Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 97-06-30

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 30/06/1997 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• EU socialist ministers propose Ecomomic Coordination Pact
• Premier calls for serious consideration of pending EU expansion
• Greece says only commonly accepted name applicable for FYROM
• Venizelos to raise again issue of Parthenon Marbles' return
• ND leader calls for local gov't restructure
• Interest rates to stay on downward trend
• Greek-Bulgarian med schools agreement
• Turkish businessmen on Rhodes for trade talks
• Clerides in Athens today for talks
• Consulate in Melbourne gets its own premises
• Athens mayor declines comment on re-election bid
• Anthony Quinn honoured in Rethymnon
• Greece beats Lithuania at European Basketball Championship
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

European Union socialist finance ministers and other European Socialist officials yesterday announced plans for the signing of an Economic Coordination Pact, designed to coordinate efforts related to EU economic policy and to counterbalance the Bonn-inspired Stability and Development Pact.

The socialist ministers and officials gathered over the weekend in Athens for a two-day conference on economic and social developments, organised by National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou.

In addition, they discussed proposals for the strengthening of the social state, accelerating growth and boosting employment in the 15-member EU.

According to a communique, presented by Mr. Papantoniou during the press conference, the socialist finance ministers agreed to finding more resources in order to finance major infrastructure projects as well as the Union's small- to middle-sized businesses, which employ more than two- thirds of Europe's labour force.

The communique also pointed to the need for "more active policies to boost employment," and "fresh motives" to help the unemployed find jobs.

The participating ministers also agreed to strenghten the social state and to create a "renewed Social Contract", combining economic adjustment and social protection. Stressing that hopes should not fly high after the Athens conference, Mr. Papantoniou went on to say that the fresh European social agenda was merely the start of a difficult, political struggle towards the making of a European Union on the basis of growth, stability and social cohesion.

Premier calls for serious consideration of pending EU expansion

Addressing the meeting on Saturday, Prime Minister Costas Simitis said that the new European architecture should be re-examined, taking seriously into consideration the union's pending expansion.

Mr. Simitis said the course towards a federal Europe should not ignore the particularities of the smaller states.

Stressing that "flexibility" should not constitute the main focus, Mr. Simitis warned that this would lead to "a concentration of power in the hands of the larger states." In short, flexibility would allow some countries to forge ahead of ot hers, adopting specific policies and integrating more closely, without the threat of a veto from an unwilling partner.

The other, more reluctant, partners would be allowed to join in and catch up when they felt ready.

Turning to economic policy issues, Mr. Simitis emphasised the need for social cohesion, adding that the European socialists should focus economic policy on combatting unemployment.

Mr. Simitis further forecast that Greece would fulfill the criteria for participation in the Economic and Monetary Union in 1998 and would be in a position to participate in the EMU's third phase in 2001.

He stressed, however, that criteria should be the same for all EU member- states.

Greece says only commonly accepted name applicable for FYROM

Greece reiterated yesterday that the issue of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's (FYROM) name is based on the search for a commonly accepted solution through negotiations, as foreseen in Article 5 of an interim agreement signed by the two countries.

The foreign ministry responded with an announcement to published statements by FYROM president Kiro Gligorov, who stated that FYROM has applied to the United Nations for recognition of its name as the "Republic of Macedonia".

In an interview published with the Sunday weekly "To Vima", yesterday, Mr. Gligorov said "I believe that on our side we have proposed a compromise, which helps both sides. It helps us to retain our dignity and the Greek government and Greek Parliament to demonstrate that up until the end they kept their promise not to recognise FYROM under a name that includes the term 'Macedonia'."

"Therefore, you can call our country by any name you wish," he concluded.

The interim agreement was signed by Greece and FYROM in New York on Sept. 13, 1995.

Venizelos to raise again issue of Parthenon Marbles' return

Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos will discuss the issue of the return of the Parthernon marbles today when he meets his British counterpart.

Mr. Venizelos had a get-acquainted meeting with the British minister during the sidelines of ceremonies for the reopening of the Galleria Borghese Museum in Rome yesterday. He said he expects to raise the issue officially before the start of the Europea n Union (EU) culture ministers' meeting in Luxembourg today.

"I will explain the Greek position on the issue and present him with a text detailing the positions," he added.

He noted the importance of Britain's return to the status of full membership in the United Nations Educational and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as of July 1.

The Greek minister attended a meeting of his counterparts from Mediterranean members of the EU - France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, who agreed to cooperate on cultural issues and signed a joint agreement calling, among others, for an increase in the EU budget allocated to culture, which they said currently stands at 0.0018 per cent of the total community budget.

Mr. Venizelos said he had proposed to his counterparts the establishment of a network of museums, one per country, to represent the unity of European culture.

ND leader calls for local gov`t restructure

The main opposition New Democracy party believes that the country's administration should be decentralised and local government strengthened, ND leader Costas Karamanlis said on Saturday.

