European leaders and opposition figures began gathering in this French seaside resort yesterday for the EU summit set to begin on Monday. Prior to the summit, both the European Socialist Party and European Peoples Party will hold separate pre-summit conferences to go over ground to be covered at the summit.
Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou arrived in Cannes yesterday after a four-hour delay due to bad weather. He said he expected the summit to engage in "most important deliberations" concerning the future of the Union. Today he will attend the European Socialist Party's two-day conference.
Also in Cannes is main opposition New Democracy leader Miltiades Evert, who will participate in the two-day European Peoples Party summit.
In Athens, the government yesterday rejected out of hand a call Thursday by Mr. Evert that Greece's national issues be raised at the summit in Cannes. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said that Mr. Evert was more or less "ignorant" of European affairs and that his call on the prime minister to raise Greek national issues at the summit reflected a "parochial political mentality".
"Each summit has an agenda and Greece is not the country to appear at any international forum and raise all its national issues," Mr. Venizelos said. "Each issue," he continued, "must be raised at the right moment, at the right forum, so that there may be results."
Mr. Evert said Thursday that "Turkey's provocative actions cannot be allowed to continue without a reply from Greece at international fora". He also accused Mr. Papandreou of going to the twice-yearly summit "unprepared".
Mr. Venizelos said that Greece would not raise the issue of its dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) at the summit because it was participating in the UN process guided by Cyrus Vance. As far as bringing up matters pertaining to Greece's relations with other Balkan neighbours, Mr. Venizelos said "there is no reason why we should".
The only "issue", he added, was that of Turkey's threatening stance, which, he said, was linked to the EU-Turkey customs union. "The (customs) union will go ahead only if the competent EU bodies consent and, of course, the Turkish threats are withdrawn. Otherwise, the customs union will not proceed," Mr. Venizelos said.
Responding to Mr. Evert's criticism that the premier did not brief political party leaders on Greece's positions on the revision of the Maastricht Treaty, Mr. Venizelos said the ND leader had not requested a briefing from the prime minister adding that the government would send him its positions on the intergovernmental conference to be held next year.
"If Mr. Evert believes that the issue of a federal Europe will predominate at the (intergovernmental) conference, he is mistaken," Mr. Venizelos said. "The intergovernmental conference is a long and difficult negotiation procedure at which no country participates with a final position on the issues to be discussed."
Referring to the issues of common foreign policy and political security, Mr. Venizelos reiterated Greece's position for guarantees of external borders and a mutual assistance clause.
Political Spring party leader Antonis Samaras yesterday said his party supported the evolution of the European Union into a federal Europe. Mr. Samaras officially announced his party's decision after chairing an executive committee meeting yesterday focusing on the agenda for the intergovernmental conference. He said his party supported the "post-evolution of the European Union into a political union of a federal character, which would guarantee our defence, security, economic and social development."
He expressed doubt, however, as to whether this would ultimately be Greece's official position on the issue, accusing ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and the main opposition New Democracy party of "constantly looking towards the United States."
Senior officials from EU countries and institutions have begun drafting the agenda for the review of the Maastricht Treaty at next year's intergovernmental conference. At issue is how the EU can work with more than a dozen new members when it expands into eastern Europe and the Mediterranean early next century.
Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Under-Secretary Elizabeth Papazoi raised the problem of security stemming from the building of a nuclear power station in Akkuyu in southern Turkey at the Council of Environment Ministers yesterday.
Ms Papazoi underlined the high seismic activity in the region and the dangers attached to the safe operation of the Turkish nuclear power station. She said Turkey had failed to honour commitments under the Nuclear Safety Treaty and did not inform neighbouring countries nor heed their views.
Ms Papazoi said it was the first such station in Turkey and would only cover two per cent of the energy programme and could easily be replaced by natural gas or renewable sources of energy which are cheaper and harmless to the environment. Greece's positions were supported by Ireland, Austria, Portugal, Spain and Italy. The issue will be discussed again at the next Council meeting.
