Secondary school teachers continue 7-week long strike
NEWS IN DETAIL
Athens promotes EU initiative to deal with crisis in Albania
Athens is rapidly promoting assumption of an initiative by the European
Union to defuse the explosive situation in neighbouring Albania, where
armed clashes were reported yesterday around the Balkan nation following
the collapse of several pyramid schemes.
Prime Minister Costas Simitis said Athens has taken all necessary measures
to handle whatever negative developments emanating from Albania.
Speaking in Volos yesterday, Mr. Simitis said the government had taken
measures at two levels. Firstly, to ensure that the borders are closely
watched to prevent a new wave of refugees and, secondly, maintaining
contact with other European countries for a common confrontation of
problems.
Mr. Simitis said the government intends to convene a group of European
nations' representatives in Athens to examine the issue, adding that it is
already in contact with other European governments.
He said Greece should show calm in handling whatever repercussions stemming
from negative developments in the neighbouring country.
Meanwhile, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said "the government is
carefully watching the crucial developments in Albania, and indeed even
more so because they are taking place in regions where the Greek minority
lives."
Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou said that the imposition of a
state of emergency in Albania wosrens the situation in the country and does
not contribute to the settlement of the crisis.
He said Athens had urged the European Union presidency to hold a special
meeting of the working group for the Balkans and proposed that EU
ambassadors in Tirana should draw up a report presenting a clear picture of
the situation prevailing in Albania.
"The EU must address a message both to the Albanian leadership and to the
Albanian people, pointing out that it is watching developments and hopes
that problems will be resolved in a democratic manner," he said.
Romeos: situation on Greek-Albanian border 'normal'
Public Order Minister George Romeos yesterday commented on the situation
along the Greek-Albanian border, saying that "until this moment there are
no tensions."
He made the comments at the Alexandroupolis airport, where he landed to
begin a tour of the Evros prefecture.
"We have taken additional measures since yesterday (Saturday)Ibut we
haven't seen, so far, a heavier than usual wave of illegal immigrants," he
said, when asked a question concerning the situation at the border.
ND ends pre-congress conference
Main opposition New Democracy party organising committee president George
Rallis wrapped up ND's two-day pre-congress conference in Thessaloniki
yesterday, expressing satisfaction and optimism over the outcome of the
party's three-day congress, due to take place on March 21-23.
Mr. Rallis said proposals by speakers on the programme and the party's
charter will be gathered and discussed on the second day of the conference.
The conference was addressed by many party cadres and by the four
candidates for the party's top leadership: incumbent president Miltiades
Evert, Costas Karamanlis, George Souflias and Vyron Polydoras.
Simitis warns Turkish leadership against aggression
Prime Minister Costas Simitis over the weekend warned Ankara to abandon its
visions for what he called a revival of the Ottoman empire, saying the cost
of any aggressive actions against Greece would be severe.
Speaking during a visit to the First Army Corps headquarters in Larisa, at
the start of a three-day tour of Thessaly on Saturday, Mr. Simitis said
Turkey has turned into "the greatest destabilising factor in the Aegean,
the Balkans, the eastern Mediterranean, the Caucasus and the Middle
East."
He also accused the neighbouring country's leadership of commencing a "raw"
effort to revise the international treaties which define the status quo of
the region.
Stressing that there are no bilateral differences, the Greek premier went
on to say that the status quo in the Aegean is "absolutely clear" and that
it has been determined by the history of thousands of years and with
greater precision by the internatio nal treaties.
Reiterating Athens' position that it will not enter into dialogue with
Turkey on issues of sovereignty and the country's sovereign rights, the
premier sent a message of friendship to Ankara, saying that a climate of
good will, good neighbourliness and u seful cooperation will be to the
benefit of both countries.
"Until then, Greece will remain firm in its position that the total of the
country's diplomatic and defence measures are directed towards ensuring
national integrity and averting Turkish designs through a powerful force of
aversion," he added. Regarding the Cyprus issue, Mr. Simitis said Greece
did not have any illusions that its European partners will "automatically
endorse Greek positions."
Pangalos: Athens stands firm against Ankara`s policy of blackmail
Greece will not accept Ankara's policy of blackmail, which envisages a new
division of the Aegean, Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said yesterday
upon arrival here.
Concerning Turkish provocations and Ankara's recent defining of its
expansionist designs, as reported last week by the "Wall Street Journal",
Mr. Pangalos said Greece will not accept military and diplomatic pressure
or what he called a "systematic polic y of blackmail that Turkey is
following" for a new division of the Aegean.
