Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 99-04-20

Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Prolongation of the Kosovo crisis creates more problems,PM tells UN chief

[02] Tsohatzopoulos press conference on Kosovo, related issues

[03] Meeting of Balkan nations'officials in Athens

[04] Respect for int'l law among Athens' conditions for ratification of new NATO structure

[05] Greece comments on results of Turkish elections

[06] Papantoniou airs Greek concerns over Kosovo crisis to Blair

[07] Public opinion poll on Greek stance vis-a-vis NATO bombings

[08] Scientists on the lookout for fallout from NATO bombings

[09] Stocks plunge on fears of lasting Yugoslav war

[10] Alpha Credit Bank to seek Dr 120 bln capital boost

[11] Insurance companies show higher profits

[12] European business conference to be held in Athens

[13] FT reports note Greek investors' immunity to Kosovo crisis

[14] Athens Foreign Exchange

[01] Prolongation of the Kosovo crisis creates more problems,PM tells UN chief

NEW YORK, 20/04/1999 (ANA - M. Georgiadou)

"The prolongation of this crisis is leading to even more difficult and complicated problems. The alliance that has been formed against Yugoslavia wants the pacification of the region, but this pacification must be sought through different and various means, but under the specific conditions set by NATO.

"The United Nations must play a role. Mr. Annan must think which initiatives are possible for us to be able to arrive at a solution, a solution through political means. We believe that at the present moment political means are a must, and that the problem cannot be dealt with only through military means. We need diplomatic initiatives," he said after a round of talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan regarding Kosovo and Cyprus.

"If the bombings continue for a prolonged period, things will get even more complicated. NATO and the allies have set certain terms which are necessary for a resolution of the crisis.

The ethnic cleansing must stop,the refugees must return to their homes and Serbia must accept these terms".

He stressed that any solution should not include any change in borders.

"The Greek position, in common with that of the other NATO member-states, is that there must not be a change in borders. If there is a change in borders, then a new very difficult situation will be created in the Balkans. We must not complicate the problem," he emphasised.

He said Greece had proceeded on two fronts with regard to a solution to the crisis.

"One sector is the humanitarian. We have already sent significant amounts of aid to neighbouring countries. These amounts are only second compared to other countries' and Greeks are in the field to distribute it.

"The second point is what we do afterwards, to repair the damage which is continuing. We have called a conference of representatives of neighbouring countries in Athens today, who will discuss this issue, along with that of humanitarian aid," he said.

The prime minister also discussed the Cyprus issue with Mr. Annan, and emphasised that this also needed to be tackled.

"The United Nations has entered into a commitment to deal with the problem, it must deal with it. Within this wider problem there is a narrower one, that of restricting military forces on the island. This problem needs to be tackled immediately.

"Cyprus made a step towards the end of last year, by deciding not to deploy the S-300 missiles. The US, other countries and the UN had provided assurances that there would be moves to demilitarise the island. These moves must begin. There will be a new Turkish government in the next few weeks. We hope this new Turkish government will cooperate towards this end, " he said.

Responding to questions, Mr. Simitis said a meeting with Turkish President Suleyman Demirel on the sidelines of events marking the 50th anniversary of NATO's creation was possible but would not be extensive or lead to discussion of all issues.

"Nevertheless, such meetings are useful as they provide the opportunity for an exchange of views," he said.

He also emphasised that there was no link between the Kosovo crisis and Greek-Turkish relations.

"I believe that there is not direct relation between Greek-Turkish relations and Kosovo, as some ill-conceived claims suggested. I do not think that one issue can have an impact on the other. In any case, I think cooperation between Greece and Turkey on Kosovo is fully satisfactory," he said.

Responding to another question, Mr. Simitis said a solution for Kosovo was possible within the preconditions set, as most countries, including France and Germany , who had expressed similar thoughts as Greece, desired a speedy solution.

In statements to Greek reporters after his arrival in New York late on Sunday, the Greek premier said NATO had to redefine its role and set new rules of operation to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

"NATO was founded during the Cold War era, the stand-off between the two camps. That era has long gone and there is need now, at the dawn of the 21st century, to redefine its role, to set its rules of operation, find the ways of responding to the challe nges of the new era. There are many issues for discussion."