"ND believes in a system of government that combines two factors: the decentralised state, from an administrative point of view, and strong local government," Mr. Karamanlis said.

Addressing the party's central committee for local government, Mr. Karamanlis said that "nobody in ND has expressed disagreement with local government administration (at the medium level)".

The ND leader added that the principles his party would stress on the issue were that of the state's unity, that of support (by the state to local government) and the principle of financial self-reliance.

He also criticised the ruling PASOK party for its restructuring of regional areas and what he called "forceful unification" of communities, saying the government should not link this restructuring with municipal elections in October 1998.

Interest rates to stay on downward trend

The downward trend of interest rates will continue, Finance Undersecretary George Drys said on Saturday.

Mr. Drys also noted that the government would proceed to wholly or partially privatise several state-run enterprises, such as the Hellenic Duty-Free Shops (offering up to 25 per cent of shares), the Public Petroleum Corp. and small state-owned banks.

Responding to press claims that there was a divergence from the budget, the finance undersecretary said that the budget did not set a monthly target, but only an annual one.

Mr. Drys said that according to current figures, divergence from the budget was calculated at 150 billion drachmas for 1997, which would be covered by privatisations and restriction of public sector expenditures.

Greek-Bulgarian med schools agreement

Greece and Bulgaria have signed an agreement on cooperation between the Alexandroupoli Social Security Foundation (IKA) with four Bulgarian medical schools and the neighbouring country's centre for infectuous diseases in Sofia.

IKA governor Grigoris Solomos signed the agreement with Bulgarian Health Undersecretary Ivan Zlatarov in Alexandroupoli.

The agreement, implemented within the EU Interreg II programme, aims at preventing and dealing with diseases such as hepatitis B and C, AIDS and syphilis.

The meeting was also attended by Turkish representatives from nearby Edirne, who expressed an interest in participating in the programme.

Both Greek and Bulgarian officials expressed the hope that the programme is extended to other countries, especially other Balkan states and Turkey.

Mr. Zlatarov accepted an invitation by Mr. Solomos to visit Athens for talks on expanding the programme.

Turkish businessmen on Rhodes for trade talks

A delegation of 83 Turkish businessmen are in Rhodes to discuss several cooperation prospects with local businesses regarding the tourism, trade and transport sectors.

The delegation, accompanied by 13 reporters, arrived on the island Saturday morning following an invitation by the Dodecanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Chamber President G. Karagiannis said the meeting was "a first step in bringing the two peoples together and taking the edge off tense relations".

The businessmen, who are based in the Izmir area, have come with specific proposals.

"We want to cooperate on building marinas and luxury tourism hotels on Greek islands," the president of the Izmir Chamber Ekrem Demirtas said yesterday.

Mr. Demirtas also proposed that the Rhodes and Izmir chambers found chapters in each other's regions for trade exchanges.

The Greek and Turkish businessmen also discussed areas of possible cooperation, such as tourism, farm products, leather goods, jewellery, clothes and the construction sector.

Clerides in Athens today for talks

Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides arrives in Athens today for talks with the Greece's political leadership in view of the start next month of the UN- sponsored direct talks between himself and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash in New York between July 9-13.

Today, Mr. Clerides will meet with President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos, while tomorrow he will have a meeting with Prime Minister Costas Simitis.

He is also due to meet with main opposition New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis and former premier and honorary New Democracy president Constantine Mitsotakis.

Consulate in Melbourne gets its own premises

The Greek consulate in Melbourne will move into its own premises, the Greek general consul in Melbourne announced yesterday.

Consul Georgios Veis said the foreign ministry had approved the move for the consulate to purchase its own premises, while a search for a building has already begun.

Athens mayor declines comment on re-election bid

Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos gave a fifty-fifty chance to his running for mayor again during municipal elections in October 1998.

Replying to questions on Saturday, Mr. Avramopoulos said that press reports claiming he would not run for mayor again were 50 per cent true and 50 per cent entirely fictitious.

He said his final decision would be announced officially in May 1998, before the start of the campaign period in September of the same year.

Anthony Quinn honoured in Rethymnon

Legendary actor Anthony Quinn received an arts and letters award from the city of Rethymnon in a ceremony organised by the municipality and the hoteliers' chamber on Saturday.

The award is presented by the Cretan city every two years to individuals who have promoted Greece internationally through their work.

The veteran Hollywood star is accompanied by his wife and his three children.

The ceremony was broadcast live on the German channel SAT 1, which has regular two-hour broadcasts from Crete, as part of a campaign to attract more German tourists to Greece's largest island.

Greece beats Lithuania at European Basketball Championship

Greece and Italy each booked places in the quarter-finals of the European basketball championship on Sunday with hard fought wins over Spain and Lithuania respectively. In one of the most exciting games so far Greece kept Lithuanian forward Arturas Karnisovas down to just nine points and came out on top 73-66.

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