Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou is to reply "in the next few days" to a letter from US President Bill Clinton hand-delivered by Mr. Clinton's senior adviser George Stephanopoulos late Tuesday night, government sources said. They said Mr. Stephanopoulos handed the letter to Mr. Papandreou after a three-and-a-half hour meeting that took place in a "very friendly atmosphere".
Mr. Papandreou stressed to Mr. Stephanopoulos that Greece had no intention of lifting its economic retorsion measures against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on a unilateral basis, the same sources said. Mr. Papandreou also ruled out the prospect of an upgrading of the Greek-Turkish dialogue on issues "comprising unilateral Turkish claims at Greece's expense".
He said, however, he would have no objection to upgrading the existing dialogue - at lower level - between the two countries, but only on matters such as tourism and commerce, the sources said. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said later that President Clinton's letter referred to regional problems as well as issues of mutual interest for Greece and the US and the role which Washington would like Athens to play.
On the issue of dialogue between Greece and Turkey, the spokesman stressed that there was no "subject" for dialogue, since with the exception of the Aegean continental shelf, all issues consisted of "one-sided Turkish claims" and "the hurling of threats (against Greece)". There could, however, be dialogue, he added, on issues of economic and commercial co-operation, as well as on matters related to tourism and culture.
Mr. Stephanopoulos arrived in Athens Monday on the third and final leg of a fact-finding tour of the region which also took him to Ankara and Nicosia. He delivered an address on US policy in the region Monday night at Athens College and on Tuesday held consecutive meetings with National Defense Minister Gerassimos Arsenis, Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias, main opposition New Democracy leader Miltiades Evert, Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America, and the Greek premier.
Mr. Stephanopoulos left for northern Greece yesterday morning for a two-day visit to Porto Carras, Halkidiki. He is due to depart for Washington on Friday.
National Defense Minister Gerassimos Arsenis yesterday expressed the hope that the ongoing NATO air strikes on Bosnian Serb targets would not have negative repercussions on the initiatives underway to forge a political settlement of the crisis.
Mr. Arsenis said that NATO aircraft had bombed Bosnian Serb positions round Sarajevo, at Gorazde and Tuzla airport, adding that there were as yet no casualty or damage estimates. The Bosnian Serbs, he said, had retaliated by hitting a Moslem military camp in the area of Sarajevo.
Mr. Arsenis said that the NATO "mechanism" for air strikes was activated automatically, on the basis of a prior UN Security Council resolution, when safe areas, UN peacekeepers and access routes for humanitarian aid were attacked. "That is, without there being any margin for a political process involving discussion and decisions," he added.
Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias later said the ongoing NATO blitz on Bosnian Serb targets could back-fire on peace efforts. "The latest developments could blow over peace efforts and this would be a tragedy," the minister said. "The situation is hellish at a crucial time for the peace process," Mr. Papoulias added.
Meanwhile, government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos reiterated Greece's position that only a political, diplomatic solution can resolve the Bosnian crisis. "There can be no solution with military means," Mr. Venizelos said.
The spokesman said that the Greek government was in contact with Serb President Slobodan Milosevic and Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic, "doing whatever it can for a resumption of dialogue".
Mr. Venizelos said that the Greek government took it for granted that the information used as the basis for attributing responsibility to the Bosnian Serbs for Monday's mortar attack on Sarajevo would be made available to the NATO member states.
Mr. Arsenis said that Greece had been notified by NATO about the air strikes Tuesday night, adding that this time the attack was "qualitatively" different, taking in broader regions with ammunitions, factories and radar installations throughout Bosnia.
We are on the alert, closely following developments and receiving information from all sides," Mr. Arsenis said, estimating that the NATO air strikes backed by Rapid Reaction Force artillery had not, "for the moment", resulted in many casualties among the Bosnian Serbs.
Mr. Arsenis said that "according to the information we have", a meeting did indeed take place on Monday between Mr. Milosevic, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his army commander General Ratko Mladic, at which Mr. Karadzic authorized Mr. Milosevic to represent Bosnian Serbs in peace talks. "This development creates greater hope for defusing the crisis," Mr. Arsenis said.
Main opposition New Democracy party leader, Miltiades Evert, said there were destabilizing forces in the region which did not want peace. "I believe we have reached the final stage... In my view, peace and common sense will prevail in the end," he added.
Commenting on the NATO air strikes against Bosnian Serb positions, New Democracy Vice-President Ioannis Varvitsiotis said that the reaction of the international community was to be "expected" after the UN blamed the Bosnian Serbs for Monday's mortar attack on Sarajevo. Mr. Varvitsiotis expressed the hope that there would be no expansion of military operations.