He emphasised that the new rules should meet Greece's needs to respond to the special conditions of the region and its own interests.

"Greece has a twin identity. It participates in these supranational structures, but is also a Balkan country, it belongs to SE Europe, and is part of developments in the Mediterranean. It has special problems, its own interests, its own pursuits in this area.

"Therefore, any rules and arrangements that may be agreed in the new framework must also serve Greece's aim, that is to respond to the special conditions in the area, they must serve its own special interests and goals, " he said.

Athens News Agency

[02] Tsohatzopoulos press conference on Kosovo, related issues

Athens, 20/04/1999 (ANA)

Mr. Tsohatzopoulos, who was speaking at a press conference, referred, among others, to the issue of allied forces passing through Greece and Greece's initiative for a political solution to the Kosovo crisis.

On the question of allied forces passing through the country, Mr. Tsohatzopoulos invoked Article 28 of the constitution by which Article 27 is covered which calls for a law to be issued in such a case.

"We insist that an exit exists which will lead to a mutual cessation of hostilities and to a course for a diplomatic solution. The part of this plan which we are proposing anticipates the safe return of refugees as a first step. NATO must insist that Be lgrade's acceptance of an immediate return of refugees, with security guarantees by an international peacekeeping force, is an inescapable humanitarian mandate," he said.

"Secondly, and simultaneously, NATO must make it clear, in the most categorical way, that Yugoslavia's territorial integrity and sovereignty in Kosovo is secure. These are two basic preconditions," he added.

"Immediate measures which must be taken for this political solution to go ahead are: With Belgrade's consent, the initial creation of safe regions with an international protection force for the urgent handling of the refugees' return to their homes, or close to them, at least in the southern regions of Kosovo," he went on to say.

"And secondly, the return of the remaining refugees in other regions, and I mean regions in northern Kosovo, with Belgrade's responsibility, with the existence of international observers to enable an immediate end to hostilities and bombings. In paralle l, I have said before and I do not have to repeat that the economic restructuring plan and the regional security plan must move with this solution. All these three directions must proceed in parallel," Mr. Tsohatzopoulos said.

He further said Greece's contribution to refugee relief has gained international recognition.

The Greek minister added that the armed forces, which guarantee security and peace in Greece, played a leading role, together with Italy, intervening in one of the aspects of the drama in the Kosovo crisis, adding that the contribution of the Greek mili tary in tackling the problem is also recognised by the refugees.

Mr. Tsohatzopoulos said Greece was the sole country in the world which sent three trucks with humanitarian aid to Pristina three days ago, through non- governmental organisations, to relieve both the Kosovars in Kosovo and the Yugoslavs with the acceptan ce of Yugoslavia and NATO.

He said that his meetings with the US Ambassador to Athens are aimed at guarantees being provided on the part of the US for the security of non- governmental organisations active in the region to provide humanitarian aid.

Reiterating Greece's position on a political solution to the Kosovo crisis, Mr. Tsohatzopoulos warned that ensuing developments are leading to an all out war with disastrous consequences for all the Balkan peoples.

Mr. Tsohatzopoulos noted that NATO placed exorbitant weight on military operations and did not proceed with relevant diplomatic initiatives and as a result the alliance's evaluation that the option of military operations would force Yugoslavia's political and military leadership to back down has proved to be wrong.

On the contrary, he added, NATO's operations have rendered the Serbian factor intransigent, which is continuing cleanup operations. He called on NATO to give outlets to Yugoslavia to enable it to choose between peace or war.

Mr. Tsohatzopoulos categorically stated that no request has been made so far for the country to provide further facilities to NATO forces concerning the possibility of ground operations against Yugoslavia.

Mr. Tsohatzopoulos was commenting on reports of the alliance making a request either for technical support for "Apache" helicopter gunships destined for Albania or the hosting of NATO forces or for stopovers of NATO aircraft.

