Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou yesterday called for a bold initiative on the part of governments to force a more equitable distribution of the social cost of ever-increasing unemployment in the European Union.
Speaking at the European Socialist Party conference ahead of the European Union summit today, he said the working class and small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are being called upon to pay the cost of globalised international markets and competition which reduce jobs.
"It is clear that we are, indeed, becoming a truly big global market. Naturally, someone is paying the cost... The question is where this period is leading. For the time being, those who pay the cost are the working class, the small and medium size enter prises, while, on the other hand, we are witnessing the spectacular growth of certain multinational giants which, under the present conjuncture, perhaps influence developments in a country, or in a continent, much more than governments themselves. This, of course, means that the old Marxist analysis of the State, concerning the trimming and loss of its significance, is becoming a reality, but in a very different way from the past.
"There are direct and indirect effects on the employment sector... the indirect effect is beginning to be felt on the size of salaries, wages etc. We are seeing the remuneration of workers being effectively eroded with unemployment, which continues being our shadow that we cannot tackle. He spoke against a therapy based on the treatment of symptoms.
"There are two ways of examining this. One it to accept the fact and try to face the problem sypmtomatically, as the doctors say, through prescribing aspirin for the fever.
"Another way, of course, of dealing with it is by facing it through a bold decision: to say that the cost of the lack of full employment will be borne by the whole of society. Only then will we be able, I think, to deal with the problem in its entirety ...But apart from this, we must understand that in order to maintain our level of productivity, we must redistribute the profits of competitiveness in some way through social provisions and in social ways.
"Europe must simply adopt certain decisions. It will either be an entity functioning exclusively inside competitiveness, or it will face social problems. Either way, it will be called upon to face them at some moment, but in a different way. It would be better, therefore, if Europe adopted the appropriate measures now, so as to meet the social cost of this transitional period to a new society".
Talking to reporters later, he specified that the alternative was the sharpening of social conflicts.
Regarding the Greek economy, the prime minister said that emphasis had been given to stabilisation, "precisely in order to overcome obstacles such as inflation and the balance of payments, and subsequently open the way towards a social policy, a policy in the full sense of the word... I hope that within our four-year term in office we will take off towards growth and social justice".
European socialist leaders yesterday urged a cease-fire and peace talks to end the Bosnian war and said they favoured reinforcement of the UN peacekeeping force to withdrawal. The leaders, including several heads of government, asked that "all parties to the conflict observe an immediate cease-fire, thus avoiding any more innocent victims and opening the way to real negotiations."
A statement asked "that all states support the action of the United Nations and avoid the withdrawal of the blue berets but, on the contrary, reinforce their presence and defend their action and their safety."
The socialist leaders also criticised France's decision to resume nuclear tests and urged it to reconsider. In a resolution, the 17 participating countries said: "The decision of the French government to resume testing and to ignore the existing moratorium is an unnecessary blow to the non-proliferation regime."
"The PES (Party of European Socialists) leaders condemn this decision and call upon the French government to change its mind," the statement said. "They ask all those states in possession of nuclear arms to confirm their renunciation of testing. They call upon all the governments to co-operate in an effort to reach an early agreement on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the strengthening of peace."
Representatives of seven Balkan news agencies signed the founding charter of the Association of Balkan News Agencies (ABNA) on Saturday at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Thessaloniki. Attending the signing ceremony, Press and Media Minister Evangelos Venizelos stressed that the provision of comprehensive and accurate news was a prerequisite for the normalisation of international relations between peoples.
The charter was signed by the representatives of Turkey's Anadolu (Anatolia), the Bulgarian Telegraphic Agency (BTA) and Balkan Information Pool (BIP), Yugoslavia's Tanjug, Romania's Rompress agency and the Greek Athens News Agency and Macedonian Press Agency.
Mr. Venizelos drew attention to the fact that unanimous agreement had been reached on all points raised at the preceding meeting. A communiqu issued after the meeting said that the ABNA warmly welcomed the initiative of the Macedonian Press Agency to set up a data bank at its Thessaloniki headquarters, on behalf of the Association and with European Union financial assistance.
The presidency of the association will be held on a rotating basis every six months in alphabetical order of the cities in which the agencies are based. This means that Anadolu News Agency President Ekrem Karaismanoglu will be the association's first president, taking office in the second half of 1995, while Athens News Agency General Director Andreas Christodoulides will preside over the first half of 1996.
The next general meeting will be held at the end of the Turkish presidency which begins on July 1. The communiqu also invited and expressed the hope that other national news agencies in the Balkans would join the ABNA.
Greece's main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert yesterday presented his party's positions on the European Union intergovernmental conference next year, during the meeting of European Peoples Party leaders.
He expressed anxiety at the absence of a comprehensive view regarding the final aim of the conference, which, in his opinion, should be "an effective, democratic, mutually supportive, transparent and federal composition of the European Union".
He referred extensively to the need for setting up and pursuing a true common foreign and security policy. The security and independence of the Union, he stressed, "are secured only through the safeguarding of the inviolability of its external borders, with the unreserved acceptance of the obligation for mutual assistance, and the creation of an automatic mechanism of collective defence".
He acknowledged that the effective functioning of the Union required the gradual abolition of the principle of unanimity in decision-making, but emphasised it was necessary to maintain it on issues of vital interest to member states, revision of the Treaty, enlargement, own resources, and the single electoral system.