Ms Papazoi said the ministry would invest 140 billion drachmas over the next five years to protect the quality of water in Greece. The Council of Environment Ministers endorsed two directives on the prevention of industrial pollution and protection for the quality of air as well as a revised directive on preventing and tackling serious industrial accidents.
The government yesterday announced a comprehensive package of measures for the reconstruction of the quake-stricken regions of Egialia and Fokida and to meet the immediate needs of the quake victims.
The measures, announced in Egion by a group of ministers headed by Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis, include emergency aid in the form of lump sum payments, rent subsidies and assistance for the rebuilding or repair of buildings.
The sum of 200,000 drachmas will be disbursed in the next few days to the most needy quake victims on a per family basis, while rent subsidies of up to 60,000 drachmas will be given to each family for as long as it takes to repair or rebuild badly damaged homes. Pensioners insured with the main insurance funds will be granted 100,000 drachmas to meet their immediate needs, while retired farmers will receive 50,000 drachmas. Emergency assistance of 100,000 drachmas will be given to all unemployed persons not currently receiving any benefit and 50,000 drachmas to those receiving unemployment benefits.
For the rebuilding of homes, the State will provide free assistance for 33 per cent of the total cost and an interest-free loan to be repaid over 15 years for the remaining amount. Repairs to homes also qualify for a free subsidy, amounting to 30 per cent of the total cost, again with a 15-year interest-free loan for the remaining amount. Special facilities will also be extended to quake victims owing money to the State, particularly in the form of time extensions for payment dates.
The Public Power Corporation will not issue or demand payment of electricity bills in the case of homes rendered uninhabitable by the earthquake. Families temporarily living in tents and special camps will not be charged for the consumption of electricity.
The Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation has announced similar measures. The package also includes measures for the restoration of monuments and the repair of damage to museums, churches and listed buildings.
The total estimated cost of such repairs amounts to 2.5 billion drachmas, which will be met by the ministries of culture and of the environment. Thousands of Egion residents are homeless since last week's 6.1 Richter quake which killed 26 people.
National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said the restoration costs in Egion, Kozani and Grevena, which suffered a quake in May, would not burden the 1995 budget since it would be covered from existing reserves. Mr. Papantoniou said however that the government was considering the establishment of a special reserve fund to finance restoration costs for future natural disasters.
General directors and representatives of Balkan news agencies meeting in Greece's northern capital of Thessaloniki yesterday put the final touches to the establishment of an Association of Balkan News Agencies (ABNA). The charter for the association will be signed today.
The pressmen agreed that the association will be headquartered in the home city of the agency holding the body's six-month-long rotating presidency. Turkish Anadolu News Agency President Ekrem Karaismanoglu will be the first president of the newly-established ABNA, taking office in the second half of 1995, while Athens News Agency (ANA) General Director Andreas Christodoulides will preside over the first half of 1996.
The co-ordinating secretariat of the ABNA will be based in the home city of the agency providing the association's co-ordinating secretary. General director of the Bulgarian news agency, VIP, Stefan Veleth, who has held the post in the run-up to the body' s establishment, was unanimously elected to the post for a year.
Thessaloniki will be home to the organisation's data bank since the Macedonian Press Agency took the initiative to establish the resource and has already submitted a draft plan for its funding by the Community's cross-border programme INTERREG-2.
It was decided that representatives of the Tanjug and Rompress agencies will constitute the management control committee for the agency's finances.
Yesterday's conference was attended by the general directors of the Bulgarian Press Agency VIP Stefan Veleth, Turkey's Anadolu (Anatolia) Ekrem Karaismanoglu, Athens News Agency Andreas Christodoulides and the Macedonian Press Agency Spyros Kouzinopoulos as well as by representatives of the Romanian Rompress agency, Yugoslavia's Tanjug and the other Bulgarian agency BTA. Slovenian News Agency General Director Sta Tadeilaberik attended the conference as an observer.
The Union of Balkan Bar Associations (EBDS) Charter was signed in Thessaloniki yesterday. Founding members of the Union, set up at the initiative of the city's own association, are the bar associations of Albania, Cyprus, Yugoslavia, Romania, and Greece. The Union's headquarters will be housed in the Thessaloniki Bar Association (DST) offices in Tsimiski Street.
