Air traffic controllers called off work stoppages planned for today and tomorrow after a court ruled the strikes out of line and an abuse of power. Representatives of the 500-member union said they would meet today to decide on further action.
The court ruling yesterday decided in favor of a Civil Aviation Authority writ that the scheduled strikes were "illegal and an abuse of authority" and would further seriously disrupt flight services.
The court also agreed to a CAA request for a ban on any further strikes by the air traffic controllers until after September 15.
The controllers had planned the work stoppages as a "warning" to the government, which, they say, has yet to legis late a June agreement on better pay and working conditions.
Representatives of Elefsina Shipyard workers will have a "crucial meeting" today with the governor of the Commercial Bank, Panayiotis Poulis, and Alternate Industry Minister Christos Rokofyllos.
The threatened foreclosure of the shipyards, and the government's proposal to save them, will also be discussed at the meeting of the ruling party's Parliamentary Group on Wednesday, at the request of Industry Minister Costas Simitis.
Representatives of local government and business in the city of Elefsina will also meet today, and it is expected that they will decide to shut stores and services to protest the threatened closure and loss of jobs.
Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou will return to Athens this afternoon after spending his summer holidays on the island of Crete.
In a statement in Elounda, Crete, several days ago, Mr. Papandreou indicated changes would take place in the government and the ruling PASOK party.
According to reports, Mr. Papandreou wants more members to be active in the party, even dissidents, and their subsequent participation in the Executive Bureau. However, he has said he would not bring about changes without prior consultations with the party and unless they were approved by the Central Committee.
To this end, he is due to meet party Secretary Akis Tsohatzopoulos in mid-week before chairing an Executive Bureau meeting.
The date on which the Central Committee will convene, and which will have to decide whether or not deputy Kyriakos Spyriounis will be dismissed from the party, will also be discussed at the meeting.
On the question of changes in the government, Mr. Papandreou has made it clear that if changes are made they will concern changes of persons and not policy. He has also called on ministers to be more active and make fewer statements and counter-statements to avoid government attrition.
Mr. Papandreou will have a heavy agenda over the next few days and in September. In the next few days, Mr. Papandreou will prepare for his speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair, while his agenda will include two more trips, one to the island of Patmos to attend festivities and another to Majorca for the European Union's special summit. The prime minister may also visit the island of Tinos in the next few days.
A further 500 policemen will be deployed along the Greek-Albanian border to stem the rising tide of illegal immigrants from Albania, Public Order Minister Sifis Valyrakis said Saturday. He was speaking after a meeting with Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias and senior police and army officials in the northern Greek town of Ioannina to discuss measures to contain the rising numbers.
Police arrested and deported some 1,600 illegal immigrants last weekend.
Mr. Valyrakis said techniques used to police the border would be updated. Mr. Papoulias said the issue would be brought up again in his talks with his Albanian counterpart Alfred Serreqi when he visits Athens soon, adding he hoped the Albanian side would take similar measures along the border.
Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias on Saturday voiced concern over reports, later denied, that rebel Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic had been toppled in a military coup in the Serb stronghold town of Pale.
"We may have new developments but I hope that they will not have negative effects on on-going peace efforts," Mr. Papoulias said in Ioannina, northern Greece.
On Friday, Mr. Papoulias said the coming days were "decisive for peace" and the situation in the former Yugoslavia "critical", after conferring with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade and later with his Italian counterpart Susanna Agnelli in Rome.
German reports, citing Croatian military sources, said Karadzic was ousted in Pale by Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic. The report was swiftly denied by both United Nations and Bosnian Serb officials. In recent weeks, Karadzic and Milosevic have been involved in a power struggle that intensified after a Croatian blitz offensive in the Krajina enclave.
A strong earth tremor registering 4.8 on the Richter scale was recorded at 12:21 noon yesterday, seismologists in Athens and Thessaloniki said. They said the tremor's epicenter was in the sea region between the islands of Hios and Lesvos, 260 km northeast of Athens.