Greece will not be discussing the issue of the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia at talks next week in New York, Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou said yesterday.
"Greece will not discuss the issue of the name of Skopje at this stage," Mr. Papandreou told reporters on his arrival in the northern capital of Thessaloniki yesterday.
"This time, we are discussing the small package," he said. "The issue of the name demands effort and time."
"We will win this (issue). Patience and insistence - this is our motto - and no complaints. No complaining," he said.
Earlier in Thessaloniki, government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said that Greece could not recognize the neighboring state under the name of 'Macedonia' or any derivative of that word, "and it is with this position that Greece will sit down for talks when the dialogue begins under (UN mediator) Cyrus Vance".
Asked to comment on statements Wednesday by Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias, Mr. Venizelos said that "irrespective of whatever interpretation one might give, Mr. Papoulias could not have expressed anything other than government policy".
Mr. Papoulias said Wednesday that Athens would be commencing the dialogue with Skopje on the basis that "our country does not accept the term 'Macedonia'".
"In order to avoid the slightest misinterpretation, let me clarify that Greece will be participating in the dialogue in New York on Monday only with respect to issues pertaining to the interim agreement, that is, the lifting of the (Greek) embargo, the complete and tangible settlement of the issue of the (Greek) symbols (used by Skopje) and of the (Skopjan) constitution, and the normalization of relations," he said.
"There will be no discussion next week of the name issue. Those matters relating to the interim agreement will first be settled and then we shall see," Mr. Venizelos said.
The spokesman also defended the government's decision to impose a trade embargo against Skopje saying that it had served as a means of exerting pressure "in the direction of securing something positive and tangible for Greece in return, without any concessions being made".
Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesman Costas Bikas said at yesterday's briefing that in next week's talks in New York, the government would not "sell out" the name of 'Macedonia' for petty political considerations.
Replying to questions, Mr. Bikas said he did not know if the agreement to be signed would have to be ratified by the Greek parliament. He said that Mr. Papoulias would leave for New York at noon tomorrow and that the talks would commence on September 12 or 13 in the presence of UN mediator Cyrus Vance. Asked to comment on statements by German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel, who said that Bonn intended to raise the issue of financial assistance to Skopje at the informal meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Spain at the weekend, Mr. Bikas replied:
"The Greek stance is being shaped at meetings which Alternate Foreign Minister George Alexander Mangakis is having continuously."
New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert yesterday strongly attacked the government for its handling of the FYROM issue, and in particular, the name aspect.
Upon arriving in Thessaloniki, he said the government exhibited a lack of cool-headedness and irresponsibility, was dangerous, and asked it to resign.
"I come to Thessaloniki deeply anxious about developments in the issue of Skopje," he said.
"After endless digressions, prevarication, irresponsibility and frivolity, the government is proceeding, through the UN, to a direct dialogue with Skopje for a resolution of the problem, without, however, facing the issue of the name which constitute s the main aspect of this great problem...
"This government is dangerous and irresponsible. It is a government which cannot face our great national problems and it would do well to step down for the sake of the Greek people," he said.
President Kostis Stephanopoulos considers the latest developments on the issue of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to be positive "because the obstacles for the commencement of talks have been removed", an announcement from the president' s office said yesterday.
The announcement added that the president "regrets the continuing misinterpretation of his statements".
Following the announcement that Greece and FYROM had agreed to send their foreign ministers to New York next week for direct talks, Mr. Stephanopoulos in a statement termed the move "a positive and expected development".
Sources close to main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert, however, said that the ND president was displeased by the statement, considering that the President had "taken sides" and as a consequence weakened his regulatory position at any meeting of political party leaders which might be convened to discuss the Skopje issue.
In response to Political Spring party (Pol.An) leader Antonis Samaras' call for a convening of Parliament to discuss the latest development in national issues, Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis said in a letter that the extraordinary convening of the plenum of Parliament is the prerogative of the President of the Republic.
Political Spring spokesman Notis Martakis reacted strongly, terming Mr. Kaklamanis' response as "ritualistic evasiveness, revealing the government's political will to avoid a discussion at all costs".
