NEWS IN DETAIL

Greece angrily dismisses Turkish military claims over Greek islands

Specifically, a Wall Street Journal article referring to a briefing of US correspondents in Ankara by the Turkish general staff wrote on Tuesday "On a map, Turkish strategists appeared to have pinpointed scores of islands, several of them as far away from Turkey as the Mediterranean island of Crete and beyond.

Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos in a press conference yesterday dismissed these Turkish claims as "ludicrous", by saying:

"We have repeatedly said that there is a plan for disputing Greek sovereignty in the entire region, from the mouth of the Evros River, east to (the island of) Skyros and as far as the region of Crete," he said.

In a related development, National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said that "the more official representatives of the Turkish state slide towards nonsense concerning sovereign rights in the Aegean, the more Turkey emerges as the number one destabilising factor for peace, cooperation and security in the region.... questioning the status quo in the Aegean, questioning borders, and the Lausanne Treaty..."

Several pairs of Turkish warplanes violate Athens FIR

The Turkish violators entered the Athens FIR east of the eastern Aegean island of Rhodes and reached the region north of Crete.

At the same time two pairs of Turkish F-4 and F-16 warplanes infringed on Greek airspace to the northwest of Rhodes over the island of Kasos.

In all instances, the Turkish planes were recognised and intercepted by Hellenic Air Force F-1, F-16 and Mirage 2000 fighters.

Anti-racism event held at old Parliament

Speaking during the event, Prime Minister Costas Simitis noted that although in Greece racism may not have taken on the same dimensions as in other European countries, "it would be hypocritical to say that, in our country as well, positions and attitudes are not expressed that insult our civilisation.

Greece has now been converted into a country of receiving immigrants, he said, and the mass influx of labour has caused xenophobic reactions and reduced tolerance regarding foreigners, who many consider as either a burden or as a source of cheap labour.

"The crux of the problem is now transferred from race to culture," Mr. Simitis said.

Tsohatzopoulos discusses Cyprus issue with Kyprianou

Mr. Tsohatzopoulos said he welcomed any initiative aimed at a settlement based on "the objective facts" which, he explained, was the prospect of Cyprus' accession to the European Union, safeguarding of the island republic's defence capability and a need to implement international law and UN resolutions.

Reconfirming an identity of views concerning the handling of the Cyprus problem, Mr. Kyprianou said "we are willing to discuss any initiative from wherever it might come, which is based on UN resolutions and aims at securing a reasonable, just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem".

Greece, FYROM negotiations on name issue resume

Speaking to reporters at the end of the 90-minute talks, Mr. Vance said the next meeting will take place at the end of March.

Replying to a question on whether any new development has taken place, Mr. Vance said that he did not wish to make any statement at the moment.

Hellenic Investments Centre aims to meet foreign investors' needs

Despite generous investment incentives, Greece has not managed to bring sizeable investment proposals to fruition, he said.

ELKE, formed in 1996 with funds from the European Union and the Greek government, is aimed at meeting investors' needs with regard to opportunities for development and profit, a stable macro-economic environment, efficient infrastructure, clear long-term policy guidelines and a public adminstration supportive of investment.

Mr. Skoulas, a former alternate national economy minister and tourism affairs undersecretary, observed that while these areas had been sadly lacking in Greece, over the past few years there had been a marked improvement in many areas.

"Certainly the pressure for monetary union convergence has had a positive effect," he said, adding:

"The macro-economic indicators show significant improvement, the modernised financial credit sytem is no longer an obstacle to growth, and substantial gains have been made in the improvement of the overall infrastructure with massive projects underway through the second Community Support Framework."

Indicative results included a drop in inflation from 22 per cent in 1991 to 6.8 per cent in January 1997, with a further decrease to 4.5 per cent expected by the end of the year and a similar drop in the public deficit as a percentage of GDP (from 14 p er cent in 1993 to 7.6 per cent in 1996). On the other hand there has been an increase in investment of 8.3 per cent in 1996, compared to the European average of 1.5 per cent. There has also been a stable increase in the GDP from 2.0 per cent in 1995 to 2 .6 per cent in 1996.

Another incentive, he said, was the fact that Greece offered the second lowest industrial labour costs in the European Union, along with a well- educated and multilingual workforce.

However, the public sector, which Mr. Skoulas described as "still inflexible and anachronistic", remained a stumbling block for potential investors.

Greek participation in two major US exhibitions

The former is the International Fancy Food Exhibition, to be held in New York from June 29 to July 2. Greece is to participate in this twice-yearly exhibition for the fifth consecutive year. Roughly 2,000 exhibitors participate, and it is visited by mor e than 37,000 wholesalers, importers and US department store representatives.

Greece will set up a national pavillion at the 6th International Jewellery Exhibition in Las Vegas between May 30 and June 6.

Businesses interested in participating in the two exhibitions can obtain further information from the Hellenic Foreign Trade Council (OPE).

Municipal enterprise employees on Rhodes decline...pay raises

More than 100 employees at the "Roda" municipal transport service will "freeze" their demands for this year (25 million drachmas) stemming from increases based on a national collective agreement. They will also return five million drachmas to the enterprise related to their uniform bonuses for 1997.

Roda is the only purely municipal enterprise in Greece and covers the transport needs of the city of Rhodes and a considerable part of transport on the island.

Fishermen blockade Thessaloniki's port

A number of fishing boats remain anchored at the eastern entrance to Thessaloniki's port yesterday, telling reporters they were determined to continue their protest if their demand was not immediately met.

Finance Undersecretary George Drys gave a written assurance on Tuesday night that the tax already paid by fishermen would be returned within a few days.

Athens bourse continues to perform well

Investor interest was again centred on banks (+4.90%) as well as leasing (+5.04%).

Commission approves Greek shipbuilding aid scheme extension

The possibility for the shipowners to split the order for the vessel into several contracts, with either a number of shipyards or shipyards and ancillary suppliers which otherwise would be suppliers of the shipyard, is also foreseen.

The new amendment introduced for 1997 provides for the possibility of aid to be granted to shipowners, regardless of nationality, who want to build in Greek shipyards.

According to Greek officials, the aid percentage applicable to various contract values respect the Directive and the levels approved by the Commission for 1997 - 9.0 percent for the construction of large vessels and 4.5 per cent for vessels with a contract value below 10 MECU, account being taken of the special derogation in favour of Greece for vessels used in the domestic market.

Museums, sites remain shut

The board of administration of the panhellenic federation which represents culture ministry employees put forward their demands at a meeting yesterday morning with Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos.

Mr. Venizelos promised that he would discuss the demands with the general director of the finance ministry.

Meanwhile, the Acropolis and archaeological museums in Athens and the Archaeological and Byzantine museums in Thessaloniki remained closed yesterday.

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