In addition, the Greek foreign minister rejected scenarios citing an
unavoidable military conflict between Athens and Ankara, stressing that the
Greek government is working effectively and with coolheadedness for a
peaceful response to the problems cont inuously brought up by Turkey. He
cited Athens' standing position of a solution to all differences within the
framework of international law and with the application of international
agreements as well as recourse of whatever disagreements or different in
terpretations to international arbitration, such as the International Court
of Justice at The Hague.
Mr. Pangalos underlined that the Greek position is supported by the
European Union, the US, Russia and other major countries, such as Japan,
China and India.
Regarding Nicosia's announced purchase of Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft
missiles, Mr. Pangalos said the government of any independent nation has
the right to choose the methods of its defence.
Mr. Pangalos is in the US for the inauguration of an exhibition on
Byzantium at New York's Metropolitan Museum. He is also scheduled to give a
speech at Harvard.
ANA, IRNA explore ways of increasing cooperation
Athens News Agency (ANA) General Director Andreas Christodoulides held a
meeting in Tehran Saturday with the managing director of the Islamic
Iranian News Agency (IRNA), Fereydoon Vardinejad, concerning methods of
expanding mutual cooperation.
Mr. Vardinejad underlined the need for professional and technical
cooperation between the two news agencies, saying that direct exchange of
news would help both sides to have a correct understanding of each
other.
The ANA general director said the direct exchange of news and information
between the Greek and Iranian news agencies will meet the needs of the
press in both countries.
Mr. Vardinejad also briefed Mr. Christodoulides on IRNA's professional,
technical and educational initiatives, adding that the news agency is ready
to cooperate with news agencies of friendly countries in such fields.
Venizelos in NY to attend exhibition on Byzantium
Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos spoke at the Saturday evening opening
of a photographic exhibition entitled "The Greeks of Constantinople", where
he cited the significant presence and contribution of the Foundation for
Hellenic Studies.
The photographic exhibition features the work of expatriate Greek
photographer Costas Sakellariou.
Speaking at the New York event, the culture minister said the foundation
was also instrumental in supporting the major exhibition "The Glory of
Byzantium," which is scheduled for New York's Metropolitan Museum.
Secondary teachers continue 7-week long strike
Striking secondary teachers' representatives said yesterday that they will
continue their strike, since negotiations with the education ministry's
political leadership failed to resolve the seven-week-long strike.
"We will continue the struggle," the striking teachers' representatives
told a press conference.
The teachers' representatives called for another meeting with Education
Minister Gerasimos Arsenis saying that they had agreed with his decision to
set up a joint committee to examine the entire spectrum of the financial
requests and submit a subsequent report.
WEATHER
Fair weather with local cloudiness is forecast for most parts of Greece
with few local showers and snowfall in the mountainous regions. Strong
northerly to gale force winds in the Cretan sea the Dodecanese islands and
the northern Aegean Sea, expected to subside in the afternoon. Athens will
be mostly sunny with some local clouds and temperatures between 7-14C.
Mostly fine weather also in Thesaloniki with temperatures between 0-
13C.
SPORTS
Results of Greek first division soccer matches Olympiakos - Athinaikos 4-
0 Panathinaikos - Aris 1-0
Apollon - AEK 1-2 OFI - Kastoria 1-0
PAOK - Panahaiki 2-0 Veria - Edessa 0-0
Heraklis - Kavala 2-3 Kalamata - Xanthi 2-2
Pyrgos - Ionikos match today.
Standings: Olympiakos 55 points
Panathinaikos 51 AEK 49
OFI 43 Kavala 40
PAOK 38 Pyrgos 34
Veria 33 Panahaiki 29
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Friday's closing rates - buying US dlr. 263.376
Pound sterling 428.802 Cyprus pd 519.213
French franc 46.142 Swiss franc 178.262
German mark 155.585 Italian lira (100) 15.624
Yen (100) 218.597 Canadian dlr. 192.329
Australian dlr. 204.154 Irish Punt 416.045
Belgian franc 7.545 Finnish mark 52.314
Dutch guilder 138.429 Danish kr. 40.823
Swedish kr. 35.103 Norwegian kr. 39.025
Austrian sch. 22.107 Spanish peseta 1.845
Portuguese escudo 1.550
(C.E.)