Referring to the latest developments in the Skopje issue, Coalition of the Left and Progress leader Nikos Constantopoulos said the government was going to the NY talks without a clear orientation and without informing the people and parties in a responsible fashion.
He asked for a convening of the political leaders' council before the beginning of talks, but also for a reconsideration of the 1992 decision to reject the name 'Macedonia' and any of its derivatives. He said he was in favor of a composite name of common acceptance.
Referring to FYROM government sources, the Belgrade newspaper Nasa Borba said yesterday that Greek trade retorsion measures against the neighboring country would be lifted shortly before the signing of the agreement in New York.
FYROM government spokesman Juner Ismaili was quoted as saying that the issue of the name would not be a subject at the talks, but there would be wording to the effect that "the two sides retain the right to further express their views on FYROM's name".
According to the paper, official circles in Skopje expect that, following the signing of the agreement with Greece, the two countries will proceed to the establishment of diplomatic relations, initially at a level of 'liaison bureau'. The procedure for the mutual recognition of Belgrade and Skopje is also expected to progress, as part of the package of US peace proposals for the resolution of the Yugoslav crisis.
FYROM government officials are quoted as saying that the controversial constitutional articles will not be amended (as Greece wants), but the agreement will contain a separate paragraph interpreting these articles in a way which satisfies the Greek side.
In a briefing of deputies, FYROM Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski concurred with this view, saying that the articles in the constitution will not be amended because they are erroneously interpreted by Greece.
Skopje circles also expect, Nasa Borba says, that following the conclusion of the agreement, Greece will lift its veto against FYROM's admission to international organizations.
Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou arrived in Thessaloniki yesterday to inaugurate the 60th Thessaloniki International Fair tonight.
"I have come to the capital of the Balkans," he said on arrival.
"I came to Thessaloniki to celebrate the 60th International Fair with you," he added. "I came to make an account of the government's work. I came to set out our policy lines for the coming year and beyond."
Today's inauguration will be attended, apart from government members, by Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides, Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev and Australian State Premier of Victoria Jeff Kennet.
Mr. Papandreou's four-day visit to Thessaloniki will end at noon on Sunday with a press conference at the Macedonia Palace Hotel at 1.30pm.
At noon today he will meet Mr. Kozyrev who will arrive in Thessaloniki at 11am at the head of a 40-member delegation. The meeting, acquiring international interest due to the worsening of the Bosnian crisis, will also be attended by Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias.
Mr. Papandreou will inaugurate the TIF at 8pm and tomorrow he will address the representatives of social partners at an established dinner given in his honor by the HELEXPO-TIF administration.
Mr. Papandreou's speech will be of great interest since it will contain the main elements of government policy for the next year.
Both the inauguration ceremony and the prime minister's speech will take place at HELEXPO's Ioannis Vellidis Convention Centre.
Other personalities who will be attending will be Cyprus government ministers Pantelis Kouros (Presidency), Constantine Petrides (Agriculture) and Kyriakos Christophis (Trade and Tourism), Australian-Greek MPs, South Australian Senator Julian Stefani and the state's opposition leader Mike Wran, Belgian Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler and Greek Commissioner Christos Papoutsis.
Mr. Clerides will arrive in Thessaloniki this morning and will attend a luncheon Macedonia-Thrace Minister Constantine Triarides will give in his honour at noon.
Mr. Clerides will leave for Mount Athos at 9am tomorrow and return at 7pm to attend Mr. Papandreou's speech in the evening. He will return to Cyprus on Sunday morning.
The government today described as "particularly important" the visit to Thessaloniki tomorrow by Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Costas Bikas said that Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias would meet with Mr. Kozyrev shortly after noon tomorrow for talks focusing on the Bosnian crisis and bilateral relations, particularly the natural gas and oil pipeline projects.
Mr. Kozyrev is due to arrive in the northern Greek port city in the morning.
In a message marking the 60th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), President Kostis Stephanopoulos said the Fair was bringing messages of optimism for the targeted development of the economy.
