Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-10-08

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 08/10/1997 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• PM: Gov't committed to forging ahead with changes
• Ankara back-tracking on promises - Simitis
• MPs bound by party line on local gov't reforms
• Queen Beatrix continues state visit
• Metro lawsuit heard, lanes open
• Greece, Romania confer on public administration
• 32 illegal immigrants arrested on Samos
• President to attend CoE summit
• Jerusalem Patriarch on visit
• Stock market upbeat on rate cuts
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Prime Minister Costas Simitis pledged today that the government would make its choices regardless of any political cost, stressing that Greek citizens were demanding modernisation and an economy which would improve their standard of living.

Addressing his PASOK party's parliamentary group, Simitis said all the government's efforts were aimed at making Greece strong, noting that the position in which the country will find itself at the beginning of the next century depended on its course within the European Union and negotiations concerning the future of the EU.

It was also a demand of the Greek people, he said, that the country not be relegated to the fringes of Europe, but to attain the targets of economic convergence within the prescribed time and to be placed among the "hard core" of EU countries.

Referring to his government's achievements in the economic sector, Simitis cited the reduction in the deficit as a percentage of GDP by ten percentage points, the reduction of inflation from 14.4 per cent in 1993 to 4.9 per cent last month and the increase in the rate of growth from -1 per cent to 3.5 per cent in the period 1993-1997.

Underlining that citizens were demanding further reforms to complete the modernisation of Greek society, Simitis said that when the government first implements these reforms "there will be some who will not be pleased, who will protest and exert pressure".

However, he added, the ills of society must be abolished and "unhealthy pockets of interests and negative social attitudes must be quashed".

Responding to recent protests around the country against the government's "Capodistrias" plan to streamline local government through compulsory mergers of small communities and municipalities, Simitis described the programme as "a very important reform which cannot be sacrificed on the altar of parochial considerations of political cost".

Referring to the upcoming parliamentary vote on the "Capodistrias" bill, Simitis said party discipline would apply to PASOK deputies with respect to the number and names of the new municipalities to be formed, but not other provisions of the bill.

Simitis said that 7,000 life-giving works were currently in progress around the country, predicting that in the next few years the face of the country would change radically up until the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.

Turning to national issues, the premier said Greece would never allow its sovereign rights to be the subject of any dialogue nor to hinge on any conditions.

He criticised Turkey saying that its aggressive stance and failure to acknowledge the rules of international law not only posed a threat to Greece but to the entire region.

"The region needs stability and for this reason all the countries of the region should condemn each aggressive policy which is aimed at revising established borders, international rules and international practice," he said.

The premier stressed that the promotion of friendship and co-operation were in the interests of both Greece and Turkey, while noting that "short reckoning makes long friends".

Ankara back-tracking on promises - Simitis

Commenting on the recent talks between Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos and his Turkish countepart, Ismail Cem, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Simitis said Ankara had tried to revert to its previous tactics, "refusing to accept even the most elementary consequences of the positions to which it had agreed in Madrid".

Greece, he added, insisted on the principles of the joint communique signed by Athens and Ankara in Madrid as well as on the "step-by-step" rapprochement of the two countries.

"Only if Turkey adapts its policy to fall in line with international rules and international law will it find support from Greece in its course towards Europe," Simitis said.

The premier reiterated that Greece would continue to exercise its foreign policy with continuous initiatives while at the same time strengthening its armed forces "with determination".

Simitis said he had great expectations from next month's Balkan Summit on Crete, expressing the hope that it would constitute a landmark in creating "a new quality" in relations between the countries of the region.

MPs bound by party line on local gov't reforms

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said later that the party discipline which would apply to PASOK deputies during the debate on the "Capodistrias" bill was "necessary and useful".

Asked whether deputies defying the call would face expulsion from the party, Reppas replied:

"Costas Simitis will govern in the most effective manner in order to realise the task for which the Greek people chose him."

Asked whether party discipline would apply also for the budget debate, in light of disagreement with the government's economic policy expressed by some PASOK deputies, Reppas noted that the budget vote in effect had the nature of a confidence vote, "since if the budget is voted down it would be tantamount to a vote against the government's economic policy as a whole".

Replying to other questions, Reppas said the government was satisfied with the course of its economic policy, stressing that targets were close to attainment in all sectors.

In addition, he said, the state budget is again this year being implemented almost to the letter.

Queen Beatrix continues state visit

Queen Beatrix and Prince Klaus of the Netherlands continued their three-day official trip to Greece today with a visit to a monastery perched atop a unique tower-like rock formation at Meteora in central Greece.

The royal couple, accompanied by Dutch officials, arrived at Larissa airport this morning, from where they were flown to Meteora by helicopter.

Queen Beatrix visited the Monastery of the Transfiguration - the largest of the monasteries at Meteora, which literally translates as 'suspended in the air'.

Police and security officials had gone to the monastery early this morning to take care of security arrangements.

The Queen was welcomed by the Bishop of Stages and Meteora, Serapheim, and the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Athanasios.

During her stay, Queen Beatrix listened to Byzantine hymns and Archimandrite Athanasios told her about the history of the monastery, before presenting her with an icon and a commemorative book.

After being shown round the monastery, the royal couple were flown by helicopter to Thessaloniki, where they will visit the "Treasures of Mt. Athos" exhibition tomorrow.

