Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 01-06-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] SE Europe defense ministers condemn insurgency in FYROM

[02] FM says government has not signed agreement on Turkish participation in European army

[03] FM and British envoy discuss European security and defense

[04] FM says next two years among the most crucial for history of Cyprus

[05] Greek premier arrives in Berlin for private meeting with German chancellor

[06] Bill on organized crime approved on first reading in Parliament

[07] Greek Industries Federation adheres to criticism on gov’t policy

[08] Parliament Speaker meets Slovenian president

[09] PASOK secretary says Greece a 'key country' for Balkan peoples

[10] Athens mayor refers to 'Diplomacy of Cities' at UN special meeting

[11] Albanian FM: 'Tsam liberation' report a product of 'sick minds'

[12] Athens Bar Association describes plight of Turkish political prisoners in 'white cells'

[13] Turkish naval exercise 'Seawolf 2001' begins on Wednesday

[14] Greece has biggest para-economy in EU, IOBE study says

[15] Greek, Israeli firms at hi-tech exhibition in Athens this month

[16] Minister estimates a double-digit rate increase in US tourist arrivals in Greece

[17] Slovenian president invites Greek businessmen to invest in his country

[18] Greek stocks find support at 2,900 level

[19] Council of Europe's conference calls for reassessment of attitudes toward the environment

[20] Public works minister presents national town plan on protected zones

[21] Memorial service for first anniversary of Brigadier Saunders' murder

[22] Archbishop Christodoulos makes statement on Angelopoulos' death

[23] French embassy in Athens to stage event honoring Greek veterans of D-Day

[24] 12th annual PSEKA conference begins in Washington

[25] Papantoniou reassures sponsors of Athens 2004 Olympic Games' success

[26] President Clerides receives Austria's Special Representative for EU enlargement

[01] SE Europe defense ministers condemn insurgency in FYROM

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

As expected, the dire situation in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) dominated an informal meeting of the region’s defense ministers in Thessaloniki, which brought together delegations from Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, trouble-plagued FYROM, Romania, Turkey and Slovenia – as well as defense ministers from Italy, the United States and the Ukraine as observers.

In setting the tone for the meeting, FYROM Defense Minister Vlado Buckovski called for a “minute of silence” for the “victims of terrorism”, a request that was honored. Afterwards, he launched into a scathing verbal attack against the Albanian insurgents operating in his country, referring to “sick minds” at one point before leaving the meeting ahead of schedule to return to Skopje.

In a direct call for support towards FYROM on all levels, Buckovski said “generalized proclamations” by the international community over the country's territorial integrity, among others, are not enough.

On his part, Bulgarian Defense Minister Boyko Noev called for increased support by the international community to FYROM, whereas his Greek counterpart Akis Tsohatzopoulos directly referred to "terrorist activities by Albanian paramilitaries".

Conversely, the group of defense ministers also urged Skopje to improve minority rights in the country.

In a joint communique, they stressed "the need to intensify dialogue on inter-ethnic relations in the FYROM parliament and talks between party leaders in view of achieving urgently needed reforms, notably in the field of minority rights."

Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Washington supported Skopje and would assist in efforts to defuse the crisis in the Balkans.

In a press conference afterwards, Rumsfeld also said Washington is in favor of accepting new members into NATO, "there is an open-door policy under certain standing conditions," he said.

Rumsfeld stresses Greece's role in S.E. Europe: Greece's role in southeastern Europe was stressed Wednesday by visiting US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld after talks in Thessaloniki with national defense minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos.

After the meeting, the two officials said they had reaffirmed the excellent bilateral relations between Greece and the US, and Rumsfeld stressed Greece's particular role in S.E. Europe.

Tsohatzopoulos said he had briefed his American counterpart on the need for immediate advancement of a solution to the political problem in Cyprus within the framework of the United Nations, and expressed hope that Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash would return to the intercommunal talks.

He also said that Cyprus' accession to the European Union would give new impetus to Greek-Turkish relations.

The Greek minister said he brought up the issue of European security and defense policy with Rumsfeld, which he said must proceed without delay.

The two officials further agreed on the legal regime governing the activities of US military forces in Greece.