Referring to the passage of allied forces through the country's territory, Mr. Tsohatzopoulos reiterated that they concern solely the formation of the multinational force which will be called on to supervise peace in the region, provided there is such a prospect.

He added that the increase of NATO forces in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) took place following a request by the republic in question to strengthen its presence and has no relation with NATO's military operations against Yugoslavia.

Athens News Agency

[03] Meeting of Balkan nations'officials in Athens

Athens, 20/04/1999 (ANA)

"They have told us verbally that there is no cause for alarm, at least with respect to radiation, but we shall wait for the written report," Mr. Papandreou said shortly before an informal meeting of senior foreign ministry officials of Balkan countries.

The environmental aspect of the Kosovo crisis was one of the issues discussed at yesterday's meeting. Other issues were the security of countries in the region - particularly the safeguarding of territorial integrity and respect for existing borders, de mocratisation - especially from the viewpoint of human and minority rights - and the economic development of the Balkans through infrastructure works with the contribution of the international community.

Officials from Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Greece, Romania and Turkey are attending the meeting.

Mr. Papandreou said the international community should not treat the Balkans "in piecemeal fashion" whenever there is a crisis.

What is needed, he added, is the formulation of a single policy not only by the European Union but also by NATO and other international entities such as Russia.

Mr. Papandreou said a representative of the Belgrade Institute of Economic Studies had been invited but was unable to attend because of the unsettled situation in Yugoslavia.

The conclusions of the meeting, Mr. Papandreou said, would be conveyed to Greece's EU partners at the next General Affairs Council on April 26-27 which will be attended by Alternate Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis.

Replying to reporters, Mr. Papandreou said the conclusion from his recent contacts indicated that there was a generally negative stance towards the possibility of NATO ground troops being used in Yugoslavia.

He said also that there had so far been no discussion in NATO about the possibility of rebel Kosovo Albanians being used in any ground operations.

Athens News Agency

[04] Respect for int'l law among Athens' conditions for ratification of new NATO structure

Athens, 20/04/1999 (ANA)

Speaking at a press conference, he said Athens seeks, among others, respect for international law; the securing of legalisation for either NATO or Western European Union (WEU) initiatives through the UN and international legality; a NATO guarantee for members' security; full cooperation with Russia and the Ukraine; creation of a defence and security policy at European level, and finally, inclusion of regional cooperation - such as in the Balkans - in a wider plan for political security in the region.

He added that through ratification of the alliance's new structure and activation of a NATO subheadquarters in Greece, the country will be secured while a long-standing deficit in relations between NATO and Greece will be overcome.

Mr. Tsohatzopoulos reminded that Greece's policy is consistent with its commitments. He also clarified that Greece's policy is neither a policy of incorporation nor a policy of isolation or non-participation.

The Greek minister observed that NATO's participation is inadequate for the country's security, necessitating national defence planning to confront the threat emanating from another NATO member-state.

Athens News Agency

[05] Greece comments on results of Turkish elections

Athens, 20/04/1999 (ANA)

"It is Greece's wish that Turkey not find itself amid a period or phase of instability..." acting government spokesman Nikos Athanasakis said yesterday, adding that Athens hopes Ankara will follow democratic processes, as encouraged by the European Union, and concentrate on cooperation, friendship and peace in the region.

In a related development, Foreign Minister George Papandreou was quoted in an article published by the Ankara-based "Turkish Daily News" as saying that he was ready to do anything to support Greek national interests and assist in the improvement of relations with all neighbouring countries, and mainly, with Turkey.

Mr. Papandreou said he would consider the possibility of visiting Ankara if he was invited, while he added that he "had very good personal communication" with Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem during recent contacts regarding Kosovo humanitarian issues. Finally, main opposition New Democracy party spokesman Aris Spiliotopoulos, commenting on the results of Sunday's general elections in Turkey, said "the rise of Mr. (Bulent) Ecevit to a leading role in the political life in Turkey, but also that of the 'Grey Wolves'...registers as a negative and alarming development: the rise of nationalism in Turkey."

