A.N.A. Bulletin, 22/01/96

From: "Greek Press & Information Office, Ottawa Canada" <[email protected]>

Athens News Agency Directory

ATHENS NEWS AGENCY BULLETIN (No 793), January 22, 1996

Greek Press & Information Office

Ottawa, Canada

E-Mail Address: [email protected]

CONTENTS

[1] Simitis introduces pared-down cabinet, new Gov't, premier to be sworn in today

Greece's prime minister-designate Costas Simitis and his new streamlined government, announced last night, will be sworn in the presence of President Kostis Stephanopoulos this morning.

Mr. Simitis and his associates worked around the clock over the weekend to put together the new 40-member cabinet, 11 less in number than the last Papandreou government.

Theodoros Pangalos takes over at the foreign ministry from Karolos Papoulias with George Romeos remaining alternate foreign minister, while Vasso Papandreou will head a new ministry for development, merging the trade, tourism, and industry, energy and technology ministries.

The key portfolios of defense, economy and finance are unchanged, as are the portfolios of education, the interior, environment, town planning and public works, and the Aegean.

Mr. Simitis is expected to chair his first cabinet meeting soon after the swearing-in ceremony, while reports say he will make his first policy statement and call for a confidence vote in Parliament towards the end of the week.

[2] New Cabinet to be sworn in today

Premier Minister: Costas Simitis

Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization Minister: Akis Tsohatzopoulos Undersecretaries: Lambros Papadimas, George Moraitis

National Defense Minister: Gerassimos Arsenis Under-secretary: Nikos Kouris

Foreign Minister: Theodoros Pangalos Alternate Foreign Minister: George Romeos

National Economy Minister: Yiannos Papantoniou Undersecretaries : Christos Pachtas, Emmanuel Beteniotis

Finance Minister: Alekos Papadopoulos Undersecretaries: George Drys, George Anomeritis

Agriculture Minister: Stephanos Tzoumakas Undersecretaries: Alexandros Baltas, Apostolos Fotiadis

Labor and Social Security Minister: Evangelos Yannopoulos Undersecretaries: Lambros Kanellopoulos, Nikos Farmakis

Health and Welfare Minister: Anastasios Peponis Undersecretaries: Franklinos Papadellis, Theodoros Kotsonis

Justice Minister: Evangelos Venizelos

Education - Religious Affairs Minister: George Papandreou Undersecretary: George Paschalidis

Culture Minister: Stavros Benos Undersecretary for Sport: Andreas Fouras

Merchant Marine Minister: Kosmas Sfiriou

Public Order Minister: Kostas Geitonas

Macedonia-Thrace Minister: Phillipos Petsalnikos

Minister for the Aegean: Antonis Kotsakas

Environment, Town Planning - Public Works Minister: Kostas Laliotis Undersecretaries: Elisabeth Papazoi, Emmanuel Loukakis

Tourism Minister: Vasso Papandreou

Industry, Energy and Technology Minister: Vasso Papandreou Undersecretary: Foivos Ioannidis

Commerce Minister: Vasso Papandreou Undersecretary: Michalis Chrysochoidis

Transport and Communications Minister: Haris Kastanidis Undersecretary: George Daskalakis

Pres and Media Minister, Government Spokesman: Dimitris Reppas

The government list announced last night is the first PASOK government to not be headed by PASOK founder and president Andreas Papandreou.

The new government comprises 19 ministers, one alternate foreign minister and 20 undersecretaries? the 40-member government is the smallest-ever for a PASOK government.

The average age of the members of the government is 52 years. The oldest member is Labor and Social Security Minister Evangelos Yannopoulos (born 1918) and the youngest, new Justice Minister Evangelos Venizelos (born 1957).

There are two women -Vasso Papandreou and Elisabeth Papazoi- and 38 men in the new cabinet.

[3] Ten new faces in the government

The new government was announced shortly after PASOK founder and president, former premier Andreas Papandreou, who is still being treated at the Onassion hospital, was informed of the final list.

There are 10 new faces in the first Simitis cabinet, including Press and Media Minister and new government spokesman Dimitris Reppas.

Those who are new to the government are the following:

[4] Dimitris Reppas

Newly-appointed press minister and government spokesman Dimitris Reppas, born in 1952, is a dentist who has been a member of the ruling PASOK party since it was founded in 1974.

Active in student politics, he was also elected to office in the PASOK youth organization, before becoming a member of the party's Central Committee in 1984.

He has served on several party committees, being re-elected to the Central Committee in 1994. He is a founding member of the George Yennimatas Foundation.

Mr. Reppas is the MP for Arcadia.

[5] George Drys

Newly-appointed Finance Under-secretary George Drys, born in 1944, has been Secretary-General of the agriculture ministry and is also secretary of PASOK's Social Movements Department.

A researcher at Patras University, Mr. Drys was one of the founding members of PASOK.

In 1982 he was elected president of the Corfu Union of Agricultural Cooperatives and in 1983 was elected member of the board of the Panhellenic Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives (PASEGES).