ND spokesman Vassilis Manginas expressed concern over the precarious situation in Bosnia, saying "it might get completely out of control with the danger of (the conflict) spreading to the broader region".
Political Spring party leader Antonis Samaras said NATO air strikes in Bosnia were "one-sided", adding that "they will offer nothing towards finding a peaceful solution and will lead to an expansion of the crisis with unpredictable consequences for the entire Balkan region."
Addressing a seminar for party members yesterday, Mr. Samaras spoke of selective sensitivity shown by certain leaders of the international community with which "they consolidate the feeling that they are acting on the basis of safeguarding their interests and not achieving the desired peace and protecting the human rights of all nationalities in former Yugoslavia."
The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) criticized both the Alliance and the Greek government. "The recent developments confirm that as long as NATO is in the region, as long as governments such as the Greek government tolerate and provide military facilities for a dirty war, not only will that war continue, it will also spread throughout the Balkans with dramatic consequences in the near future," a KKE announcement said.
The KKE called on the government to close the air base at Aktion and to terminate Greece's participation in the Western European Union (WEU) naval blockade in the region.
The Coalition of the Left and Progress said the NATO shelling escalated violence and prevent peace and stressed the need to reinforce diplomatic initiatives. It called on the government to avoid becoming "entangled" in the military operations. The party also expressed concern at the fact that the EU Foreign Ministers Council did not convene an extraordinary meeting to discuss developments in the region, while urging the need for a meeting of the European Parliament.
Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou yesterday held a 45-meeting meeting with US Congressman Benjamin Gilman, chairman of the Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee, on issues including developments in Bosnia. Mr. Gilman later held meetings with Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias and main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert.
Albanian Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi will kick-off a two-day visit to Greece today which is expected to deal resolutely with some of the thornier problems in relations between Athens and Tirana.
Mr. Serreqi is scheduled to have talks with his Greek counterpart Karolos Papoulias, Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis, main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert and President Kostis Stephanopoulos.
Impressive progress has been achieved in relations between Greece and Albania over the past months but certain tenacious problems - such as that of schools for the 300,000-strong ethnic Greek minority and legal status of 150,000 Albanian illegal migrants - will be discussed at Mr. Serreqi and Mr. Papoulias' meeting.
There has been impressive progress in bilateral committees on contentious issues, set up after Mr. Papoulias made a fence-building visit to Albania in March this year. Then, Tirana pledged to ensure the opening of Greek minority schools in exchange for legalization of Albanian workers in Greece.
According to reports, Albania is in principle positive towards the Greek request but has proposed the opening of schools only if an adequate number of pupils exist which, according to reports, should exceed 30.
On its part, Albania has called on the Greek government to legalize a big number of illegal immigrants, a request the government is facing positively, but the number of Albanians entitled to have seasonal and legal employment has not yet been defined. The two governments are expected to reaffirm their will for a further improvement in their relations.
However, the signing of a friendship and co-operation agreement is still pending and is not expected to happen in the next few days. What is most likely is the signing of the agreement in Tirana in autumn during the visit President Kostis Stephanopoulos will pay to Tirana.
Mr. Serreqi is expected to discuss the issue when he meets President Stephanopoulos. The officials said Mr. Papoulias and Mr. Serreqi would also review latest developments in Bosnia and Belgrade's reported plan to settle Serb refugees from the Krajina enclave in Croatia in the province of Kosovo. Mr. Serreqi will leave Athens on Saturday morning.
The current accounts deficit widened in May compared with the same month last year, due to an increase in the trade deficit, according to figures released yesterday by the Bank of Greece. In May, the current accounts deficit stood at 737 million dollars, compared to 670 million dollars in the same month of 1994.
In the period January-May 1995, the current accounts deficit totaled 2,234 million dollars, against 777 million dollars in the corresponding five-month period last year.
According to the central bank, the widening of the deficit in May was due to the faster growth of the trade deficit as compared with the increase in the invisibles surplus. In May 1995, the trade deficit amounted to 1,655 million dollars, compare d to 1,322 million dollars in May 1994, while the invisibles surplus totaled 918 million dollars, against 652 million dollars in May last year.
In the five-month period January-May 1995, the trade deficit reached 7,265 million dollars, against 5,686.4 million dollars in the same period of 1994.
The Hellenic Vehicles Industry (ELBO) has recently signed three large contracts for the construction of urban transport buses and garbage collection vehicles. The agreements concern the construction of 15 buses for Singapore, another 15 for the Czech Republic and 90 garbage collection vehicles for the Greek armed forces, ELBO president Argyris Hatzipetrou said yesterday. He added that even larger orders are expected from Singapore and Romania over the next five years. The value of total exports in 1995 is expected to surpass 1.8 billion drachmas.
