Road accident deaths
NEWS IN DETAIL
Defence Minister cautions Turkey against incidents
National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos issued an indirect warning to
Turkey that if it caused any further ''incidents'', Greece would exercise
its right to extend its territorial waters from 6 to 12 miles.
''In the event that Turkey causes a new incident, the Greek response, apart
from a military one... will also be political. A response which will
maximise the cost for Ankara, be proportionate to the seriousness of the
provocation and will be in the framework of implementing international
agreements,'' Tsohatzopoulos said in a speech last night at a Thessaloniki
Bar Association event on the subject of national defence policy.
Under the recently ratified international law of the sea, Greece has the
right to extend its territorial waters to 12 miles. Athens has repeatedly
said that it will do so at an opportune time.
Tsohatzopoulos described Turkey as the ''number one threat to Greece'',
saying Ankara would stop at nothing to use force to create the status quo
in the Aegean which it wants.
Commenting on the possibility of Greek-Turkish differences being resolved
by recourse to the International Court at the Hague, Tsohatzopoulos
said:
''I don't think there's much point in referring (the differences) to the
Hague, because Ankara's logic is devoid of any perspective for a lawful
settlement of the issue. Its logic is to impose its views on Athens.''
On Turkey's claims against Greece in the Aegean, Tsohatzopoulos reiterated
that Greece would never discuss so-called ''grey zones'' and islets over
which it has sovereignty.
Tsohatzopoulos strongly defended the joint Greece-Cyprus defence doctrine
saying that for the first time, international organisations and the major
powers ''feel the need to intervene in a different way in order to create
prospects for a final solution of the Cyprus problem''.
Eurosocialists urged to support Balkan security
National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos, Alternate Foreign Minister
George Papandreou and ruling PASOK party Secretary Costas Skandalides today
called for the ''active support'' of the European Union for the countries
of the Balkans and the creation of conditions of security for the
region.
They were addressing a two-day meeting of the European socialist parties
which comprise the European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity and their
respective policy-making institutes.
''Europe needs a strong Greece. We shall remain dedicated to the international
rules of peaceful cooperation for a Europe stretching from the Urals to the
Atlantic,'' Skandalides said.
He also called for ''a social Europe of equal nations and sovereign
peoples'' to stand up against ''the omnipotence of bank and stock exchange
capital''.
Such a Europe, he added, should combine financial integration with a common
foreign policy, decentralisation and the safeguarding of each country's
sovereign rights.
Tsohatzopoulos urged the promotion of ''democratic socialist solutions'' in
the countries of central and eastern Europe, describing as ''inadequate''
the programmes to date providing for cooperation between these countries
and the more advanced states of the European Union.
He also spoke of a ''security vacuum'' in the Balkans, caused by the
collapse of communism and the EU's inability to put together a common
foreign policy.
Papandreou appealed for immediate financial assistance for Albania and
Bulgaria ''which are in the throes of a deep economic crisis'' and the
charting of a long-term EU policy for the Balkans.
This policy, he added, should aim at ensuring respect for borders and
minorities, economic and technical assistance, regional cooperation and the
protection of human rights, along the lines of the Scandinavian countries.
Opposition to social security fund amendment
An amendment to the law on social security funds tabled by the National
Economy Ministry is likely to cause problems between the government and the
country's trade unions. The amendment requires the funds to deposit their
reserve capital with the Bank of Greece.
According to today's edition of the Athens daily "Eleftherotypia", the
capital could amount to more than one trillion drachmas.
General Confederation of Trade Unions (GSEE) President Christos Polyzogopoulos
said the amendment was unacceptable and asked for it to be withdrawn. He
also stressed that GSEE would in no way accept an increase in the age of
retirement or a drop in pensions.
Bank unions' federation (OTOE) President Dimitris Kouselas characterised
the issue as extremely serious. The banks' social security funds have
particularly large reserves. Kouselas also called for the withdrawal of the
amendment, emphasising that the funds were claiming free movement of
reserves.
Foreigners arrested passing counterfeit notes
Four Ukrainians and a Moldavian have been arrested for passing counterfeit
10,000 drachma notes on the market. Oleg Andriasko, 27, was arrested trying
to shop with one of the notes in Athens' Varvakeio market. The shopkeeper
realised the note was counterfeit and called police, who arrested Andriasko
after finding another ten counterfeit notes in his possession.
After a search of his home, where he lived with Luba Anoupreia, 37, Igor
and Maria Fostich, both 32, and Eugeni Savraduze, 36, all illegal
immigrants, all five were arrested after another 71 counterfeit notes were
found there.
Andriasko claimed to have bought over one million dr. worth of counterfeit
10,000 dr. notes for the sum of $30, from a Bulgarian named Anton a week
ago in Omonia Square.
In a separate incident, an Iranian, Mehran Sadik, 20, was arrested after
trying to buy a ring from a jewellery shop in Syntagma Square with a
counterfeit $100 bill. Sadik ran off with the ring when one of the salesman
went next door to change the bill, but was apprehended by a nearby
policeman.
Historic Cretan town to get facelift
The old sector of the Cretan town of Rethymno is to receive a 8.6 billion
dr. facelift, Environment Minister Kostas Laliotis announced at the
official opening of the new public works programme there today.
Lalitios said the plan includes preserving the cultural heritage and
architectural character of all historic periods represented in the old city,
while promoting tourism in the surrounding prefecture as well as in the
city itself.
Illegal immigrants arrested
Two brothers from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) were
arrested early today in Kilkis, northern Greece the moment 37 illegal
immigrants from Romania were boarding the truck they were driving.
The Romanians entered Greece yesterday and were met by Zoran and Igor
Kritzefski, 25 and 19 respectively, who had driven from Skopje to pick them
up and take them to various parts of Greece to look for work.
Meanwhile, police in Kavala said today that 85 illegal immigrants, 68 of
whom were from Albania, had been arrested in the prefecture during the last
few days and deported.
Road accident deaths
Four people died and three were injured in two road accidents shortly after
midnight last night in the Athens area.
Two males and a female aged between 17 and 19 were killed and two others
injured in one accident in Kamateros.
At about the same time, a 21-year-old man was killed and an 18-year-old
seriously injured in another accident in Nea Liosia.
In both cases, police said, the drivers did not have a licence and the
accidents were due to excessive speed.
Meanwhile, another two people were killed late last night in two separate
road accidents in Pieria, northern Greece.
WEATHER
Cloudy weather and rain later this evening in mainland areas. For Sunday,
weather will be cloudy and wet with local downpours, particularly in the
west, later extending to the rest of the country. Snow is expected in
moutainous regions to the north. Strong southerly winds, increasing to gale
force over sea areas. Temperatures in Athens will range between 11-15C,
in Thessaloniki between 8-13C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Closing rates - buying US dlr. 260.598
Pound sterling 424.636 Cyprus pd 519.411
French franc 45.872 Swiss franc 180.083
German mark 154.891 Italian lira (100) 15.757
Yen (100) 209.987 Canadian dlr. 192.488
Australian dlr. 200.543 Irish Punt 413.466
Belgian franc 7.508 Finnish mark 52.524
Dutch guilder 138.057 Danish kr. 40.648
Swedish kr. 35.365 Norwegian kr. 39.269
Austrian sch. 22.001 Spanish peseta 1.828
Portuguese escudo 1.540
(Y.B.)
