Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 97-05-27

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 27/05/1997 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Greek experts convey preliminary texts to EU presidency
• Pangalos: Turkey lacks seriousness
• US House Committee:foreign aid for eastern Mediterranean
• Draft bill on Schengen tabled in Parliament
• OECD ministerial meeting on economic issues
• Montenegrin PM in Athens
• Athens hosts UN conference on Mideast peace process
• Competitiveness of Greek shipping discussed
• Greek exports to Cyprus increase
• Israeli business delegation to visit Athens in June
• Greek-Turkish business meeting
• Athens bourse suspends trading
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

The two members of the Greek "committee of experts" set up to discuss Greek- Turkish relations yesterday conveyed the preliminary text with Greece's positions on the issues to the Dutch EU presidency.

Argyris Fatouros and Krateros Ioannou handed the text, outlining Greece's conditions for the exchange of views with the two Turkish experts on the corresponding committee from the neighbouring country, to the Dutch ambassador to Athens.

According to sources, the conditions include the avoidance of the use of force or the threat to use force by Turkey;
- recognition by Ankara of the international legal framework determining its relations with Greece, the existing borders (as set out in the treaties of Lausanne and Paris, and the Italian-Turkish and Greek-Italian pacts);
- recognition of international accords (such as the International Law of the Sea) and recognition of the procedure for settling differences through the International Court at The Hague;
- the seeking of manners of rapprochement on a procedural side of issues projected by the two parties.

Pangalos: Turkey lacks seriousness

Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos yesterday accused Turkish Foreign Undersecretary Onur Oymen of lacking seriousness, adding that he contradicted and embarrassed his President Suleyman Demirel with his recent statements concerning documents on the Aegean.

"If he has papers and documents, as Mr. Oymen claims, which dispute the status quo in the Aegean let him bring them before the relevant bodies," Mr. Pangalos said, reminding that Turkey is the only country which has not signed the accord on the Law of the Sea and the only one in Europe which raises an issue of borders and border differences. He also called on Turkey to have an end put to this issue.

"Greece is ready to sign a non-aggression pact with Turkey (and not one of friendship and cooperation which requires other preconditions) and this would eliminate the notorious casus belli brandished by Turkey against us," he said, adding that "I listen ed to Mr. Demirel who said he accepts the Treaty of Lausanne and the treaties determining the status of the Dodecannese. And 24 hours afterwards Mr. Oymen disputed them. I call on them to consult each other because an understanding with them becomes even more difficult when they do not constitute a reliable interlocutor."

Mr. Pangalos and National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou participated in the annual ministerial session of the OECD, which concludes its sessions at the organisation's headquarters in Paris today.

US House Committee:foreign aid for eastern Mediterranean

Peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean can only be safeguarded by applying international treaties and respecting internationally accepted borders between countries in the area, the US House of Representatives said yesterday.

In a report for foreign aid for 1998-9, the International Relations Committee said that "whoever doubts the application or interpretation of international treaties should take recourse to the proper bodies as provided by international legal practice", a n indirect reference to Turkish claims in the Aegean.

Referring to the eastern Aegean area, the report said that it was very important that all countries in the area follow internationally accepted behaviour.

"The United States and other countries have publicly voiced their strong disagreement over the use of violence or threat of use of violence to solve such issues," it said.

Referring to Cyprus, the report urged US President Bill Clinton to "take [an] immediate and serious initiative that [...] would aim at creating a bi- communal, bi-zonal federation with a single sovereignty and international in nature, and a single citize nship, with a guaranteed independence and territorial integrity, consisting of two politically equal communities".

It called for the demilitarisation of Cyprus because its present situation "and the great number of Turkish occupation forces comprises a permanent source of tension and instability on the island and in the greater area".

Draft bill on Schengen tabled in Parliament

A draft bill ratifying the Schengen Accord on free movement of people between European Union members was tabled in Parliament late yesterday.

The treaty calls for a progressive end of border controls between countries that have ratified the accord, and the founding of a database that allows police and customs officials to monitor violations relating to arms or drug smuggling, use of false pas sports and movement of stolen vehicles.

The accord has already been ratified by Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

In its final form it is expected to have computerised listings of a million people with a criminal record.

OECD ministerial meeting on economic issues

Results of the first round of the French general elections were already imprinted on the OECD's annual ministerial session, which started here yesterday and was attended by Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos and National Eco nomy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou.

Yesterday's session focused primarily on economic issues and Mr. Papantoniou said greater rapprochement was reached with Greek positions by the British, French and German delegations concerning state protection to offset structural changes.

The structural changes, together with social cohesion and the greatest possible consensus, reflect the prevailing spirit in the organisation, Mr. Papantoniou said, while earlier the view to impose structural changes despite possible repercussions was st ronger.

Mr. Papantoniou said the Greek position always gave priority to social protection, but yesterday this position was also approached by the German delegation, proposing that structural changes and social cohesion go together.