Rumsfeld expressed satisfaction over the constant improvement in Greek-Turkish relations, and intimated that the presence of US troops in the Balkans would continue, since he had ascertained the usefulness of the KFOR during his recent visit to Kosovo.

He added, however, that the countries in the region where international military forces were deployed should, within a reasonable length of time, develop policies and structures that would enable peaceful cohabitation for their peoples.

Rumsfeld declined to take a stand when asked by reporters to comment on statements by western and Balkan officials concerning changes to the existing border status in the Balkans so as to avoid further bloodshed, while Tsohatzopoulos replied that there was no issue of a change of borders.

[02] FM says government has not signed agreement on Turkish participation in European army

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

Papandreou said he is unaware of reports in the international press concerning the European Union adopting alternative scenarios for Turkey's participation in EU decisions touching on security and defense issues and of the existence of a relevant document jointly prepared by Britain, the U.S. and Turkey.

"Clearly, there is no agreement on Turkey's participation in Common Foreign Policy and Security Policy. Turkey's Army General Staff itself took a position yesterday (Tuesday) that it does not agree with the positions expressed by some NATO countries, and it is not only Greece. If a solution is not found, the EU will continue to build its own army and will request, if necessary, cooperation with NATO," he said.

Turkey, according to relevant reports, is negotiating the lifting of its veto against the enactment of the use of NATO bases by European military forces. The reports say that the draft agreement provides Turkey with the possibility of participating in decisions on the European army's intervention in regions neighboring with it.

Referring to Turkey, Papandreou said Turkey is going through a prolonged political and economic crisis and has to choose between its European perspective (necessitating a different position on the Cyprus issue, referring claims to the international court at The Hague and internal reforms) and the perpetuation of its course so far, which is causing perplexity for the neighboring country.

"Nobody can predict what will prevail. However, one can guess that there will be unpredictable and irregular reactions on the part of Turkey," he said.

He further said "the accession course of Cyprus has overturned Turkey's policy of the past decades" since the feeling of Cyprus' security is being strengthened, while in parallel problems are being created for Euro-Turkish rapprochement itself by Turkey's policy on the Cyprus issue.

"Turkey is making vague threats aimed at intercepting the accession course of Cyprus. Our position should be the following: We should face threats with calmness and be prepared, of course, for whatever developments. It is not necessary for us to serve the Turkish side by becoming the crusaders of its policy of threats," Papandreou added.

[03] FM and British envoy discuss European security and defense

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

On the question of European Security and Defense Identity (ESDI), and in light of the British compromise formula regarding Turkey's participation in planning certain operations on an ad hoc basis, diplomatic sources of the foreign ministry said Papandreou reiterated to Madden that Athens does not accept the British proposal (which is also rejected by many other European countries) and that in general it will not accept any proposal reversing or changing decisions taken by the European Council in Nice.

The British compromise formula, tabled last December, anticipates, contrary to decisions taken in Nice, Turkey's participation on an ad hoc basis in the planning of operations in geographical regions related to Turkish national interests, provided means belonging to NATO are used.

[04] FM says next two years among the most crucial for history of Cyprus

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

The event is organized by the Panteios University's International Relations Institute.

Papandreou said Cyprus' accession course "will not be strewn with flowers over the next two years, but will be crowned with success if all the parties in the Greek and Greek Cypriot Parliaments cooperate".

He further said the accession course should be dissociated from a solution to the Cyprus issue, adding that the next two years will be among the most crucial for the history of Cyprus.

Papandreou said turning the Cyprus issue into an international one is of great importance, primarily following the Nice summit and its highlighting as a European affair. This, he added, opens new possibilities.

He also said the deadlock in Turkish insistence is not only stressed by Greece or the UN and the EU, but by many voices in Turkey as well which are showing an increasingly critical stance.

[05] Greek premier arrives in Berlin for private meeting with German chancellor

BERLIN, 07/06/2001 (ANA - P. Stangos)

He is also due to hold talks on Thursday with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

During their private dinner at the state residence of the German leader, the two men are expected to discuss bilateral and European Union issues.

Schroeder hosts such dinners with state leaders, avoiding the publicity of open meetings, inviting leaders to dine with him and his wife, without the pressure exerted by the use of protocol.