The government said Saturday that Turkish threats against Greece were exposing Ankara internationally and reminded the neighbouring country that the procedure for a European Union-Turkey customs union had not yet been consummated.
"The threats from the Turkish National Assembly, Turkish Premier Tansu Ciller and Turkish officials are creating a climate of tension, expose Turkey international-ly, constitute proof that Turkey is violating the principles of the UN charter and thus distance Turkey from the EU and the international community," government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said.
"It is certain," he continued, "that such behaviour and provocativeness is creating additional problems for Turkey's relations with Europe." Mr. Venizelos underlined that Greece had facilitated progress on the proposed EU-Turkey customs union (by lifting its veto) in order to expedite the commencement of negotiations for Cyprus' accession to the EU. "Turkey knows only too well that the procedure for its customs union with the EU has not been completed,"
Greece's main opposition leader Miltiades Evert yesterday called on Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou to bring up the issue of Turkish threats at today's European Union summit.
Speaking to the press after the summit of the European Peoples Party over the weekend, Mr. Evert said "it is inconceivable for member-states of the European Union to discuss conflicts such as Bosnia or the Mideast, in the context of a common foreign and defence policy, while there is no discussion at the level of heads of state or governments or foreign ministers when Greece, a member, is threatened by a third country like Turkey".
"If the European Union does not protect its member-states how is it then possible for it to carve out a common foreign policy," he asked.
Mr. Evert said he had broached the matter of the Turkish provocations with the French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette, asking for the presidency of the Council of Ministers to intervene with Turkey. He said that this afforded Greece an opportunity it should not ignore and added that the prime minister was "obliged to intervene" and bring the issue before the summit.
On Saturday, government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said the prime minister would bring up the issue of Turkish threats at the summit if the issue of EU expansion or EU relations with third countries was discussed at the summit or during informal meetings.
Education and Religious Affairs Minister George Papandreou left yesterday for Paris to address a meeting today marking the official commencement of the European Union's education programme "Socrates".
The main aims of the programme are the fostering of the European dimension in education, the qualitative upgrading of education systems and the development of social and economic cohesion within the EU. The programme will also facilitate co-operation between educational institutions and encourage student exchange.
The meeting will also be attended by the education ministers of France, Spain, Germany, Italy and European Commissioner for research, education and training Edith Cresson.
A deputy of the ruling party said Friday his meeting with a Kurdish separatist leader recently was a personal action and nothing to do with the government, in response to Turkish objections. "My visit does not commit the government in Athens and is a personal action," PASOK deputy for Xanthi Panayiotis Sgouridis said in a statement Friday to the Turkish daily Hurriyet.
Mr. Sgouridis, together with other five Greek deputies, recently visited the president of the Kurdistan National Liberation Front, Abdullah Ocalan at an undisclosed site abroad, prompting a demarche condemning the meeting to the Greek charge d'affaires by the Turkish Foreign Ministry last Friday.
Mr. Sgouridis told Hurriyet that it was a mistake to blame the Greek government for his own actions. "I am not a foreign minister and I do not represent the (Greek) government. I am a deputy and my visit to Apo (Abdullah Ocalan) was of a private nature, " he said.
Mr. Sgouridis said he was a "supporter of human rights" adding that the Turkish government was exercising pressure on the Kurds. "I love the Turkish people... I am in favour of the positive development of Greek-Turkish relations," he added.
According to an ANA dispatch from Ankara yesterday citing the Anadolu agency, the president of the Turkish National Assembly has sent a letter to his counterparts of the NATO member-states, the president of the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly and the European Parliament's presidency condemning the Greek deputies' meeting with the Kurdish leader.
The letter said the Greek deputies' visit "means that the Greek Parliament supports the violence exercised by the PKK against the people of neighbouring Turkey." "Naturally, Turkey cannot remain silent at such a development," the letter said. ANA
Greece's ambassador to Tirana Christos Tsalikis met with the head of the Albanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Arben Shehi on Friday. Mr. Shehi said the meeting was "significant" and held in the context of efforts to strengthen relations between the two peoples. "The Albanian business community, represented by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is interested that these relations serve mutual economic progress and prosperity as a whole," he said.
Mr. Tsalikis said he had always considered co-operation with the chamber as significant. "I am very enthusiastic about future mutual co-operation," he said. He said that he placed importance on not only the volume of trade but on all forms of co-operation and investment and underlined the activity of major Greek firms in the road construction, joint projects and aid sectors.
The two men also considered important the establishment of a branch of the National Bank of Greece, to be opened in Tirana soon.
Press and Media Minister Evangelos Venizelos said Saturday that he would propose to the government that the northern port city of Thessaloniki be officially designated as the Greek capital for all activities relating to inter-Balkan co-operation.
A member of parliament for Thessaloniki, Mr. Venizelos announced the proposal shortly after the signing of the founding charter of the Association of Balkan News Agencies (ABNA).
He said that Thessaloniki was developing into a centre of economic, political, cultural and social activity at the Balkan level, adding that the city not only served as Greece's gateway to the Balkans but also the gateway of the Balkans to Europe.
Greece has become the latest country to recognise the Palestinian passport issued by PLO leader Yasser Arafat's self-rule authority, the Palestinian daily Al-Quds said Saturday. The passport - green for most people, red for officials - had already been recognised by Israel, the United States, Britain, Spain, Cyprus, France and several Arab countries. It is issued to Palestinians living in the self-ruled Gaza Strip and West Bank enclave of Jericho.