Speaking to reporters, DST president Giorgos Ignatiadis stressed the union's aim is to set up branches in all member countries, and a data bank in Thessaloniki, containing the bodies of law of Greece and the European Union, to which EBDS members will have access.
Concerning the absence of other Balkan countries' associations, he said Bulgaria, despite signing the founding charter, had set as conditions the admission of the bar association of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) under the name of 'Macedonia', as well as Turkish Cypriot representation. He added that the Turkish and FYROM associations had been invited and replies were awaited.
Romania's Bar Association president Victor Anagnoste said the choice of Thessaloniki as the Union's seat was the right one because Greece was the centre of the Balkans, and Greek lawyers wielded great professional experience. He added that political differences ought to be overcome and all Balkan countries should be represented.
Cyrus Vance, the United Nations' mediator on the Skopje-Athens dispute, held separate meetings yesterday with Greece's permanent representative to the UN Christos Zaharakis and Skopje's Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski, marking the end of another round of consultations.
Reliable sources said, however, that there was no evidence of change in the intransigent position of the Skopje government.
Greece has imposed trade sanctions as retortion measures against the neighbouring state to force the government to change its name, remove ancient Greek symbols from its flag and amend the preamble of its constitution expressing expansionist designs against Greece's northern province of Macedonia. Skopje has demanded the lifting of sanctions before sitting down to direct talks with Athens.
Coalition of the Left and Progress leader Nikos Constantopoulos and ruling Romanian Social Democracy party president Ovdidiou German yesterday agreed on the need for a Balkan initiative aimed at peace in Bosnia.
The meeting between Mr. Constantopoulos and Mr. German was held in Bucharest yesterday as part of Mr. Constantopoulos' visit to the Romanian capital. Both referred to good relations between Greece and Romania and to the need for a peaceful solution to the Bosnian crisis.
Nikos Sifounakis, previously culture Under-Secretary, was sworn in yesterday as tourism minister, replacing Dionysis Livanos who resigned Wednesday over the Floisvos casino affair.
Speaking after the ceremony, Mr. Sifounakis said his priority was to deal with the outstanding problems facing the Greek tourism sector and upgrading further co-operation between the tourism and culture ministries. Mr. Livanos, handing over the ministry, wished Mr. Sifounakis the best of luck and praised his administrative ability and experience.
Mr. Sifounakis took the oath of office at noon in the presence of President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos and Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, shortly before the premier left for Cannes.
The new minister thanked the premier for his vote of trust in appointing him to the post. "Culture and tourism must go forward together," Mr. Sifounakis said earlier at a gathering to bid farewell to his culture ministry colleagues.
Culture Minister Thanos Mikroutsikos and the ministry's Secretary-General, George Thomas, wished Mr. Sifounakis the best of luck in his new post and said the co-operation between the two ministries would be close.
Greek diplomats and foreign ministry personnel said yesterday they were suspending a strike, planned for today, after their demand for higher pay was satisfied.
Greece notched up its first victory in the European basketball championship in Athens yesterday, after two straight defeats in the tournament, beating Italy 67-61. The Greeks, defeated by Yugoslavia and Lithuania, were trailing the Italians 37-33 at half-time.
Other results yesterday: Yugoslavia 70 - Lithuania 61, France 86 - Spain 75, Germany 81 - Sweden 71 and Turkey 81 - Finland 79.
Today's games are France-Turkey, Italy-Yugoslavia, Israel-Germany, Slovenia-Russia, Croatia-Spain and Sweden-Greece. Tomorrow is a rest day.
The country's current accounts balance showed a deficit of 900 million dollars in March this year compared with 166 million dollars for the corresponding month last year. The figures are attributed to a considerable decrease in capital inflows from the European Union, the dollar's decline on international money markets and increased expenditure for fuel imports.