According to sources, Schroeder and Simitis will discuss European Union institutional issues, in light of the EU summit in Goteburg, Sweden.

Simitis himself had forecasted his meetings with Schroeder a month ago when he returned from Germany, following a conference of the European Socialist Party (ESP).

At that time he stressed the need for a debate over Schroeder's view on the future of European institutions, which include a federal Europe with more centralized executive authorities and cutbacks on subsidy spending.

Other outstanding issues between the two countries that might be discussed include moving up the date of the purchase of Eurofighters by Greece and the court action of Greek citizens demanding the payment of compensations for events that took place during the Second World War when Greece was occupied by German forces.

[06] Bill on organized crime approved on first reading in Parliament

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

Parliament had approved the first reading of a bill on "protection of the citizen from organized crime" late on Tuesday with eight MPs present.

The 300-member House approved the bill "in-principle" shortly after midnight, after the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and Coalition of Left and Progress (SYN) walked out of the debate in opposition to the bill, which they claimed would curtail citizens' civil rights.

Under Greek parliamentary proceedings, there are three stages to enacting new legislation. A bill is first approved "in principle" (first reading), followed by an article-by-article debate and approval, before a vote is taken on the finalized bill.

During the article-by-article debate on Wednesday, several ruling PASOK MPs took a strongly critical view of the government's proposals.

PASOK MP and former minister Stavros Benos, for example, said he would have voted against the bill if it had been an open vote, and called it a "blow to the justice state and civil rights."

Other ruling party MPs came out against mandatory DNA tests without the subject's consent.

Opposition to the bill was also expressed by former minister Phivos Ioannidis and former Parliament vice-president Panagiotis Kritikos, George Daskalakis and Sifis Valyrakis, all PASOK deputies.

A strong argument in favor of the bill, meanwhile, was made by main opposition New Democracy deputy Dora Bakoyianni, especially in her reference to her late husband Pavlos Bakoyiannis who was himself a victim of a terrorist attack by the elusive "November 17" group in the 80s.

The bill is supported by ND and is supported "in principle" by the Liberals Party.

So far the bill has been passed up to article 5 with six MPs present, while the justice minister has made amendments to articles on DNA testing and leniency for informants.

Under the amendments, subjects testing positive in a DNA test must be notified of the result and have the right to demand a repeat test. The genetic imprints stay with the service and the genetic sample is destroyed.

If a test should come out negative, the genetic sample is destroyed immediately.

As regards leniency measures for those have committed crimes but repent and supply evidence or information that implicates a criminal organization or gang, these can be suspension of their sentence from three to 10 years.

Greek Amnesty International section concerned over terrorism bill: The Amnesty International's Greek section on Wednesday addressed a letter to Justice Minister Mihalis Stathopoulos, expressing concern over repercussions stemming from the possible endorsement "On the protection of the citizen from serious acts by criminal organizations" for the individual rights of citizens.

The organization believes that certain clauses in the bill are contrary both to the Greek constitution and international agreements on individual rights.

Amnesty International observes that the content of the definition for a "criminal organization" is inadequate, while the concept of participation in a criminal organization is not defined clearly.

New forms of investigation introduced, it was added, might lead to arbitrary acts against citizens whose right to private life, confidentiality of communication and confidentiality for their personal data will be lifted without their knowledge or without them being able to raise objections before a judicial authority.

Moreover, it mentions that the clause regarding a DNA probe is contrary to the principle of protection for the individual's personality, while expressing concern over the possibility of the right to a fair trial being circumvented.

[07] Greek Industries Federation adheres to criticism on gov’t policy

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

Following tensions between SEB and the government in recent days, the Federation urged for the beginning of a dialogue on all important issues needing widespread consensus (social security system, education and tax system).

Speaking to reporters during a press conference, SEB's board said the dialogue should include not only the government and its social partners but also all political parties to ensure long-lasting policies.

SEB's chairman, Odysseus Kyriakopoulos, said that "criticism was not necessary something bad" and stressed that Federation noted both the positive (EMU participation, inflation, fiscal policies) and the negative sides of the government policy.