Referring to the enlargement of the NATO alliance and the organisation's work in this direction, Mr. Pangalos said an important factor is not solely the major countries (Russia and China), since Greece was never in favour of a closed club for rich count ries, but smaller countries as well, such as Cyprus, which could play a particular role due to specific weight or conditions.

Montenegrin PM in Athens

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djuganovic conducted a two-day visit to Athens over the weekend which dealt with the credit due to be granted by Greek-based banks for the Balkan nation.

The Central Bank of Yugoslavia will be informed if the parliament approves the credits.

Athens hosts UN conference on Mideast peace process

Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou yesterday inaugurated a two- day UN-sponsored international conference on the Mideast peace process and the challenges it faces.

"Greece's concern is the implementation of peace in the Middle East," Mr. Papandreou said. "This has been the steady and clear aim during the past few years... We are convinvced that there is no other solution for the peoples of the region apart from th e peace process." Greece has traditional ties of friendship and cooperation with both Arab countries and with Israel, he said, and has supported the peace process from the outset both unilaterally and at forums such as the European Union.

The conference, which is taking place with the participation of distinguished international figures, members of the PLO's Executive Committee and journalists from the Middle East, yesterday focused on the issues of the occupied territories, peace procedures, the Oslo agreements and future prospects.

Competitiveness of Greek shipping discussed

The administrative councils of the Union of Greek Shipowners and the Panhellenic Seamen's Federation (PNO) held inconclusive talks yesterday to find ways of improving the competitiveness of Greece's ship registry.

Reference was made to the Norwegian model, which anticipates the flexible manning of crews, apart from the captain.

Merchant Marine Minister Stavros Soumakis appealed to the interested parties to abandon extreme positions to enable the finding of a solution and the handling of considerable problems observed at present in the competitiveness of the Greek merchant navy. The meeting will be repeate d.

Greek exports to Cyprus increase

Greece ranked fourth among countries exporting to Cyprus in 1996, following the US, Britain and Italy, indicating that economic and trade relations between the two countries are substantially increasing, Chrissanthi Passadi, Trade and Economic Representative of Greece to Cyprus, said here yesterday.

Ms. Passadi who was speaking at a press conference at the Cyprus International Fair Greek pavilion, noted that Greek exports to Cyprus reached 133.9 million Cyprus pounds, in 1996, (one Cyprus pound is approximately two US dollars), increasing by 11.5 p er cent, compared to those of 1995. This represents 7.2 per cent of Cyprus' total imports.

Efforts during the last 18 months to form a joint economic-trade pact, parallel to the existing joint defence pact agreed between the governments of Cyprus and Greece in 1993, have resulted in boosting trade transactions between the two countries, she said.

In 1996, Ms. Passadi added total transactions between Greece and Cyprus reached 171.6 million pounds, compared to 153.4 million pounds the previous year.

Cyprus' exports to Greece reached 37.6 million pounds in 1996, an increase of 12.7 per cent compared to those of 1995, she noted.

Israeli business delegation to visit Athens in June

The Israeli embassy in Athens yesterday announced a visit by Israeli business representatives to Athens on June 25 for meetings with Greek counterparts.

Twenty businesses are participating in the delegation, organised by the Israeli Export Institute and the Israeli embassy in Athens, which include firms active in the foodstuffs, cosmetics and health products sector, air conditioning, detergents and toys , as well as companies preparing studies for ports, marinas, agricultural installations and companies providing medical services by phone.

Greek-Turkish business meeting

More than one hundred businessmen from Greece and Turkey began a two-day meeting in Istanbul to discuss bilateral economic relations. Turkey's State Secretary Abdullah Gyul said after a closed-door session that Greece and Turkey were two countries important for the region and that the development of their cooperation would benefit both.

The Turkish minister noted that both governments supported the business meeting and expressed the hope that such initiatives would contribute to the resolution of differences between the two countries. The meeting was attended by a business del egation from Cyprus and from the Turkish-Cypriot community.

Meanwhile, Turkey's Foreign Undersecretary Onur Oymen, addressing a meeting on Greek-Turkish relations organised by the Center for Political Research and Information (CPRI) in Athens, stressed the need for an improvement in Greek-Turkish trade relations.

The two countries had gained nothing from the policy of confrontation, and in fact Greece and Turkey had lost a lot in bilateral relations, Mr. Oymen said.

Trade figures between Turkey and Greece were surprisingly low, he said. Greece was one of the lowest ranking trade partners of Turkey among OECD members.

Bilateral imports and exports were respectively 210 and 201 million dollars in 1995, representing only 1.9 and 1.2 percent respectively of total trade with European Union countries. Construction activity surges

Athens Bourse suspends trading

Trading was suspended on the Athens Stock Exchange on Monday due to unresolved technical problems facing the electronic trading system.

Massive buying orders for Xiosbank shares due to the bank's debut on the market caused serious problems to the system, according to market sources. The Athens bourse ended on Friday at a new all-time high of 1,727.70 points on heavy turnover.

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