Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 99-03-02

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Tuesday, March 02, 1999

'Missing the train to Europe'

THE STATE of the economy and the government's failure to implement EU harmonisation measures was the lead story in two of yesterday's newspapers.

Phileleftheros said that all the pressing economic problems would be discussed in separate meetings that President Clerides has lined up with the Party leaders, starting this Wednesday. As the first round of meetings would be completed in three weeks, there was no possibility of a cabinet reshuffle before then, as it would be determined by the contacts.

Apart from saying that "the critical domestic issues will be on the table", the paper reported nothing else about the actual content of Clerides' meetings. It did say, however, that opposition party Akel had said it wanted to know what Clerides' plans for the economy were. The party, like right-wing Disy, had prepared its own proposals on the economy to submit to Clerides.

Simerini, under the headline "Missing the train to Europe", claimed that Cyprus was at "critical crossroads". There was a pressing need for structural changes and the formulation of a long-term strategic plan addressing the issues arising from EU accession. Failure to act could lead to stagflation, falling demand and the devaluation of the pound, economists have warned.

The two basic indicators were very worrying, economists argued: the fiscal deficit had reached 12 per cent of GDP (Maastricht guidelines stipulate a maximum of 3 per cent) while the public debt was 96 per cent of GDP (Maastricht target is 60 per cent of GDP). With a relatively low rate of growth, the economy was not in good shape, the economists agreed.

Haravghi reported that the Foreign Minister Ioannis Cassoulides had brought no encouraging news back from the United States, where he had been on an official visit. Cassoulides, who met top State Department officials and the Secretary of State, said that any US initiative would be within the UN framework and take place after the elections in Turkey.

The US had made no promises, said the paper. It noted that the Americans wanted to establish the government's position about a new round of intercommunal talks and whether it would agree to the stationing of US troops in Cyprus as observers.

Alithia focused on another part of the foreign minister's Sunday comments. Cassoulides had said that party leaders' boasts that they would have given their passports to Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan had provided Turkey with more propaganda material than it needed.

The Akel, Edek and Diko leaders all offered their passports to Ocalan, which, according to Cassoulides, was not a very clever idea.

Politis reported that panic had gripped the authorities in the occupied north after press reports claiming that there had been radiation leaks in the Lefka area that were twice the acceptable level. The radiation (caesium 137) was from abandoned machinery that once belonged to the Cyprus Mining Company.

The Turkish engineer who had made the revelations said that the 44 workers who had been working in the area - collecting scrap metal - were at great risk from the exposure to the radiation.

To Tharros said the Turkish government intended to heighten tension with Greece using the Ocalan affair as a pretext. Ankara claims that Greece, by helping Ocalan and the PKK, interfered in Turkish domestic affairs.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

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