He rejected talk of a secret meeting with New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis and said that SEB has had several meetings also with the prime minister and several cabinet ministers in the past.

SEB stressed that Greek industries did not asked for any special treatment, although it noted that large industries could be included in projects funded by a Third Community Support Framework.

[08] Parliament Speaker meets Slovenian president

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

Kaklamanis stressed Greece's steadfast position on the participation of Cyprus in the next stage of European Union enlargement.

He told Kucan the Greek Parliament "will gladly ratify Slovenia's accession agreement with the EU", immediately after or together with the accession of the Republic of Cyprus, regardless of whether the island republic's political problem will have been resolved by then.

The two men also agreed that respect for human rights and existing borders should prevail in southeastern Europe, while peace and stability should be restored.

The issue of Cyprus joining European structures was also raised by Kaklamanis during his meeting with Torejon, who agreed that Cyprus fulfills conditions for EU accession.

[09] PASOK secretary says Greece a 'key country' for Balkan peoples

BUCHAREST, 07/06/2001 (ANA - P. Dimitropoulos)

"I ascertain what the Greeks forget, that Greece constitutes a strong regional European force in the region," Skandalidis said after meeting Romanian President Ion Iliescu.

He said Greece constitutes a "key country" for Balkan peoples and should work for the benefit of stability, peace and development in the peninsula.

Commenting on Greek-Romanian relations, Skandalidis termed them excellent, adding that they constitute a model of cooperation and that wherever problems exist they are resolved.

Earlier, Skandalidis met with the Mayor of Bucharest and Democratic Party President Traian Basescu, while in the evening he was due to watch a cultural event entitled "2001 Peace Odyssey", organized in Bucharest with the participation of artists from Balkan countries.

[10] Athens mayor refers to 'Diplomacy of Cities' at UN special meeting

NEW YORK, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

The program began at the initiative of the city of Athens.

"This program 'worked' and brought the desired results. Therefore, let us declare ourselves 'present' in the great changes taking place all over the earth. Let us bring more peace, stability and democracy to the world. And do not forget that in the future cities will have important political roles. One day we shall have what we currently call global democracy. The base of this global democracy shall be Athens, the city which gave birth to the ideals of democracy, and the cities and citizens shall be the protagonists," Avramopoulos said in his address.

[11] Albanian FM: 'Tsam liberation' report a product of 'sick minds'

TIRANA, 07/06/2001 (ANA - I. Patso)

Milo said that "ideas related to the existence or creation of a so-called 'Tsamouria Liberation Army' are the product, unfortunately, of sick Albanian minds outside the Albanian state ... (minds) that create the appearance that Albanians are a destabilizing element in the Balkans."

The Albanian FM added that such notions are only circulated by extreme nationalist circles outside Albania, and by people attempting to stay in the "limelight" by "seeing liberation armies everywhere".

He made the statements on state television during a program that also featured Danish Foreign Affairs Minister Mogens Lykketoft.

Athens mostly dismissed the report in subsequent days, with direct references by the foreign ministry and Foreign Minister George Papandreou himself. At the time, a Greek foreign ministry spokesman simply warned that "UCK forces, with their terrorist activities in FYROM and Kosovo, continue to be a destabilizing factor in the Balkans. For this reason they should be condemned and isolated by all countries".

The report first surfaced when someone who identified himself as "Ahmeti" gave an interview to an Australian radio network that was broadcast last Wednesday. In that interview, he claimed he was representing the so-called "National Liberation Army" (UCK) active in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), while saying that a "Tsamouria Liberation Army" had been established and would operate in Greece's northwest corner - the border prefecture of Thesprotia - in order to struggle for the rights of some "one million oppressed Albanians" in the area.

Current estimates show around 45,000 people residing in Thesprotia.

A stern denial came last Friday from the guerrilla cadre who ostensibly made the comments two days earlier.

In an interview with the BBC, UCK representative Ali Ahmeti said all information regarding "action" in Greece was false and damaging the separatist group's relations with Athens.

"I never made such statements," he told the BBC, adding: "nor did I ever think to table such issues. I believe, however, that it is a deliberate action of certain circles, aimed at establishing obstacles to the democratic process in FYROM and the Balkans."

