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Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-04-15Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>NEWS IN ENGLISHAthens, Greece, 15/04/1999 (ANA)MAIN HEADLINES
NEWS IN DETAILSimitis: Full support for UN involvement to defuse Kosovo crisisPrime Minister Costas Simitis voiced his support for the "greatest possible involvement" of the United Nations in finding a solution to the Kosovo crisis, during discussions at an informal European Union summit in Brussels yesterday afternoon. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, which ended without the issuance of a joint communique or a statement by the German presidency, Mr. Simitis said that in essence two views were expressed during the session, which was also attended by UN Secretar y General Kofi Annan following an invitation by the EU's German presidency. Mr. Simitis said the one view which was supported by a group of countries - including Greece, France and partially by Germany, among others - sets UN activation to help resolve the Kosovo crisis as an absolute priority. The other view, supported primarily by Britain, Spain and others, backs entirely the continuation of NATO military operations, leaving the special role the UN could play for the future. Mr. Simitis said that from the start Greece had expressed support for the UN's involvement in efforts to find a solution to the Kosovo crisis, stressing that such an involvement would allow the creation of new processes and the opening of new paths for a peaceful solution to the issue. He further said there is no clear and unified conception of the UN's role among the "15", underlining in particular that there is no single position on whether the UN could undertake the responsibility of a peacekeeping force for the settlement of the crisis. Mr. Simitis said Athens believes in the activation of not only the UN but of the EU as well, which should play a specific role in the case of Kosovo. Mr. Simitis said the crisis in Kosovo has not been resolved with the bombings and neither have the problems which caused it. He also said that the policy of ethnic cleansing has not stopped; the flow of refugees to Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is continuing, destablising these countries, while the Milosevic government is getting stronger, since it is also supported by the opposition now. He added that on the basis of the above, political initiatives are now necessary, adding that the EU should play a leading role in the framework of these political initiatives. The Greek premier said the issuing of a UN Security Council resolution is ne cessary at this phase, as it would widen the legal base and will determine the character which the peacekeeping force to be deployed in Kosovo should have. He noted that he reiterated Greece's steadfast position against any change of borders in the Balkans. Finally, Mr. Simitis went on to say that an international initiative is necessary for the Balkans which will have three axes: a political one, which will primarily concern the protection of minorities and the safeguarding of democracy; an economic one, which will concern the restructuring and development of the Balkans, and a humanitarian axis concerning the handling of the refugees' immediate problems. Mr. Simitis also said that Greece supports a French proposal for the creation of a transitional administration in Kosovo under the responsibility of the EU. Government sees inflation falling further Consumer price inflation will fall further, National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said yesterday. Presenting a study by the Centre for Planning and Economic Research on the size and role of the public sector in Greece, Mr. Papantoniou said a decline in rates in Europe would facilitate the domestic economy's convergence towards euro-zone economies. He said that another factor helping the country in its effort to join the euro was the fact that euro-zone inflation was not expected to fall as much as initially forecast. Mr. Papantoniou noted that as long as inflation remained above 2.0 percent Greece could not follow the decline in European interest rates. He said that the economy was resisting pressure from the Kosovo crisis, and that would only change if NATO launched a ground operation or the conflict spread to other countries. Stocks end slightly up after early plunge Equity prices on the Athens Stock Exchange ended slightly higher yesterday recovering from an early major correction. The general index ended 0.34 percent up at 3,732.64 points after falling as much as 1.74 percent early in the session on profit taking. Traders said the market easily absorbed a wave of supply giving further evidence of its positive underlying trend d espite worries over developments in Kosovo. Turnover was 137.8 billion drachmas and volume 19,866,843 shares. Sector indices were mixed. Banks rose 0.60 percent, Leasing fell 0.41 percent, Insurance dropped 0.69 percent, Investment eased 1.38 percent, Construction jumped 3.75 percent, Industrials fell 0.27 percent, Miscellaneous ended 1.12 percent higher and Ho lding rose 0.76 percent. The parallel market index for small cap companies ended 0.80 percent up, while the FTSE/ASE 20 index increased 0.51 percent to 2,358.06. Broadly, advancers led decliners by 