events entitled "Days of Greek Culture '995" were officially inaugurated yesterday in Bonn in the presence of Greek Alternate Foreign Minister George-Alexander Mangakis, the Greek ambassador to Germany, several university professors and diplomats. The events portray the modern Greek way of life and will continue for six months. The program of events was drawn up by the Greek Embassy in Bonn and the local university.
Mr. Mangakis thanked German philhellenes for their spirit of democratic solidarity with Greece during the seven-year dictatorship, adding that the unification of Europe is the greatest success of the post-war period.
Mr. Mangakis underlined "the need for measures to be taken for the protection of human rights and the freedom of European citizens, the upgrading of the role of Europarliament, strengthening of co-operation between national parliaments and the Europarliament as well as the founding of a single social space in the European Union. "We have to face a historic and a hard challenge. Europe has a common future", he added.
Greek Alternate Foreign Minister George-Alexander Mangakis, currently in Germany for the opening of a series entitled "Days of Greek Culture 1995", met yesterday with top ranking government officials. Mr. Mangakis exchanged views with his German counterpart Peter Hartman on Greek foreign policy issues.
According to sources, the German government shares the American view, as well as the French, that the Turkish government is not in the position to face an upcoming Islamic movement, as well as the intentions of the Turkish military.
Mr. Mangakis reiterated the view that the lifting of the Greek veto on Turkey's customs union with the European Union brings every European country to face its responsibilities, because the problem Turkey faces with its neighbouring countries is now a European problem.
Mr. Mangakis stressed that Greece did not undertake any responsibility for the ratification of the customs union agreement by the European Parliament. For Greece there is no connection between the agreement of March 7 with the beginning of negotiations for Cyprus' accession to the EU.
An Athens prosecutor yesterday ordered an investigation into allegations that elderly patients were being brutally mistreated at private retirement homes. Prosecutor Isidoros Doyiakos issued the order following detailed reports by deputy Health Minister Manolis Skoulakis that elderly individuals were being tied to their chairs and left to roan naked in the unlicensed retirement homes.
In an eight-month investigation, surprise checks were carried out by health ministry inspection teams in 108 retirement homes in Athens. They found 4 such businesses operating illegally.
The Health Ministry said Tuesday it would carry out similar inspections in other parts of the country and pledged to bring draft legislation before parliament next week to close legal loopholes preventing the government from taking action against unlicensed homes.
After chairing a series of high level meetings in the last few days with the participation of the ministers of public works, industry, health, agriculture, labour and education, National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou stressed the need to speed up the pace of projects funded through the Second Community Support Framework (CSF-2).
It was found, nevertheless, that the rate of absorption of funds in 1995 is significantly higher than last year.
Furthermore,the overcoming of bureaucratic obstacles in Brussels concerning large projects, such as the Spata airport, the Rion-Antirion bridge and the Thessaloniki subway, makes the target of absorbing 1,050 billion drachmas, as opposed to 820 billion drachmas of Public Investment Programme credits in 1994, seem wholly feasible.
Construction of the new Athens subway lines is also proceeding at a satisfactory pace, after temporary problems. The high level ministerial meetings also promoted solutions to a number of important issues, such as infrastructure for the implementation of a programme for small and medium size enterprises, bidding procedures for the construction of regional hospitals, the computerisation of government departments and procedures for the certification and funding of training and vocational centres.