Athens News Agency

[06] Papantoniou airs Greek concerns over Kosovo crisis to Blair

LONDON, 20/04/1999 (ANA - P. Loukopoulos)

Mr. Papantoniou is the current chairman of the EBRD's board, a rotating position.

During the meeting, Mr. Blair and Mr. Papantoniou discussed the reconstruction of the region following the war and agreed on a plan in line with the 1948 US sponsored "Marshall Plan", in which Greece will play an active role, both as an European Union member-state and as a member of the EBRD.

Mr. Papantoniou also noted that Greece pays a disproportionate cost due to the geographical proximity to the conflict.

On his part, Mr. Blair said he understood the Greek stance on the issue, but added that NATO will insist on its strategy until Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic accepts the terms set by the alliance.

Athens News Agency

[07] Public opinion poll on Greek stance vis-a-vis NATO bombings

Athens, 20/04/1999 (ANA)

According to a poll published in yesterday's edition of the Athens daily "Ta Nea", some 57 per cent of respondents said the Greek government should not provide any support to NATO operations. Twenty-six per cent said Athens should continue to provide su pport.

NATO has been using Thessaloniki's airport and port to move supplies and troops into the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Asked whether Greece should leave the alliance, 53 per cent of respondents said no and 25.7 per cent said yes.

No more than 4 per cent of those polled gave US President Bill Clinton a positive rating, while some six in 10 of those polled said they had a positive opinion of Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic.

In an interview in the same paper, former foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos came out against allowing NATO to use the port of Thessaloniki for any preparations for a NATO ground invasion of Kosovo.

Mr. Pangalos, who predicted the bombing would continue for about four to five months, said the longer the crisis continued, the higher the prospect of a partitioning of Kosovo.

He added, however, that a Greek veto at NATO would have no effect.

Athens News Agency

[08] Scientists on the lookout for fallout from NATO bombings

Athens, 20/04/1999 (ANA)

The Thessaloniki professor added that southerly winds that have been blowing over the past few days have acted as a shield.

Prof. Christos Zerefos, a professor of atmospheric physics at Thessaloniki's Aristotelion University, said that locally, things were bad, but "on an inter-state level, I don't think that we shall have severe repercussions".

Of course, he added, one could not know precisely what was burning from the bombings of the plants at Pancevo and Belgrade.

"I think we must wait a bit. We are monitoring the situation through readings, I and my colleagues at the University of Thrace are on full alert. What we do know is that a nitrogen-containing fertilizers plant burned yesterday. Fortunately, the ammonia tank did not explode. If it had, there would have been deaths on the spot. The toxic gases released had local repercussions," Prof. Zerefos said.

He said the weather conditions until now had been such that air from the bombed Serbian areas had reached Greece only a few times.

Noting that the Axios river (between Greece and FYROM) was currently not guarded, Mr. Zerefos warned that there would be a major problem if the river was polluted with petrol.

Although Mr. Zerefos was very cautious in his assessments, he noted that Greece's environmental connection with the environment of Serbia and the Kosovo province was "unfortunately such that one cannot rule out toxic substances from there being carried over here with relative ease".

Thessaloniki University professor of climatology Christos Balafoutis said there was no immediate risk of Greece's environment being polluted by the bombings of the petrochemicals plant at Pancevo, while for the time being indications were that the air currents were diverting the toxic cloud away from Greece.

He added, however, that atmospheric readings needed to be taken immediately to measure the toxic content following the latest bombings.

Deputy Environment Minister Theodoros Koliopanos, on his part, will bring up the issue of the environmental effects of the war during his address to a UN conference in New York on viable development tomorrow.

Mr. Koliopanos is expected to refer to the consequences of the aerial bombardment of Yugoslavia on the environment not only in the immediate region but also in the wider region of the Balkans and the Mediterranean.

He will ask the UN's Committee on viable development to set up a body to monitor and catalogue the damage to the natural environment and demand that those responsible for causing the damage undertake the respective restoration. Mr. Koliopanos also said no problem has so far been noted from measurements.