The trade balance deficit (not including fuel) increased by 28.5 per cent, the result of an increase in imports by 24.7 per cent, while the invisibles balance surplus decreased 33.6 per cent. Capital inflows from the EU decreased 70.4 per cent compared to the corresponding month last year, from 517 million dollars to 153 million dollars.
For the January to March period this year, the current accounts deficit amounted to 752 million dollars as against a surplus of 104 million dollars over the corresponding period last year.
The bill on restructuring the Bank of Crete was tabled in Parliament yesterday by National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou. The bill anticipates the bank's writing off of debts incurred during the governorship of George Koskotas, its funding with 38 billion drachmas by the state to help restructure its capital base and the sale of the bank by public auction.
Out of the amount to be received, the state will recoup the 38 billion drachmas together with legal interest thus paying off the loan granted by the Bank of Greece in 1988. The public auction will be held early next year.
Figures presented by National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou and his alternate, George Romaios, yesterday showed that 370 billion drachmas was absorbed in public investment projects in the first five months of the year, of which 200 billion were European Union funds.
Contracts for the construction of 85 projects, totalling 365.5 billion, were signed up until June 22. These include the construction of parts of the Patra-Athens-Thessaloniki-Bulgarian border road axis, the Egnatia highway running the length of northern Greece, ports and airports.
It is estimated that work on 17 new hospitals, and extensions to existing hospitals will be carried out in the next two to three years, at a cost of over 200 billion drachmas.
Interest rates on loans will continue on a "restrained downward trend", National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said yesterday. Noting that rates had dropped eight points since the beginning of the year, he said the first half year's speedy decrease was primarily due to inflation decreasing to single digits and encouraging banks. The initial prediction was that loans interest rates would decrease by five percentage units by the end of year.
The Bank of Central Greece cleared 1.98 billion in profits last year, the bank's general assembly was told yesterday. Gross revenues totalled 19.2 billion drachmas, own capital 13.6 billion drachmas (an increase of 29 per cent over 1993 figures) and loans 47.2 billion drachmas (an increase of 11 per cent).
It was announced that after a year of reorganisation and strategic replanning, the Bank of Central Greece is already on the road leading to its modernisation and expansion. An effort was made to receive bad debts of 1.2 billion drachmas in 1994. It was also decided that 1.18 billion drachmas be paid in dividends this year (120 drachmas per share).
Three new branch offices will be added to the bank's network by the end of the year and the new building for its central services will be completed in Kifissias Avenue.
Two of the main defendants in the so-called trial of satanists gave conflicting testimony yesterday and Thursday, counter-charging one another over the ritual murder of a 15-year-old girl.
On Thursday, the leader of the self-styled 20-member satanic cult, Assimakis Katsoulas, 22, pleaded guilty to the kidnapping, torture and murder of 30-year old hotel maid Garyfallia Yiourga on her way home from work. "We introduced ourselves as policemen and asked her to come with us," he told the court. "I did it and I don't want anyone else punished for it."
He denied, however, killing 15-year-old Dora Syropoulou, claiming that his deputy, Manos Dimitrokallis, 21, was solely responsible. "I wanted to initiate her, not harm her," he said.
Yesterday, Dimitrokallis denied killing the girl, saying he refused to do so when asked by Katsoulas, who then went ahead and killed her himself. They both pleaded innocent to the murder of the third victim, a 35-year-old woman.
Their co-defendant, Dimitra Marieti, 20, who has been charged with three counts of accessory to murder before and after the fact, pleaded innocent to all charges. She claimed Katsoulas had sexually assaulted her during her initiation and that she had kept silent because she feared for her family. Five other members of the cult are charged with lesser offences.
Haralambos Zavras denied any participation in the murders, saying he had been involved in the cult out of curiosity, and lured by promises that Katsoulas would introduce him to girls. Varvara Angelopoulou, 21, a music teacher, said she had been led to believe Katsoulas' self-portrayal as a person of supernatural powers out of fear, also claiming that he raped her three times.
The five-member criminal court will hear the prosecution and defence summations next week before handing down judgement. All three face life imprisonment if found guilty of murder.