A few thousand Tsam Albanians did, in fact, live in Thesprotia prefecture before World War II, only to be driven out of the country by wartime partisans for collaborating with Axis forces then occupying allied Greece.

[12] Athens Bar Association describes plight of Turkish political prisoners in 'white cells'

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

The delegation members, who visited Turkey, said that torture takes place in Turkey on a daily basis, hundreds of people "disappear" and their bodies are found after a long period of time in ditches and fields in remote areas.

Prisoners in the white cells are not aware whether it is night or day, it was added, and music is played on a 24-hour basis leading them to madness, particularly those who are kept in single cells.

Six complexes of white cells are currently in operation in Turkey, while another five will be created. A total of 350 prisoners are currently living in white cells.

[13] Turkish naval exercise 'Seawolf 2001' begins on Wednesday

ISTANBUL, 07/06/2001 (ANA - E. Aretaios)

[14] Greece has biggest para-economy in EU, IOBE study says

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

The study on tax evasion and the black economy, conducted by a team of university professors headed by public economy professor at the Panteios University, Nikos Tatsos, estimated the para-economy in Greece at 36.7 percent of GDP, according to 1997 figures, and was comparatively the most extensive in the European Union.

It calculated revenues moved via the black economy at 14-15 trillion drachmas.

The study attributed the rise in the para-economy in Greece chiefly to the country's taxation system which it said was "highly centralized and complex", the distribution of the tax burden, which was "inversely progressive", the inefficiency of the tax administration, and the extent of corruption in public services.

It is noted that Greece and Italy have the highest rate of corruption among the EU member states.

According to the study, the sectors of state activity with the highest degree of corruption are health, tax offices and city planning offices, while particular mention is made of illegal employment and evasion of contributions (to social security and pension funds), which are directly linked with the black economy and tax evasion.

The report estimated that the cash-strapped state social security foundation IKA was deprived of some 700 billion drachmas in contributions, or 30 percent of annual revenues, as a result.

[15] Greek, Israeli firms at hi-tech exhibition in Athens this month

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

The event is organized by the Israeli embassy's trade office and the Israeli Exports Institute, in cooperation with the Federation of Greek IT and Telecommunications Companies (SEPE).

Expanding bilateral ties in the sector, an exchange of know-how and joint business initiatives in the areas of new technologies, data processing and telecoms are some of the goals, according to the organizers.

[16] Minister estimates a double-digit rate increase in US tourist arrivals in Greece

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

The minister, who is visiting the United States since Sunday and will conclude his visit on Thursday, met with US businessmen to promote the development by private funds of state tourist real estate assets.

He said that interest of US businesses to invest in tourist ventures in Greece was high, noting that his assessment was based on meetings he had with Credit Suisse First Boston chairman Joe Roby, Lehman Brothers vice-chairman Bob Lieber, staffers of Merrill Lynch, Fuji Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bank of America Securities, Morgan Stanley and others.

During a press briefing in Washington DC, Christodoulakis stressed that tourist arrivals in Greece from the US numbered 400,000 to 500.000 in the mid-eighties and having dropped to about half of that number, efforts are made to reverse the trend.

[17] Slovenian president invites Greek businessmen to invest in his country

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

The visiting Slovenian president said that his country has of the lowest taxes on business ventures, adding that now that Greece and Slovenia signed a bilateral agreement to avoid double taxation investments in his country would be even more attractive.

He stressed the European Union prospects of Slovenia and spoke of the process of privatizations in his country, which are underway.

EBEA President Yiannis Kapralos and his Slovenian counterpart Tanja Rupnik also addressed the event.

[18] Greek stocks find support at 2,900 level

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

Traders said buyers and sellers fought strongly to win the upper hand during the session pushing the general index 1.58 percent higher initially before pushing it 1.0 percent lower later in the day.

The general index finally ended 0.27 percent off at 2,902.83 points.

Once again, trading in blue chip stocks included in the MSCI global index accounted for 60-70 percent of the day's turnover, with banks and telecoms attracting heavy interest. Hellenic Telecoms gained 2.25 percent and Alpha Bank rose 1.39 percent.