Health Minister Lambros Papadimas said later that a meeting would be held at the environment ministry this morning with the participation of experts and environment and health ministry experts to discuss stepping up and coordinating checks.

Mr. Papadimas said it was logical for the public to be concerned about the environmental repercussions but that all health and environment ministry checks so far had failed to detect any radioactivity or toxic contamination in either the air, land or water.

These checks were being carried out around the clock, the minister said. They will continue and be stepped up over the next few days.

He denied however that Greece was about to take any specific measures, saying that experts in northern and central Greece have not recommended any specific measures needed to be taken.

There is also coordination between Greek services and those in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, he added.

Athens News Agency

[09] Stocks plunge on fears of lasting Yugoslav war

Athens, 20/04/1999 (ANA)

The general index ended 4.87 percent down at 3,386.09 points, off the day's lows.

Turnover was 406.221 billion drachmas and volume 39,324,986 shares.

The total included the transfer of 14,281,660 shares worth 272.008 billion drachmas in Ionian Bank from Commercial Bank to Alpha Credit Bank, the winner of a recent international tender for the sale of a 51 percent stake in Ionian.

Traders said the failure of diplomatic initiatives to end the war in Yugoslavia and fears of an escalation of the war with the deployment of ground troops in Kosovo discouraged sentiment.

Early estimates by analysts have brought the impact of the Kosovo crisis on the economy to around 300 billion drachmas.

The analysts warn that the crisis could put a brake on the country's gross domestic product from a budgetary target of 3.7 percent growth this year to 3.2 percent.

In addition, they reported signs that inflation would drop only marginally below the 3.0 percent level in April from an earlier forecast of 2.6-2.7 percent.

This also had a negative impact on the market, as a slowdown in the rate of decline of inflation would also slow a drop in interest rates.

Sector indices suffered losses.

Banks fell 5.56 percent, Leasing dropped 5.0 percent, Insurance slumped 4.49 percent, Investment ended 2.38 percent down, Construction was 4.45 percent off, Industrials fell 3.99 percent, Miscellaneous ended 5.52 percent down and Holding dropped 3.10 pe rcent.

The parallel market index for small cap companies ended 6.09 percent off while the FTSE/ASE 20 index dropped 5.29 percent to 2,115.85.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 241 to 45 with another 7 issues unchanged.

Allatini Ceramics, Minerva, Sato, Benroubi, Proodeftiki, Daring, Lanacam and Desmos scored the biggest percentage gains hitting the day's 8.0 percent limit up.

Galis, Sarandopoulos, Ionian Invest, Duty Free Shops, Sfakianakis, Thrace Plastics, Macedonian Plastics, Sanyo, Albio, Viokarpet and Athenian Holdings hit the day's 8.0 percent limit down.

National Bank of Greece ended at 20,150 drachmas, Alpha Credit Bank at 20, 690, Ergobank at 25,895, Ionian Bank at 17,895, Titan Cement at 21,680, Hellenic Petroleum at 2,355, Intracom at 18,250, Minoan Lines at 7,225, Panafon at 7,620 and Hellenic Telecoms at 6,400.

Bond markets edgy in light trade : Bond prices slumped 50-60 basis points in early trade yesterday with sellers dominating the market and action negligible later in the day.

Electronic trade was 54 billion drachmas.

The new ten-year-bond was at 103.45, widening the yield spread with German bunds to 1.93 percent from 1.89 percent.

In the foreign currency market, the drachma retreated against the euro in light trade. Demand for foreign currency was met by commercial banks, and the central bank did not intervene.

At the central bank's daily fix, the euro ended at 325.350 drachmas from 324.420 drachmas in the previous trading session.

Money market rates were flat with the overnight holding at 9.0 percent.

Athens News Agency

[10] Alpha Credit Bank to seek Dr 120 bln capital boost

Athens, 20/04/1999 (ANA)

The transfer of Ionian's equity from Commercial Bank - formerly its main shareholder - to Alpha Credit Bank was completed yesterday through the Athens Stock Exchange. All three banks involved are listed.