Parliament ratified the revised Spata airport contract in the early hours of the morning, with 52 votes in favor and 44 votes against. Fifty-one ruling party PASOK deputies and independent Michalis Papaconstantinou voted in favor while 43 opposition deputies (ND 37, Political Spring 3, KKE 3) and one PASOK deputy voted against. One PASOK deputy voted "present" while three PASOK deputies were absent.
Meanwhile, the roadblocks at the major crossroads at Stavros Ayias Paraskevis were expected to be lifted at midnight last night after thousands of motorists were inconvenienced for the second consecutive day. Traffic was diverted to and from Mesogia through side streets.
Residents and local government organizations of municipalities in proximity to the proposed airport, who had blocked the junction since Tuesday, were demanding that the draft bill on the new airport be debated in the plenum of Parliament, rather than in its summer recess session.
Earlier, at midday, a public prosecutor gave protesters a few hours to remove their vehicles or face prosecution. Local mayors told the prosecutor they would leave at midnight, the time when the bill ratifying the contract on the airport's construction would be sanctioned in principle in Parliament. The protest has been organized by the municipalities of Spata, Markopoulo and Peania, with the support of local residents.
In Parliament, meanwhile, Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis and former premier Constantine Mitsotakis clashed during the discussion of the revised contract for construction of the new Athens airport at Spata.
The former premier, whose government had signed the initial contract, defended the merits of the original and referred to "a network of economic and publishing interests" that would benefit from the revised contract.
He charged that the present government's "renegotiation aimed at nothing else than the distribution of booty to contractors", citing telecommunications conglomerate Intracom boss Socrates Kokkalis and publisher Giorgos Bobolas as likely 'beneficiaries', and adding that subcontractors would share 350 billion drachmas.
Mr. Laliotis rejected the charges, saying that a long and hard renegotiation had overcome the negative aspects of the original contract, and that the selection of the subcontractors was in the competence of the consortium, and not the government's. PASOK has never been and will never be dependent on economic interests, he added.
Alternate Environment and Public Works Minister Costas Geitonas said that in contrast to the initial contract, the revised one was transparent, and maintained two principles, namely legality and the promotion of the public interest.
Political Spring party parliamentary spokesman Andreas Lentakis described the contract as of "colonial" character, and said his party would vote against ratification, since the government had rejected its proposals for improvements.
Addressing a party gathering, Political Spring party leader Antonis Samaras stated his party would vote against the bill ratifying the contract, and charged both major parties with playing "a dishonest game".
He added that Political Spring was, right from the start, in favor of a modern national airport, on three conditions, namely, that the contract would be transparent and safeguard the public interest, be fair to the residents of the area and not have a diverse effect on the environment.
Communist Party (KKE) parliamentary spokesman Dimitris Kostopoulos described the contract as "the worst in every respect".
Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos yesterday described as "particularly interesting" the proposal of an international consortium to purchase Skaramangas Shipyards, the largest shipbuilding and ship-repair yards in the Mediterranean. An interministerial committee Tuesday gave the green light for the proposal to be examined.
Mr. Venizelos reiterated statements by Industry Minister Costas Simitis Tuesday that no decision had yet been taken to sell the shipyards, but simply that the group's proposal would be examined. The spokesman said that, as requested, the group had deposited a 250-million-drachma bond with the Bank of Piraeus, while the Industry Ministry yesterday had received letters from three of the companies participating in the group confirming their interest in the purchase.
The three - Jurong Shipyards Ltd. (Singapore), Ofer Brothers Management Ltd. (Israel) and Tanker Pacific Management Ltd. (Singapore) - confirmed in the letters their intention of participate in a group of shareholders for the purchase of the yards, the ministry said.
The announcement added that Nafsi, which represents the group in Greece and will manage the yards, was assuring the ministry that the other two members of the consortium - Kvaerner Kimek A.S. (Norway) and I.H.I.S.A (Japan) - would be sending similar letters.
Industry Minister Costas Simitis said that as of next week all the participants in the group represented by Nafsi will be called to the Industry Ministry for negotiations. "The negative or positive recommendation to the committee (on whether to proceed) will be formed depending on who will show up and what they will commit to," he said. He added the committee would meet again in 15 days' time to consider its final decision.
Meanwhile, National Defense Minister Gerassimos Arsenis speaking to the press about developments in the shipyards, said that according to the law on the privatization of the Skaramangas Shipyards, the implementation of a contract to build naval frigates was binding.
The opposition continued to object yesterday to the government's decision to examine the Nafsi bid. In a related development, main opposition New Democracy spokesman Vassilis Manginas described Mr. Simitis' decisions on the Skaramangas Shipyards as "a monument to frivolity and inconsistency".