In 1990 he was elected member of PASOK's Central Committee, to which he was re-elected in 1994.

Mr. Drys is an MP for Corfu.

[6] Lambros Kanellopoulos

Labor and Social Security Under-secretary Lambros Kanellopoulos, born in 1948, was one of the founding members of PASOK.

In 1981 he was appointed president of Olympic Airways and was appointed general director of the national carrier two years later.

Mr. Kanellopoulos has strong links with the trade union movement holding the posts of secretary of PASKE, the PASOK-affiliated trade union, president of the Athens Labor Centre and, later, president of the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GS EE).

He was a member of PASOK's Central Committee from 1984 to 1994.

Mr. Kanellopoulos is an MP for Athens' B electoral district. He is secretary of the Parliamentary Group agriculture affairs committee, secretary of PASOK's Central Committee's trade unions sector and one of the founding members of the George Yennimatas Foundation.

[7] Theodoros Kotsonis

Health and Welfare Under-secretary Theodoros Kotsonis, born in 1945, is a doctor of medicine and Secretary-General of the Athens Medical Association. He is an alternate member of the PASOK Parliamentary Group presidium.

Mr. Kotsonis is an MP for Corinth.

[8] Emmanuel Loukakis

Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Under-secretary Emmanuel Loukakis, born in 1937, is a graduate of the Athens Polytechnic Civil Engineering faculty.

He is one of PASOK's founding members and a member of the party's Central Committee.

In 1982 he was appointed prefect of Chania, Crete, and in 1985 he was appointed prefect of Iraklion.

He is a founding member of the George Yennimatas Foundation and MP for Rethymnon, Crete.

[9] Franklinos Papadellis

Health and Welfare Under-secretary Franklinos Papadellis, born in 1945, is alternate coordinator of PASOK's government programme on health committee.

A doctor, Mr. Papadellis has been Secretary-General of the Panhellenic Doctors Association and President of the Athens Doctors Association. He is an alternate member of PASOK's Central Committee and MP for Lesvos.

[10] Lambros Papadimas

Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization Under-secretary Lambros Papadimas, born in 1939, is a doctor of medicine, a member of the Scientific Council of the State Hospital and one of the founders and principal movers behind the National Health System.

Mr. Papadimas was mayor of Lamia from 1982 to 1993 and the first Greek Vice-President of the European Union of Municipalities and Regions.

He is an MP for Fthiotida.

[11] George Paschalidis

Education and Religious Affairs Under-secretary George Paschalidis, born in 1951, is a graduate of the Athens Polytechnic Civil Engineering Faculty.

He has been a member of PASOK's Central Committee since 1990 and, in 1994, was elected secretary of PASOK's Documentation and Political and Ideological Information sector.

He is an MP for Pella.

[12] Andreas Fouras

The new under-secretary for sport was born in 1947 in Kalavrita and, from 1972 until the fall of the dictatorship, was a member of the central committee of the resistance organization "Rigas Feraios".

He was a founding member of PASOK in 1974, and, by 1975, was a member of the party's Central Committee.

He acted as Piraeus prefect between 1983 and 1987 and, in 1988, became Secretary-General to the prime minister's office.

Mr. Fouras was re-elected member of the Central Committee and secretary of the party's sports sector both in 1990 and in 1994. Since 1989, he has been continuously elected PASOK MP for the prefecture of Achaia.

[13] Apostolos Fotiadis

Agriculture Under-secretary Apostolos Fotiadis, born in 1953, has been a member of PASOK since 1978.

In 1982, he was a member of the Prefectural Council of Evros for PASOK.

Mr. Fotiadis became a member of PASOK's parliamentary sector for labor issues in 1989. He has been constantly elected as PASOK's Evros deputy since 1989.

[14] ND calls on Simitis to present policy statements this week

Following the announcement of the new government by premier-designate, Costas Simitis, last night, main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert called on Mr. Simitis to bring the government's policy statements to Parliament this week.

In an announcement, New Democracy said: "After two years of responsibility and guilty silence, shared by all, (former premier) Mr. Papandreou's foreign policy is now being condemned, while the policies of unemployment, shutting down businesses, abandoning the farmers, delaying the completion of the major works and disintegration of the education system are being rewarded."

Mr. Evert will chair a ND political bureau meeting today.

On Saturday, Mr. Evert met with his close associates to plan his party's opposition strategy for the new government.

Mr. Evert appears unwilling to offer a period of grace to the new Simitis administration but will raise specific issues to provoke Mr. Simitis to deal with the country's problems, including the economy and social issues.

The New Democracy party believes Mr. Simitis will be trapped by partisan considerations, overshadowed by the implications of an imminent party congress.

[15] Political Spring

Political Spring party representative Notis Martakis said the new government was a "limited reshuffle of the previous government which moves within the logic, on the one hand, of party balances and, on the other, of the settling of accounts with the supporters of Andreas Papandreou".

"It is obvious that the government will continue the same anti-growth and socially insensitive economic policies while on national issues they will promote compromise solutions, (which are) dangerous for national interests," he added.