Turnover was a moderate 206.41 million euros, or 70.33 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended at 1,694.22 points, off 0.29 percent, the FTSE/ASE 40 index eased 0.48 percent to 327.25 points, and the FTSE/ASE SMALLCAP fell 0.07 percent to 944.25 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalization stocks ended at 278.88 points, off 0.65 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 334 to 19 with another eight issues unchanged.

ETMA, Xylemporia, Halyps, Hadzikraniotis, Barba Stathis, Alysida, Balkan Export, Karelias, ErgoData and Eskimo scored the biggest percentage gains, while Petzetakis, Duty Free Shops, Nestos, Karamolegos, Desmos, Visio-Sound, Plias, Intertek and Eltrak suffered the heaviest losses.

National Bank, Hellenic Telecoms, Interamerican Insurance, Alpha Bank and Commercial Bank were the most heavily traded stocks.

Equity futures end lower: Equity futures traded on the Athens Derivatives Exchange slumped on Wednesday, tracking a sell-off on the Athens bourse and under performing their underlying indices.

The underlying FTSE/ASE 20 index closed 0.29 percent down, and the FTSE/ASE 40 ended 0.48 percent lower.

Traded were 10,919 contracts on turnover of 88.5 million euros.

Bond prices rise in moderate trade: Bond prices in the domestic secondary market on Wednesday finished higher in moderate trade with players focusing on 5-year paper.

The Greek benchmark 10-year bond showed a yield of 5.48 percent same as a day earlier.

The yield spread over German bunds was 44 basis points from 45 in the previews session.

Turnover through the central bank's electronic system totaled 965 million euros (328.8 billion drachmas) from 1.39 billion euros (473 billion drachmas) a trading day earlier.

Sell orders accounted for the bulk of turnover.

Greek bond yields rise in April-May: Greek long-term state bond yields rose moderately in the April-May period hit by a negative climate in international bond markets, with turnover shrinking substantially over the same period, the Bank of Greece said on Wednesday.

In the electronic secondary securities market, the monthly average turnover totalled 23.04 billion euros, or 7.852 trillion drachmas, while the market recorded a net outflow of 5.51 billion euros, or 1.877 trillion drachmas in the two-month period.

The price of the 10-year Greek benchmark bond (maturing on May 18, 2011) ended at 97.94 points in May, yielding 5.63 percent, from 98.61 points (5.53 percent) in early May and 100.68 (5.26 percent) in early April 2001.

The central bank said that losses in the domestic market were much smaller compared with other European markets, reflecting a decline in the average spread deviation between Greek and German state bonds.

The 10-year Greek/Bund yield spread fell to 45 basis points in May from 57 in April, breaking the 50-bp barrier for the first time ever.

The Bank of Greece said this development reflected investors' - foreign and domestic - confidence in Greek state securities.

The 10-year Greek/Bund yield gap was 86 basis points in May 2000. This positive development, the central bank said, flattened the yield curve and helped in reducing significantly the annual cost of debt servicing in the country.

[19] Council of Europe's conference calls for reassessment of attitudes toward the environment

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

The conference which was entitled "What lifestyles for the third millennium" was organized by the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly Committee on the Environment and Agriculture in cooperation with the Greek Parliament, on the central Aegean island of Santorini.

The conference began on Tuesday with the opening address of Greek Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis and concluded with the address of Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Elizabeth Papazoi.

In her address, Papazoi stressed that the world is undergoing a period of transition, adding "we were brought up with the ideals of the industrial era. Economic growth, neglecting any social and economic side-effects, was the crucial imperative for both capitalist and socialist economies of the time ...it becomes necessary to reassess the reality reflected by such terms, on the basis of escalating resources depletion, environmental degradation and serious socio-economic problems".

"The new world order will be marked by the relationship between human beings and nature and by the fight against poverty. Our societies will have no future unless they are based on justice, stability and humanity," the last leader of the USSR and current president of Green Cross International Mikhail Gorbachev said during his address to the conference.

150 parliamentarians and experts attended the conference from the 43 Council of Europe's member-states and also from Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Jordan.