He said the messages "prove our country's great possibilities for an impressive presence in the Balkans."
President Stephanopoulos hailed this year's TIF, pointing out that the "large number of states, exhibitors and products on display, together with the impressive presence of Greek produce, create great interest which, increasing every year, increases the Fair's prestige more and more and promotes the name of Thessaloniki and Greece in international locations of industry, handicrafts, trade and services."
Greece today condemned the resumption of nuclear testing by France in the Pacific Ocean.
"We wish to express our deep regret, our express opposition and condemnation of the continuing nuclear tests by France in the Pacific," government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said.
President Kostis Stephanopoulos met yesterday with his Cyprus counterpart Glafcos Clerides.
Sources said the two men discussed the latest developments in efforts to resolve the 21-year Cyprus dispute and the Yugoslav crisis.
Today, Mr. Clerides will be in Thessaloniki to attend the official opening of the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), in which Cyprus is participating with a state pavilion.
He will also tour the all-male monastic community of Mt. Athos while in northern Greece, visiting two monasteries where the majority of monks are of Cypriot origin and inaugurating a dam and winery constructed with Cypriot funds.
Opposition Political Spring party leader Antonis Samaras called on President Kostis Stephanopoulos to call a meeting of political party leaders to discuss impending developments in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) issue.
Mr. Samaras visited the Presidential Mansion yesterday afternoon after requesting an audience with the president.
In a statement, Mr. Samaras said the nature of the decision taken by party leaders in a meeting held in 1992 on the name of FYROM was nationally binding, adding that for that reason he requested a new meeting between party leaders.
"No one can change this decision and for this reason I am requesting a new meeting so that everyone can assume his historical responsibilities," Mr. Samaras said.
Education Minister George Papandreou said the impending new school year was auspicious and was beginning with the fewest problems ever.
Mr. Papandreou was speaking at a press conference in light of the new school year starting on Monday.
He said all the teacher transfers were carried out in time this year as well as necessary appointments to ensure that every teacher would be at their post at the start of the new school year.
Mr. Papandreou said a large number of teachers had been appointed in primary and secondary education. He said 2,895 primary school teachers had been appointed, compared to 1,343 last year and 3,600 secondary school teachers compared to 1,784 last year.
Mr. Papandreou said the number of teachers appointed this year was the biggest for the past 12 years.
Main opposition New Democracy leader Miltiades Evert yesterday said yesterday that he was determined to implement his party's education programme if the people chose him to govern the country.
Mr. Evert chaired a one-day conference, held by the student union affiliated with ND, DAP-NDFK, at the Aristotelion University of Thessaloniki, where the ND programme for education was presented.
During his address, Mr. Evert said that the education system will move towards modernization.
The basic elements of the programme, among others, include the transfer of the Education Ministry to Thessaloniki and the creation of a permanent post of an Education Undersecretary and the proposal of a National Council for education on an inter-party basis.
Members of the European Parliament and the European Commission will join their Greek and other EU partner counterparts today at Greece's Parliament building for the start of a two-day conference to examine "A new role for Parliament in a developing Europe an Union".
The conference, which is being held under the auspices of Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis, is jointly organized by the Greek Parliament's Committee for European Affairs and the Institute of Public Administration of Maastricht.
Tourism dropped by up to 10 per cent this year and the numbers could get worse if Greece does not improve the quality of services to foreign holiday makers, Tourism Minister Nikos Sifounakis warned yesterday.
"The crisis we face today is fermenting a new crisis as new, competitive markets of tourism are being created," Mr. Sifounakis said in Thessaloniki, northern Greece.
"To stop this crisis we must improve the services we offer to tourists," the minister said.
Mr. Sifounakis said that 10 billion drachmas would be spent on advertising next year but said the determining factor on whether tourists wanted to visit Greece was the attitude and quality of services offered.
"(The quality of service) is the thing which forms the final impressions tourists take with them and (the level of) advertising plays a smaller role," he said.
Asked whether industrial unrest during the summer period was harmful, the minister said it was good that Greece not look like "a third world country", because industrial action in sectors affecting the tourist trade worked to "defame" the country.