[16] Coalition comments

Commenting on the new government, the Coalition of the Left and Progress said yesterday in an announcement that:

"The composition of the new government is sealed with the stressful internal party balances and is dominated by the dogma of a government policy continuity which has actually failed in its basic axis."

The announcement said that the changes demanded by Greek society would not be promoted and added that the party would judge the new government from the results of its work and exercise its role as the opposition of the left.

Coalition of the Left and Progress leader Nikos Constantopoulos also felt that the (PASOK) party would be an obstacle to the changes needed in the country.

"The issue of the PASOK party congress, the separate party leadership/premiership and the internal factions are the most serious questions, while outside the party things have reached breaking point," Mr. Constantopoulos told a party gathering in Thessaloniki yesterday.

[17] Papandreou in stable condition after slight fever

PASOK President Andreas Papandreou was in a stable condition in the Onassion hospital yesterday, his fever having abated Saturday afternoon, according to a medical bulletin.

Mr. Papandreou, who resigned as prime minister last Monday, underwent physiotherapy and blood dialysis yesterday.

However, a scheduled bronchoscopy has been postponed until today. Doctors added that most probably they will then begin treatment of the right lung to remove fluid and prevent it re-accumulating, as similar treatment for the left lung appears to have bee n successful.

[18] Greek support of Polish refugees recognized

The Greek-Polish Friendship and Co-operation Society and the Union of European Journalists have decided to award Greeks for their actions of moral and material support towards Polish political refugees fleeing to Greece after General Jaruzelski's December 1981 coup.

President of the Union of European Journalists Athanassios Papandropoulos stated first reactions to the coup in this country were slight, with a few Greek citizens demonstrating their objections outside Athens University. Later, however, they became more organized, and greatly helped any Poles in Greece who were facing problems.

[19] Police arrest 43 Albanian illegal immigrants

Pierias police authorities arrested 43 Albanian illegal immigrants, including three who were carrying roughly eight kilos of hashish, during the early hours of Sunday in northern Greece.

The Albanians were discovered by police while being transported to Athens in a truck. The driver managed to escape, but according to police, he had agreed to drive the illegal immigrants from the northern region of Florina to Athens for 30,000 drachmas each.

Police sources stated the three men found carrying the hashish are probably involved in a drug smuggling ring bringing large amounts of Indian cannabis into the country. The other 40 illegal immigrants are to be deported, while police investigations are continuing for possible accomplices of the three drug smugglers.

Meanwhile, a Corinth man, Constantine Economopoulos, was arrested near the Evros River border with Turkey, after sixteen illegal immigrants from Bangladesh were found hidden in his truck. His accomplice, a Pakistani known only by the name of Tipo, escaped arrest.

The Bangladeshis told police they had crossed the Evros in boats, and were to pay Economopoulos $38,000 to take them to Athens.

In a separate incident, Theodoros Iosifidis was arrested near Kozani for transporting nine Albanians, all illegal immigrants, six of whom escaped arrest under cover of darkness.

The rest are to be deported. Iosifidis, meanwhile, was to have received 40,000 drachmas from the Albanians.

Some 6,000 illegal immigrants enter Greece in 1995.

Figures released by the Alexandroupolis police headquarters show that last year 5,815 people of various nationalities had been caught trying to enter Greece illegally over the Evros River. The main countries of origin are Pakistan, Iraq and Bangladesh.

During the same period, 36 Greeks, Turks, Pakistanis and Iraqis were arrested for smuggling illegal migrants into the country, for "fees" ranging from $1,200 - $2,000. Ten trucks and 17 passenger cars have been seized.

All the migrants, plus another 61 arrested around Alexandroupolis, have been deported.

[20] Greek firm signs textiles co-operation accord with Bosnian Serbs

The Greek firm "Naoussa Textiles" has signed an economic co-operation protocol with textile companies in east Bosnia and Herzegovina within the framework of Greek-Serbian co-operation, it was announced on Saturday.

Spasoje Albijanich, commerce minister for the Bosnian Serbs, said one of the aims of co-operation with the Greek textiles sector was to promote Serb products to third countries.

Bosnian Serb entrepreneurs in the Herzegovina region expressed satisfaction at the Greek delegation's proposals for the creation of Greek-Serb joint ventures, while the Greek businessmen showed particular interest in the legal framework of foreign investments, receiving assurances from Bosnian Serb Vice-President Nikola Kolievic, that there would be no legal obstacles.

Herzegovina is a traditional producer of textiles.

[21] Athens University in ... Tonga

Greek Ambassador to Australia George Konstantis was surprised to discover an "Athens University" in the middle of the exotic island of Tonga, in the South Pacific, where he went to present his accreditation recently.

The Athens University was founded by professor I.F. Helu and is located in the island's capital, Nucn' Alofa.

Professor Helu is a student of Greek philosophy. His most important work is a study on Greek philosopher "Iraklitos from Effesos."

The Greek Ambassador is accredited to Canberra, New Zealand, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, West Samoa and the islands of Solomon and Nauru.

End of English language section.