186 to 94 with another 12 issues unchanged. Eurobank, Hellenic Telecoms, Eskimo and Thessaliki were the most heavily traded stocks. A total of 47 shares hit the day's 8.0 percent limit up. Among them were Ergodata, Kambas, Commercial Invest, Atemke, Gnomon, European Techniki, Sarandopoulos, Attica Aluminium, Dimitriadis and Fanco. EFG Eurobank's shares ended 8.0 percent down on their first day of trading in the market in heavy volume causing temporary problems in the market's electronic trading system. Traders attributed the price fall to selling by investors who preferred to take early profits. Kekrops, Giannousis, Sigalas, Xifias, Development Invest, Ridenco, Sportsman and DIS suffered heavy percentage losses. National Bank of Greece ended at 22,420 drachmas, Alpha Credit Bank at 23, 835, Ergobank at 28,605, Ionian Bank at 19,250, Titan Cement at 23,900, Hellenic Petroleum at 2,530, Intracom at 20,995, Minoan Lines at 7,740, Panafon at 8,150 and Hellenic Telecoms at 6,980. Meanwhile, bond prices edged up yesterday in scant trade and the drachma nosed down but no discernible outflows were reported, traders said. The new ten-year-bond was was at 104.20, showing a yield of 5.72 percent. The yield spread with German bunds was 1.9 percent. Electronic trade totalled 41 billion drachmas from 130 billion drachmas a day earlier. At the central bank's daily fix, the euro ended at 324.410 drachmas from 323.900 drachmas from in the previous trading session. Winner named in tender for Halkis Shipyards The winner of an international tender to sell Halkis Shipyards was Stavros Iliadis, the Hellenic Industrial Development Bank (ETBA) said yesterday. Mr. Iliadis will pay ETBA 2.8 billion drachmas for the shipyard and invest 1.5 billion drachmas in the next three years. The shipyard is expected to re-open in a month at the latest. Simitis meeting with Papandreou, Kranidiotis over EU, NATO issues The issues on the agenda at yesterday's informal European Union summit in Brussels, as well as the upcoming NATO summit, were discussed at a meeting held yesterday between Prime Minister Costas Simitis and the civil leadership of the national defence and foreign ministries. Departing at the end of the meeting, Foreign Minister George Papandreou referred to Greece's initiatives at Balkan level to enable a proposal to be shaped which will secure stability and peace in the region. The main points contained in the proposal concerning the "next day" in the Kosovo crisis, according to the minister, are three: The strengthening of the security of the countries in the region and clear commitments on the inviolability of borders. The strengthening of democratic institutions focusing on respect for human and minority rights. The region's economic development with the international community's active contribution. Alternate Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis expressed reserved optimism over yesterday's informal EU summit, saying that the EU must formulate its own voice. Mr. Kranidiotis said that Greece, being a force of peace, will offer its own ideas and proposals both for a solution to the crisis and the handling of the refugee problem. Mr. Kranidiotis and National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos expressed the wish that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's initiative will meet with success. Bulgarian distinction to President Stephanopoulos An order issued yesterday by Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov awards Bulgaria's highest honourary distinction, the "Stara Planina" award, to President Kostis Stephanopoulos for his contribution to the stabilisation and development of relations between Bulgaria and Greece, the Bulgarian president's press secretariat said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Costas Simitis will pay a brief working visit to Sofia today for talks with his Bulgarian counterpart Ivan Kostov. Greece planning new refugee camp in FYROM Athens is planning to set up a refugee camp in FYROM similar to three such camps it has established in Albania to help house refugees fleeing from Kosovo, reliable sources said. Greece will assume the responsibility of setting up and maintaining the camp following a request by FYROM President Kiro Gligorov during talks in Skopje last week with Greek FM George Papandreou and minister for Macedonia- Thrace Yiannis Magriotis. FYROM has proposed an area near the town of Tetovo, which is populated mainly by ethnic Albanians, as the site for the camp, which will comprise 100 large container-homes and hundreds of tents capable of sheltering 2,000 Kosovars. President Gligorov had requested that humanitarian aid from Greece be provided either in cash for the purchase of food and clothing for the refugees on the local market in a bid to boost FYROM's failing economy, or through the set up and maintenance of a refugee camp, which Athens opted for. Greece's environment, town planning and public works ministry has donated the containers, while the tents are being donated by the Hellenic Army, the sources said. They added that the studies on setting up the infrastructure and the camp itself are due to be completed by today. Meanwhile, the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday dispatched shipments of humanitarian aid comprising 160 tons of foodstuffs, medicines and clothing for the Kosovar refugees in Albania and FYROM and to Serbia for the victims of the NATO bombings. Athens requests release of 2 Australian aid workers from Belgrade Athens has appealed to Belgrade to release two Australian aid workers currently facing espionage charges in Yugoslavia. "While recognising the seriousness of the charges filed against the two men and the conflict in which Yugoslavia finds itself, Greece respectfully encourages Yugoslavia to allow Australian consular access to the workers and to consider releasing the two as a humanitarian gesture," a foreign ministry statement read yesterday. Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace, part of Care Australia's refugee relief programme in Yugoslavia, were reported missing two weeks ago. Mr. Pratt was shown "confessing" on Serbian television last Sunday to charges of intelligence gathering activities for NATO. The development came after an Australian politician asked Greece to intercede with Belgrade to release the two men. Mike Wran, the leader of the South Australian Labor Party, wrote to Prime Minister Costas Simitis asking him to intercede with the Yugoslav authorities to release the two Australians. Allegations that the two spied for NATO have been strongly denied by the mens' families, Care Australia and the Australian government. Mr. Wran wrote that the charges against the two were "completely baseless" and given that Australia was not invol ved militarily in the air strikes against Serbia, there was no justification for their being held as "prisoners of war". Yesterday, Foreign Ministry George Papandreou met with Australian MP Demetri Dollis and Care Australia chief executive Charles Tapp in what was described as "productive talks". Rotation of Greek destroyers in NATO squadron The Hellenic Navy destroyer "Themistocles" will replace the destroyer "Kimon" in a NATO squadron currently patrolling the Mediterranean. The "Themistocles" is set to sail from the Salamima naval station for the Adriatic on April 18. According to an announcement by the navy general staff, the Greek warship will carry out a regular patrol tour and training programme unrelated with any operations against Yugoslavia, sailing far from the region of war operations and with stays at Itali an ports. Meanwhile, in a related development, a sailor serving aboard the vessel has reportedly addressed a letter to National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos, in which he cites his refusal to serve his military duty outside Greek territorial waters. Sailor Nikos Yaradikis also sent copies of the letter to all party- affiliated youth groups. In his letter, the conscript argues that he considers the mission as part of a "framework of multifaceted NATO activities against Yugoslavia, which are in violation of international treaties and the decisions of the United Nations or the defensive chara cter of NATO." In the letter, which was distributed by the Communist Party of Greece's youth wing, the sailor also states that he will expend "every sacrifice" for the defence of Greek sovereignty, but will not do the same for the "interests of those who butcher the people of Yugoslavia today, the peoples of the Balkans immediately afterwards." More virulent HIV strains reported in Greece The incidence of more aggressive strains of the HIV virus is on the rise in Greece, with these viral types more likely to be transmitted through heterosexual contact, a University of Athens study noted. Researchers said the "more aggressive" C and A strains of HIV, the cause behind AIDS, primarily found in African countries, now make up 20 per cent of the total of HIV-infected individuals in Greece. "What we saw until recently was that these viruses affected Greeks living in African countries. That is not the case any more. Now, we are seeing these types of viruses in people who live in Greece and are infected in Greece," epidemiology professor A. Hatzakis said. The study, released yesterday, also revealed a transmutation of the AIDS virus which was particular to Greek patients. Experts said they believed this strain had caused the deaths of four of the 160 people studied, including a child. "Without wanting people to panic, we are talking about a marginal but qualitative turn in the disease in Greece," Prof. Hatzakis said. WEATHERMostly fair weather will prevail throughout Greece on Thursday with the possibility of light rain in the evening in the northern Ionian Sea, Epirus and Macednonia. Winds will be southerly, light, turning moderate to strong in the Ionian Sea.Partly cloudy in Athens where temperatures will range between 12-24C. Similar weather in Thessaloniki where temperatures will be from 11- 22C. FOREIGN EXCHANGEThursday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 297.600 Pound sterling 481.834 Japanese yen (100) 249.885 French franc 49.060 German mark 164.541 Italian lira (100) 16.620 Irish Punt 408.621 Belgian franc 7.978 Luxembourg franc 7.978 Finnish mark 54.126 Dutch guilder 146.033 Danish kr. 43.275 Austrian sch. 23.387 Spanish peseta 1.934 Swedish kr. 36.010 Norwegian kr. 38.539 Swiss franc 200.503 Port. Escudo 1.605 Aus. dollar 190.261 Can. dollar 199.690 Cyprus pound 556.591 Euro 321.815(L.G.) Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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