He accused Mr. Simitis of reneging on positions stated by the government just a few days ago, deceiving workers at the yards and of overseeing "opaque" procedures.
Political Spring party leader Antonis Samaras said the sale of the shipyards was characterized by "non-transparency" and "lack of social sensitivity." He said such governmental decisions led to the "reindustrialization of the country" and increased the problem of unemployment.
A delegation of Skaramangas Shipyards workers yesterday walked out of a meeting at the Industry Ministry, with a workers' representative telling the press that "we can no longer tolerate the deceit by the Industry Ministry and the mockery, especially from (Alternate Minister Christos) Rokofyllos." "The only solution we have left is to mobilize ourselves," he said.
Workers walked off yesterday and began a protest in front of the Industry Ministry. On Friday morning they will participate in a three-hour work stoppage organized by the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE).
Meanwhile, GSEE President Christos Protopappas said in Kavala yesterday that he disagreed with the government's option. "I disagree with the solution being promoted by the government on the issue of the shipyards. I consider that the 51-49 per cent option (retaining state control) is the best possible solution, given that we have not yet analyzed the future of the shipbuilding sector in Greece". "I disagree with the loss of jobs at the shipyards and I support the struggle of the workers in them," he added.
Main opposition leader, New Democracy president Miltiades Evert, yesterday said Greek shipping was a strategic sector and a development field and constituted Greece's "most powerful weapon" in the European Union.
It is the 'weapon' that the big powers always take into serious consideration when planning their operations," Mr. Evert said. He was speaking to a host of shipowners during an official lunch at the Piraeus Marine Club at which the ND leader presented party positions in relation to Greece's profit-yielding maritime sector.
New Democracy is planning, and is ready to move with deliberation and without delay for the implementation of programmes aiming at (further) development of shipping activities," he said. He also referred to the necessity for the creation of free trade zones in Kalamata, Crete, Volos, Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis.
Concerning the shipbuilding industry, which Mr. Evert described as another "strategic sector for both the industrial and maritime development of the country," he stressed that the shipyards ought to be modernized and learn to operate as private enterprises, outside state protectionism.
He further said that in co-operation with the Greek Shipowners Union and the Panhellenic Shipping Federation, ND was drafting policy with the aim of attracting more youth to the shipping profession, as well as upgrading professional training with the establishment of higher institutes in line with international standards and new developments in shipping technologies.
Turning to other issues, Mr. Evert said the party would reinforce efforts within the framework of the GATT negotiations so that deregulation of sea transport services will lead to international agreement for the freezing of protectionist measures by third countries and the eventual abolition of such measures.
Otherwise, he added, ND would focus efforts on removing shipping from the GATT negotiations agenda, out of fear of flag variation legalization, a step which would restrict Greek shipping activities.
Concluding, Mr. Evert said that Piraeus could and should emerge as an international shipping and finance centre, "since Greece's Merchant Marine is a vital sector of the national economy, and should be dealt with outside party interests."
Constantine Mitsotakis, former prime minister and honorary president of the main opposition party New Democracy, yesterday had a meeting with Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America.
Following the meeting, Mr. Mitsotakis expressed his regret to the press over Iakovos' decision to resign adding that he was certain that the archbishop would continue, in this critical period for Greece's national issues, to offer his good offices.
Iakovos said the meeting focused on the country's national issues. He added that until the issue of his resignation had been finalized "I will continue to offer as many services as I am able to." Iakovos declined comment on the shelling in Sarajevo saying that he wanted to be briefed, prior to making statements, "by the Bishop of Herzegovina and two members of the Bosnian Serb cabinet". Mr. Mitsotakis also declined to comment on the issue.
Greece will defend the rights of women as well as their participation in decision-making in the whole spectrum of political, economic and social life, Under-secretary to the Prime Minister's Office, Maria Arseni, told a press conference yesterday. Ms Arseni was speaking to the press before her departure, at the head of the Greek delegation, for Beijing to attend the 4th UN World Conference on Women, September 4-15.
She said that in her capacity as Vice-President of the Western group at the Conference, she had arranged a heads of Balkan national delegations' meeting to prepare a list of issues concerning the region, which she will submit to the conference.
Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos yesterday expressed the government and the prime minister's "grave sorrow" for the deaths of three workers at the state-owned Gunpowder and Cartridge factory, PYRKAL, at Elefsina, yesterday. The director of the factory and two senior chemists were arrested yesterday by police and charged with manslaughter arising from negligence.
President Kostis Stephanopoulos yesterday addressed a message of congratulations to Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze on escaping an assassination attempt on Tuesday. President Shevardnadze escaped with cuts and bruises after a car exploded near his cortege in the yard of the parliament building.