Today's visit to Meteora was Queen Beatrix's second, having visited with her husband in 1961 when she was still a princess.

Metro lawsuit heard, lanes open

Two of the five lanes on Panepistimou street in downtown Athens were opened to traffic today, somewhat easing the chaos caused by the closure of the avenue when underground tunnel boring for the Athens Metro encountered a number of cavities that resulted in subsidence along the street.

The lanes were opened just hours before an Athens court was to hear a recourse by 12 owners of shops on Panepistimiou street asking for an injunction to halt work on the Metro under the street and a court-ordered study, at company expense, to be conducted by state engineers.

An Athens judge yesterday ordered suspension of work on the Metro under Panepistimou street until today's hearing of the shopowners' complaint.

Crews consructing the Metro were working throughout the night to stabilise the ground at the point where subsidence occurred yesterday.

A representative for Olympiako Metro, the State body supervising the Metro project, said late last night that another 1.5 metres of tunnel boring was required to leave behind the section of unsteady subsoil.

He said work would not stop, adding that similar problems (of subsidence) had been faced by the consortiums that built similar projects in Paris, New York and other cities.

Leonidas Kikiras, president of Attiko Metro, the consortium of Greek and foreign companies constructing the project, said there were a total of 6 problem points throughout the entire Metro network, at Ermou street, along the Ilissos river, at the beginning of Syngrou avenue, at Aghios Ioannis on Vouliagmenis avenue, a section a little beyond Aghios Ioannis up to Daphni, and a small section after Syntagma Square.

Greece, Romania confer on public administration

Public Administration Undersecretary Stavros Benos will meet with his Romanian counterpart Grigore Lapusanu on Friday for an exchange of views on issues related to their area of competence.

The talks will be held against the background of the interest expressed by Bucharest to join the European Union.

The meeting will take place on the sidelines of the seminar "Administration and European Unification" which has been organised under the OECD's Sigma programme.

32 illegal immigrants arrested on Samos

Harbour police on the island of Samos have arrested 32 Iraqi illegal immigrants of Kurdish origin, who were smuggled into Greece by a Turkish boat.

Port authorities said that the illegal immigrants -- 27 men, 3 children and two women -- were dropped off by the Turkish boat at two different locations on Samos late last night and early this morning.

They said this was the first time a single boat had attempted dropoffs at two different locations on Samos on the same trip.

The authorities also said there was increasing evidence that thousands of Iraqis were gathered on the Asia Minor coast trying to secure passage to the Greek islands in the Aegean.

President to attend CoE summit

President Kostis Stephanopoulos will fly to Strasbourg tomorrow to represent Greece at the Council of Europe summit which begins on Friday.

Stephanopoulos will address the council plenary and attend a luncheon hosted by French President Jacques Chirac.

On Sunday, Stephanopoulos will attend events at Kileler, central Greece, where he will unveil a monument erected in honour of the bloody 1910 farmers' uprising.

Later the same day, the president will travel to Thessaloniki from where he will go to the all-male monastic community of Mt. Athos for a three-day visit beginning Monday.

Jerusalem Patriarch on visit

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Diodoros I, has arrived in Athens for the world-wide premiere of a book on the history of the Church of Jerusalem.

The 320-page tome, published by the Athens-based Militos Editions, records the history of the Jerusalem Patriarchate and is titled "Mother of Churches - Jerusalem, House of God".

George Kontadakis, general director of the publishing firm, said an initial 5,000 copies of the "unique publication" would be published, accompanied by a magnifying glass to enable readers to discern the intricate details in the illustrations of icons and other relics from the Orthodox churches in Jerusalem.

Last year, the same publishers put out a similar two-volume book on the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople at the Phanar, high-technology photographic material by distinguished photographers.

Both books contain references to texts by travellers of antiquity and rare historical sources, and their prefaces have been written by Doctor of Theology Alexandros Kariotoglou.

The presentation will take place at the Grande Bretagne Hotel at noon on Thursday.

Stock market upbeat on rate cuts

Greek equities resumed their upward trend to hit a new record on the Athens Stock Exchange at today's session, supported by a fall in inflation and National Bank's decision to cut deposit and loan interest rates.

The general index closed 1.07 percent higher at 1,794.14 points. Traders predicted that the index would break the 1,800 level by the end of the week.

Sector indices scored big gains. Banks rose 0.85 percent, Insurance was 0.82 percent higher, Leasing jumped 7.12 percent, Investment soared 2.41 percent, Construction was 0.30 percent up, Industrials rose 1.29 percent, Miscellaneous increased 0.63 percent and Holding was 3.07 percent up.

The parallel market index for small cap companies bucked the trend to end 0.12 percent down.

Trading was extremely heavy and turnover was 31.4 billion drachmas.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 172 to 65 with another 20 issues unchanged.

Sanyo, Fourlis, Chalkor, Macedonian Plastics, Alte, Chipita, Metka and Alcatel scored the biggest percentage gains, while Lanakam, Benroubi, Medical Centre and Kambas suffered the heaviest losses.

National Bank of Greece ended at 33,140 drachmas, Ergobank at 19,710, Alpha Credit at 20,995, Delta Dairy at 4,240, Titan Cement at 16,880, Intracom at 15,450 and Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation at 6,900.

In the domestic foreign exchange market the US dollar rose fractionally against the drachma.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(M.P.)

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