[20] Public works minister presents national town plan on protected zones

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

The use of earth and building conditions will be specialized through settlement control zones and special studies, according to 13 regional town-planning plans.

Speaking at a press conference, Laliotis said the national town plan, following a dialogue with relevant agencies expected to be completed by the end of 2001, would be enacted and the relevant law will be ratified by Parliament in 2002.

[21] Memorial service for first anniversary of Brigadier Saunders' murder

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

Saunders' widow Heather, Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysohoidis, British Ambassador to Athens Sir David Madden and Philothei Mayor Eleni Tarantinou-Panagiotopoulou will lay wreaths near the spot where the British Embassy employee was killed, while a short service is read out by a local Anglican priest in the presence of Steven Saunders' friends and colleagues. A Greek Orthodox cleric will be present.

Brig. Saunders was shot and killed on June 8 last year by two gunmen on a motorcycle as he was driving alone in rush hour traffic from his home in northern Athens to the British embassy in the Greek capital's center. The notorious "November 17" terrorist group later claimed responsibility for the attack in a proclamation sent to a local newspaper.

[22] Archbishop Christodoulos makes statement on Angelopoulos' death

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

Angelopoulos passed away early on Tuesday at the age of 93.

The Archbishop stressed Angelopoulos' contribution toward the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul, for which he was named a major benefactor of the Church.

"A restless, caring and fighting spirit, Panagiotis Angelopoulos and his two sons succeeded in highlighting in our age the great truth that it is not money in itself but its good use for all that gives a rich person worth and marks him out in people's consciousness," the Archbishop noted, extending his sympathy to Angelopoulos' wife Helen, his sons and their families.

[23] French embassy in Athens to stage event honoring Greek veterans of D-Day

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

"On June 6, 1944, three Greek ships (Tombazis, Kriezis and St. Spyridon) participated in the landing of the allied forces in Normandy. Many hundreds of Greek soldiers, together with the forces of another 17 nations, participated in the grandest naval operation of history," the press release said.

"Taking this opportunity of today's anniversary the Embassy or France expresses the gratitude of the French people to those fighters of freedom and their families," it added.

On July 14, France's national day, French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert will honor the Greek survivors of that day in "a show of gratitude of all his fellow countrymen".

[24] 12th annual PSEKA conference begins in Washington

WASHINGTON, 07/06/2001 (ANA - A. Ellis)

[25] Papantoniou reassures sponsors of Athens 2004 Olympic Games' success

Athens, 07/06/2001 (ANA)

Addressing the first "Athens 2004" sponsors' conference, including all international and Greek sponsors, Athens 2004 executives and International Olympic Committee officials, Papantoniou reassured over the quick pace of all Olympic projects, noting that 77 percent of athletics facilities were ready and that another 13 percent was under development.

"This fact is proof of Greece's coordinated effort to be ready in its heavy task and an answer to questioning by several sides in the past over Greece's capability to organize the Olympic Games," Papantoniou said.

IOC's marketing director, Michael R. Payne, praised progress made in Olympic projects and stressed that a recent meeting by a coordinating committee reaffirmed this progress. "A year ago, Mr. Samaranch has issues a stern warning to Greece, but now preparations made in Athens exceeds the records both in Barcelona and Sydney," Payne said.

He noted, however, that the issue of transportation and hospitality during the games was still open.

Yiannis Costopoulos, Alpha Bank's chairman, said the bank - the official bank of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games - would spend 25 billion drachmas in its sponsorship.

S. Moore, Coca Cola's vice-chairman, said that from next Sunday the multinational corporation would begin efforts to draft its sponsorship moves in the Games in cooperation with the hosting country.

[26] President Clerides receives Austria's Special Representative for EU enlargement

Austria's Special Representative for the European Union enlargement Erhard Busek expressed here on Wednesday his country's satisfaction with the EU enlargement process, saying it "is now possible" and it is up to the EU "to decide how we can proceed".

Speaking to CNA after President Glafcos Clerides received him, Busek said that during their meeting the Cyprus question was discussed and pointed out the president's "very positive approach for the future". Invited to comment on Austria's intention to create a partnership among central and eastern European countries and how would that affect the EU enlargement he said this collaboration "underlines the need for the enlargement".

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