NEWS IN DETAIL

Rifkind's fears of war 'exaggerated', Athens says

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said it was ''exaggerated'' and ''unfair'' to Athens for any comparison to be made between Greece and the situation prevailing in other Balkan countries and in Turkey.

''It is impermissible when analyses and comments by international officials treat Greece as a country which consitutes part of a problem in the region, '' Reppas said.

''If there is a danger of conflict,'' he added, ''it emanates from the rash and aggressive policy of Turkey, which is disputing our country's sovereign rights. They cannot place Greece in the same boat with Turkey.''

The spokesman called on all parties in any way involved with the issue ''to direct their observations, criticism and even accusations'' to Turkey.

''If we want peace in the region, we must render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and deal with the crux of the problem, something which is not evident in Mr. Rifkind's statements,'' Reppas said.

Replying to reporters' questions, Reppas said that Turkish policy could, under certain circumstances, indeed lead to conflict, since the neighbouring country was operating as a destabilising factor.

On the Cyprus problem, the spokesman underlined that Greece's positions were in line with UN resolutions, in contrast with those of Turkey which was obstructing a settlement of the problem.

Reppas also reiterated the proposal of the Cyprus government for the demilitarization of the divided island.

In the interview, Mr. Rifkind warned that there was a serious possibility of Greece and Turkey going to war over Cyprus and accused Athens and Ankara of lacking the political will to find a solution.

"When relations are already bad and tense and difficult and both sides appear to be looking for an excuse to make them worse, that is pretty grim, " he said.

Asked whether there might be conflict between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean, Mr Rifkind said: "It has to be a serious possibility."

"I am not as confident as logic would imply because there has been a real lack of political will on both sides," he said.

Britain expressed alarm last month over a Greek Cypriot decision to buy Russian surface-to-air missiles, saying it could destabilise what is already one of the most heavily militarised areas of the world.

On a visit to the divided island in December, Mr Rifkind told Greek Cypriot leaders the planned purchase would be a "big step in the wrong direction."

Commission sees positive results in Greek economy

However, the Commission insists on the ascertainment that Greek public deficits have a structural nature, and for this reason structural policies are required to remedy existing fiscal imbalances.

According to reports, the special chapter on the development of the Greek economy in 1996 is not expected to have major changes, additions and corrections reshaping its present content, but will contain predictions expressing satisfaction over the gover nment's efforts and estimates of a 2.4 per cent growth rate in the country over the past year.

On the question of inflation, the report assesses an average of 6.9 per cent for 1997 and does not expect unemployment to exceed 9 per cent of the working population.

The European Commission also hails a package of measures implemented by the government, for the first time in the country's history, and aimed at reducing public expenditures. The Commission anticipates that this initiative will result in almost the dou bling of the GDP's primary surplus in 1997 as against 1996, which in turn will contribute to a decrease in the country's excessive public debt.

NATO Cincsouth to visit Athens

On Thursday, Lopez will have talks with the political and military leadership of the National Defence Ministry focusing on issues of mutual military interest and Greece's relations with NATO.

Cabinet to discuss social dialogue at Friday meeting

The meeting was originally scheduled for last Thursday but was postponed due to escalating protests by farmers in central Greece.

Reppas said that social dialogue should have a permanent ''institutional'' nature and not be conducted only at times of crisis.

Policeman charged with killing young Albanian

Miltiadis Andreopoulos, 31, has been charged with homicide with the possibility of it being wilful.

The victim was a 19-year-old Albanian whose first name is Erion. No other details are available.

Police said the incident took place three days ago in the area of Perikopi, Kastoria when Andreopoulos and a colleague tried to flag down a car with Albanian license plates.

The car headed straight for them however and the policemen shot at the tyres to immobilize it.

An initial report of Kastoria police headquarters said that one of the bullets went through the boot of the car and hit the 19-year-old Albanian in the head.

The car came to a halt, the driver fled and another three Albanians gave themselves up to the police.

The injured Albanian died on the way to hospital.

An official investigation into the incident was ordered yesterday and a public prosecutor charged Andreopoulos with homicide.

Yacht fire causes oil slick in Piraeus port

The 45.89 ton "Tatiana" was docked at a marina in Faliro Bay when it caught fire early this morning due most likely to a short circuit in its generator, according to the skipper, who was the only person on board at the time.

The diesel oil in the Tatiana's fuel tanks spilled into the sea when the yacht sank after the blaze was put out. Three boats specialised in containing oil spills and carrying dispersants have rushed to the site

The Piraeus Port Authority is investigating the causes of the fire.

Police break up prostitution racket

Petros Stoyiannis, 43, a resident of Skydra, Pella was arrested in his car while transporting three Romanian girls from the Greek-Bulgarian border to Thessaloniki.

The three Romanians have already been deported.

According to the police, Stoyiannis filled ''orders'' from nightclub owners in various towns and cities of northern Greece, arranging to bring young girls from Balkan countries to work as prostitutes, in cooperation with a Bulgarian gang.

Open Skies Treaty trial flights scheduled over Larisa

Observers from Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Italy and Spain have been invited to attend the flights.

The Open Skies Treaty was signed in Helsinki on March 24, 1992, and establishes a system of overflights over all territory of participant countries, which aims to achieving transparency on military activities. This facilitates control regarding compliance with existing or future agreements on controlling and reducing armaments, while the possibility of preventing conflicts is also provided.

In this context, every signatory is obliged to accept a number of photo reconnaissance flights, and at the same time it has the right to perform an equal number of flights over other countries. Two or more countries can cooperate in observation flights.

Countries having ratified the treaty include Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Britain, Georgia, Italy, Kirgizhstan, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United States , Hungary and Iceland.

Greek Parliament ratified the treaty on March 20, 1993.

Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are expected to follow suit and ratify to enable the treaty to be fully implemented.

Striking teachers take protests to downtown Athens

Meanwhile, Education Undersecretary Yiannis Anthopoulos told reporters that making up for lost school time by extending the school year "was an extreme situation", and that there were other ways to deal with the situation.

Asked whether there were any margins for improving teachers' wages, one of their main demands, Mr. Anthopoulos said if teachers accepted a proposal put forward by the president of the teachers' federation, Nikos Tsoulias, then they would see a rise in total yearly income of between 400,000-900, 000 drachmas.

However, the administrative board of OLME, the high school teachers' union, decided yesterday to propose to a general assembly meeting today that the strike continue for a fifth week.

A final decision will be taken tomorrow, at a meeting of the heads of local teacher unions.

Meanwhile, workers at state childcare centres have given notice that they will join colleagues in strike action this month.

An announcement said a 48-hour strike had been called for Feb. 12-13 and a three-day strike for Feb. 19-21.

OA, Hertz offers special fly-drive deal

Macedonia-Thrace Bank enters EU investment programme

The programme's beneficiaries are the small- and medium-sized enterprises of EU member-states and their financial support will be anticipated for establishing, in cooperation with local partners, joint enterprises headquartered in central and eastern Eu ropean countries as well as in the Russian Federation. Investments to be financed include all sectors and business activities.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(M.P.)

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