Ionian is expected to have merged into Alpha by the spring of 2000 at the latest.

Athens News Agency

[11] Insurance companies show higher profits

Athens, 20/04/1999 (ANA)

In a report on the private insurance sector in Greece, IOBE said the sector was a rapidly growing market, accounting for nearly 1.8 percent of gross domestic product in 1996 from 1.1 percent in 1989.

The rate of increase was also steady. Premiums showed an 11.8 percent rate of growth in the same period, and life insurance accounted for 48.8 percent of the market.

However, the growth in private insurance is partly offset by difficulties.

Impeding progress is a lack of harmonisation between domestic legislation and European Union rules; inadequate supervision of insurance companies; unfair competition; and non-adherence to codes of practice.

Athens News Agency

[12] European business conference to be held in Athens

Athens, 20/04/1999 (ANA)

The ECB's members are distinguished business leaders from Europe, the representatives of major business groups and former ministers.

Founded in 1997, the group is based in Germany and aims to reinforce political and economic cooperation within the framework of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

ECB's president is the head of Gazprom, the Russian natural gas corporation, and its vice-president a board member of Deutsche Bank.

Greece is represented by Prometheus Gas.

Athens News Agency

[13] FT reports note Greek investors' immunity to Kosovo crisis

Athens, 20/04/1999 (ANA)

In an article entitled "Athens rises to high on investor optimism", the financial daily stressed that "first-quarter economic figures have bolstered confidence, indicating that Greece is in line to achieve this year all the convergence targets for entry to the eurozone...Significantly, the EU has endorsed for the first time the finance ministry's projections on inflation and the budget deficit".

Meanwhile, in a separate article entitled "Keep out and stay out", former "Times" director William Rees-Mogg expressed staunch opposition to NATO's engaging in a ground war over Kosovo, stressing that "the military difficulties would be immense, the add itional suffering would be terrible, objectives would be hard to define, the outcome would be uncertain."

"Greece and Hungary would find it politically almost impossible to provide NATO with invasion facilities," each for its own familiar reasons, the article read.

Finally, Mr. Mogg noted that "we know most about the divided attitude of the French government" while the "German government has already come close to breaking NATO's apparent unity with its plan for a negotiated peace, to be based on the United Nations , and to be brokered by the Russians."

Athens News Agency

[14] Athens Foreign Exchange

Athens, 20/04/1999 (ANA)

Parities in Drachmas

Banknotes             Buying  Selling
US Dollar             303.235 310.265
Can.Dollar            204.848 209.598
Australian Dlr        197.735 202.320
Pound Sterling        490.742 502.121
Irish Punt            409.804 419.306
Pound Cyprus          558.079 571.019
Pound Malta           725.580 755.812
Turkish pound (100)     0.072   0.075
French franc           49.202  50.343
Swiss franc           201.614 206.289
Belgian franc           8.001   8.186
German Mark           165.018 168.844
Finnish Mark           54.282  55.541
Dutch Guilder         146.456 149.852
Danish Kr.             43.436  44.443
Swedish Kr.            36.315  37.157
Norwegian Kr.          39.003  39.908
Austrian Sh.           23.455  23.999
Italian lira (100)     16.669  17.055
Yen (100)             257.107 263.068
Spanish Peseta          1.939   1.984
Port. Escudo            1.610   1.647

Foreign Exchange      Buying  Selling
New York              303.235 310.265
Montreal              204.848 209.598
Sydney                197.735 202.320
London                490.742 502.121
Dublin                409.804 419.306
Nicosia               558.079 571.019
Paris                  49.202  50.343
Zurich                201.614 206.289
Brussels                8.001   8.186
Frankfurt             165.018 168.844
Helsinki               54.282  55.541
Amsterdam             146.456 149.852
Copenhagen             43.436  44.443
Stockholm              36.315  37.157
Oslo                   39.003  39.908
Vienna                 23.455  23.999
Milan                  16.669  17.055
Tokyo                 257.107 263.068
Madrid                  1.939   1.984
Lisbon                  1.610   1.647

Athens News Agency

Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article