Antenna: News in English (PM), 98-06-23

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From: Antenna Radio <http://www.antenna.gr> - email: antenna@compulink.gr

Last Updated: Tuesday, 23-Jun-98 21:14:44

CONTENTS

[01] Clinton-Cyprus

[02] Rubin-Cyprus

[03] Pangalos-Handzinsky

[04] Spain-Hijacking

[05] Andreas Papandreou-Photo exhibition

[01] Clinton-Cyprus

The president and first lady Hillary Clinton sent a letter of condolence and commitment to the parents of Andreas Kassapis. After 24 years of wondering what happened to their son, they recently received his bones in Michigan.

The arrival of the bones was the final act in the tragedy that tore the lives of Andreas and his parents apart a quarter of a century ago.

The anguished waiting and wondering about what happened to Andreas has ended.

In a letter to Anreas's parents, US president Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton extend their deep personal sympathy for the pain and uncertainty they have endured.

"As parents", the Clintons add, "we can imagine how difficult it has been to wait for news about Andreas, year after year, and then learn that his life was tragically cut shor. We pray that ending the uncertainty will give you a small measure of comfort.

"Please know", they add, "that the memory of Andreas will guide us as we continue to work to end the suffereing and division that have plagued Cyprus for far too long. Please accept our deepest condolences".

[02] Rubin-Cyprus

James Rubin underscores though that it is up to all those involved in the Cyprus issue to show a real political desire to solve the problem.

During his stint as Cyprus envoy, Holbrooke - who's been nominated to become the US ambassador to the UN - was unable to make any progress in reuniting the island. Turkey has been in military occupation of northern Cyprus since 1974, and has threatened to attack the Cypriot Republic if it acquires Russian surface-to-air missiles this summer.

Turkey has also taken a more aggressive stance over Cyprus since the EU refused to list Turkey as a candidate for EU membership last December.

[03] Pangalos-Handzinsky

Nato has already staged military exercises near Kosovo as a warning to Serbia to stop its killing of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

The Western alliance is threatening to turn its firepower on the Serbs if the fighting between Serbian forces and ethnic-Albanian separatists doesn't stop soon.

But Greece's foreign minister says Nato strikes would be a repetition of past mistakes.

Greek foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos said Tuesday that Western military intervention in Kosovo would make things worse.

Nato says if there is no move towards a peaceful settlement in Kosovo soon, then it will attack the Serbs.

But Pangalos cites the war in Bosnia as a precedent of Western intervention in the former Yugsolavia to be avoided.

"I would like to tell those in comfortable capitals in the West and north who find pleasure in war games that enough blood was shed because of rashness and amateurishness in Bosnia ", says the Greek foreign minister.

"It's not by chance that the countries of the region represent the voice of reason", he continues. "We have the most to gain if there is a peaceful solution and the most to lose if there is a war".

The Serbs have offered to restart negotiations with the separatist Kosovars.

But the ethnic-Albanians in the Serbian province

are demanding that Serbian security forces pull out of Kosovo first.

That's unlikely while the outlawed Kosovo Liberation Army continues to attack Serbian targets, says Fyrom's foreign minister, whom met with Pangalos in Athens Tuesday. "We can't imagine that the security forces will be withdrawn and that armed men will be allowed to carry out illegal acts of violence", explained Blagoj Handzinski.

Though the West has asked the Kosovo Liberation Army to stop its military campaigns so the Serbs won't have a pretext to continue their assaults, Nato has placed the onus of responsibility for the Kosovo crisis on the shoulders of the Serbs. There have been no threats of Nato action against the Kosovar militants, who are taking succour from Nato's one-sided threats against the Serbs.

Greece and Fyrom say that any peace plans must take into account not only the Serbian violence, but the activities of the Kosovo separatists.

"We condemn the activities of the KLA and the Serb forces", says Handzinsky.

"Kosovo is a province of Serbia", he explains. "Any change of borders will mean an all-out war" in the Balkans.

While he opposes a military solution in Kosovo, Handzinsky takes a favourabvle view of Nato's stated aim of preventing the Kosovo crisis from spilling over into his country, where there is a restive ethnic-Albanian minority.

The spread of the Kosovo crisis to Fyrom and Albania also worries Greece, which believes upping the military stakes in the Serbian province could be the prelude to another Balkan war.

That same concern over regional stability has Greece and Fyrom eager to cement their own relations.

During their meeting, the Greek and Fyrom foreign ministers agreed that UN- brokered efforts to resolve the issue of Fyrom's permanent name should

continue. Greece opposes Fyrom's use of "Macedonia" because of its historical and geographical significance to Greece.

The Greek and Fyrom ministers also talked about stepping up financial cooperation between their countries.

[04] Spain-Hijacking

Taking over the plane, the hijacker asked to be flown first to Athens and then to Tel Aviv.

Alerted, the Greek authorities discreetly deployed police at Athens international airport to deal with a possible hostage situation there.

Athens was in constant contact with the Spanish authorities, and ready to cooperate fully with them if the need arose.

As it happened, the hijacker's psychiatrist persuaded his patient to give up, and the incident ended in Spain with no injuries.

[05] Andreas Papandreou-Photo exhibition

also includes video footage that testifies to the charismatic charm of the man who founded Pasok and went on to be elected prime minister three times.

The video was shot in 1964 and 1965, when Andreas Papandreou had just returned to Greece from the US and was a member of his father's Centre Union party.

What is clear from the video is that even as a young politician Papandreou could magnetise the masses, the masses that would be so important to his political career.

(c) ANT1 Radio 1998

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