He said research studies forecast that, by the year 2010, tourism in Mediterranean countries would increase by 80 per cent and by 15 million foreign visitors for Greece alone.
Mr. Sifounakis was speaking after a meeting on tourism in northern Greece at the Macedonia-Thrace Ministry.
Characterizing decisions for the upgrading of tourism in northern Greece as "brave", Mr. Sifounakis said it had been decided to upgrade all infrastructures for the qualitative development of tourism in the "beach of the Balkans", as he called Thessaloniki.
The meeting, chaired by Macedonia-Thrace Minister Constantine Triarides, decided to advance 800 million drachmas to complete the marina on the island of Thassos, to construction of an 800-million-drachma administrative centre at the Thessaloniki marina and to upgrade border points of entrance in the northern region, as of next year.
Mr. Sifounakis said the significance of the tourist market from the eastern countries was noted and there would be measures to facilitate the tourist flow.
Alternate Industry Minister Christos Rokofyllos said yesterday that the government would take final decisions on the future of Skaramangas Shipyards on Monday at a meeting of the relevant interministerial committee.
He said that NAFSI SA, the leader of a consortium of foreign companies reportedly interested in buying the shipyard, was out of the bidding after canceling a scheduled meeting to discuss the offer yesterday.
Mr. Rokofyllos said that NAFSI representatives, along with the representatives of the foreign concerns, had not kept yesterday's appointment at the ministry and had requested, Wednesday night, a one-week postponement.
"In view of this development," Mr. Rokofyllos said, "I consider that the examination of NAFSI's offer has ended negatively".
NAFSI offered the state eight billion drachmas for the shipyards shortly after the sole bid in international tendering, by the Peratikos Group, was withdrawn due to the group's financial problems.
On Wednesday, the government received a week's extension to the Commission deadline for the privatization of the shipyards.
The minister has sent the dossier concerning NAFSI's purchase proposal to the Hellenic Industrial Development Bank (ETBA), instructing it to take the necessary steps regarding the 250 million drachmas deposited by NAFSI as a non-refundable guarantee.
The forfeiture procedure was later completed and the state collected the sum from the Bank of Piraeus which had issued the letter of credit.
"I handled the Skaramangas issue with full transparency, and I believe I did everything possible to safeguard the public interest," concluded Mr. Rokofyllos.
Commenting on the development, New Democracy party spokesman Vassilis Manginas said the (Trade and Industry Minister Costas) Simitis-Rokofyllos "fiasco" on the sale of the shipyards was continuing.
Political Spring party spokesman Notis Martakis charged that the government "continued to be dragged into acts of frivolity," and called on it to immediately proceed to a partial privatization of the shipyards, with the participation of the workers.
"If, due to the government's indecision, the relevant (EU) deadlines are once again not met, the country is in a danger of facing international ridicule," he added.
The Coalition of the Left said in a statement that the resounding fiasco (of the NAFSI offer) was the culmination of the government's freakish handling of the affair.
Greece's trade balance deficit with the US decreased 50 per cent in 1994, according to the statistical bulletin published by Eurostat yesterday.
Greek exports to the US increased approximately from 300 million ECU (90 billion dr.) in 1993, to 400 million ECU in 1994 (18.4 per cent) while during the same period the total value of imports from the US decreased from 700 million ECU to 600 million E cu (15.5 per cent).
Consequently, Greece's trade balance deficit with the US decreased from 400 to 200 million ECU. In connection with the rest of Europe, Greek products represent 0.4 per cent of the total value of Community exports to the US in 1994 and 0.6 per cent of imports.
Some 29.6 per cent of products the US imported from the European Union in 1994 was of German origin. The total value of German exports to the US amounted to 28.2 billion ECU and as a result the trade balance surplus in trade transactions between the US and Germany totaled 9.5 billion ECU.
However, the biggest European market for US products is Britain, whose imports from the US exceeded 25 billion ECU. Generally speaking, the EU maintained the edge in trade transactions with the US in 1994, since its exports totaled 95 billion ECU and its imports 93.2 billion ECU.