Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 99-04-05

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

ATHENS, GREECE, 05/04/1999 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Greece reiterates its intent to alleviate Kosovo refugee problems
• Tsohatzopoulos criticism of Yugoslav leadership of Kosovo strategy
• Constantopoulos in Belgrade today
• Top US diplomat Talbott begins Athens talks
• Canadian FM Axworthy's visit postponed
• Athens reportedly sets condition for accepting Kosovar refugees
• Athens march, other protests against NATO bombing
• Protests against NATO bombings continue across N. Greece
• Messolonghi exodus marked as statements point to Yugoslavia crisis
• Plans for more decentralisation cited by V. Papandreou
• Greek first division soccer results
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Greece said yesterday it would do its best to contribute to any efforts at alleviating problems arising from the Kosovo crisis.

"We shall be present, in the best and most efficient way, to contribute to the tackling of problems that have been created due to the crisis in Kosovo. We shall be present so that, simultaneously with our responsible options and best handling of the sit uation, we may guard our national interests," government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said after a meeting of the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence (KYSEA) yesterday.

Sources said the Greek government was examining, at an initial stage, the prospect of reinforcing the Greek contingent in Albania within the framework of a broader NATO operation to provide humanitarian aid to the Kosovar refugees fleeing to that country.

The same sources said the Greek military contingent in Albania had been praised by all sides involved for its contribution in providing humanitarian assistance for the refugees, while non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) have also been prai-sed for similar work.

As a result of the Greek assistance, the same sources added, the accommodation of 20,000 refugees had been made possible in FYROM.

KYSEA convened yesterday for three hours, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Costas Simitis, to discuss ways in which Greece could contribute to the problem of refugees abandoning Yugoslavia due to the ongoing crisis.

Greece's contribution was in in the framework of consultations and discussions taking place at an EU level, Mr. Reppas said, adding that the refugee problem should be tackled in accordance with each country's abilities.

"Greece will not tackle the problem alone. In that framework, the government is examining the prospect of Greece taking in a few thousand refugees," the spokesman said.

Other sources said any possible refugees allowed into Greece could possibly be hosted in central and southern Greece.

Mr. Reppas said Greece would also be present in efforts to ease the refugees problem, and also in the creation of conditions for a political solution to the crisis, so as to safeguard its national interests.

Tsohatzopoulos criticism of Yugoslav leadership of Kosovo strategy

National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos on Saturday was categorical in his condemnation of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, charging that ethnic cleansing in Kosovo aims at changing borders in the region and making all the Balkan peoples host age to the problem.

Speaking to reporters in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's (FYROM) capital of Skopje, Mr. Tsohatzopoulos further charged that the policy of ethnic clean-sing began before the NATO bombings started, saying that it now seemed that Mr. Milosevic did not wish to accept a solution, because he possibly had a different future form of Yugoslavia in mind.

Asked about the NATO air strikes against downtown Belgrade on Saturday, the first since the Nazis bombed the Yugoslav capital in April 1941, he responded: "It doesn't matter what I believe, but that NATO has decided on the operations with an aim of putting an end to the humanitarian catastrophe in Kosovo and a return to the negotiating table."

He also stressed that Greece was "entitled" to make such charges, citing the mass persecution and "ethnic cleansing" practised by the Turks against ethnic Greeks in the Black Sea region and Asia Minor in 1922 and on Cyprus in 1974.

Then too, he continued, the objective was to change existing borders.

"The Yugoslav leadership must take a position about how to bring an end to this situation. The Balkan peoples will not be held hostage to the plans promoted by Yugoslavia," he added.

He repeated this position several times, accusing Belgrade of wanting "to make all countries part of the Kosovo problem," but stressing that "we are not willing to accept it and for this reason we shall react".

Mr. Tsohatzopoulos reiterated his opposition to any use of NATO ground forces in Kosovo.

The defence minister's remarks in Skopje were strongly criticised by several Greek opposition parties.

"The despicable statements by the defence minister, with which he attributes responsibility to the leadership of New Yugoslavia for the war, absolves NATO and the EU, the real culprits, of their responsibility for the crime being committed," the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) said in a statement.

The Coalition of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos) in a statement, expressed its deep concern "that we are at the beginning of a new period in the Balkans, in which the problem of borders may arise at any moment and the problem of minorities may worsen."

Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI) leader Dimitris Tsovolas described Mr. Tsohatzopoulos' references to "ethnic cleansing" as "unacceptable" and "abject".

Constantopoulos in Belgrade today

Coalition of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos) leader Nikos Constantopoulos is scheduled to meet Yugoslav leaders in Belgrade today, including President Slobodan Milosevic.

Mr. Constantopoulos, who is beginning tour of the Balkans, will remain in the Yugoslav capital for two days.

Winding up sessions of the his party's central committee, the Synaspismos leader strongly condemned NATO attacks on Yugoslavia, calling on the Greek government to clearly state its disagreement regarding the planned escalation of military operations in the Yugoslav provice. "The war transcends Kosovo, it is a crime against humanity," he stressed.

Top US diplomat Talbott begins Athens talks

US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott began talks with Foreign Minister George Papandreou and Alternate Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis this morning.

Mr. Talbott, who arrived in Athens yesterday afternoon, is on a Balkan tour and will be going on to Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Bulgaria and Romania. Diplomatic sources said he is enunciating Washington's official positions regarding all aspects of the Kosovo conflict. The US official has also asked to meet with PM Costas Simitis.

Canadian FM Axworthy's visit postponed

Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy's scheduled talks in Athens with Greek foreign ministry officials has been postponed, it was announced yesterday.

Ministry sources said Ottawa requested a postponement of Mr. Axworthy's meeting here today with Greek officials as an unforeseen obligation had arisen for the Canadian FM.

Athens reportedly sets condition for accepting Kosovar refugees

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has officially asked the Greek government to accept about 20,000 Kosovo refugees now in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), sources said yesterday.

The request was made during a telephone discussion between UNHCR head Santago Ogata with Foreign Minister George Papandreou, who reportedly responded in the negative. According to the same sources, Mr. Papandreou told Ms Ogata and his German counterpart Joschka Fischer, with whom he also spoke, that Greece would accept refugees only within the framework of a decision for allocating them among NATO and European Union countries.

Athens march, other protests against NATO bombing

The Italian and US embassies, as well as the EU Commission's representation in Greece were the target of protesters yesterday during another march against the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

The protest march began at Syntagma Square and ended outside the US embassy.

According to reports, a handful of mostly youthful protesters entered the Italian embassy's premises causing minor damages. Vandalism of several banks and automobiles along the protest route was also reported.

Meanwhile, serious incidents were reported outside the Souda naval base, near Hania, Crete, and the NATO regional headquarters at Tyrnavos, central Greece, when protesters attempted to deliver petitions.

More than 3,000 people took part in the Hania protest march, which developed into a pitched battle with police when demonstrators were denied access to the base's gate. Police used tear gas and the crowd responded by throwing stones.

Several police officers and protesters were injured.

In Tyrnavos, protesters broke through a police cordon and painted slogans on the walls of the enclosure.

Earlier, Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Secretary General Aleka Papariga charged that the war was being carried out by NATO on the pretext of minority rights, while Greece was part of the Balkan problem with "the criminal attack against the Yugoslav, Serbian, and Albanian people", as she noted.

"No minority has been a cause of war. Any problems with minorities can be solved in the context of the respective countries," she added.

Protests against NATO bombings continue across N. Greece

Thousands of northern Greece residents gathered at the Evzoni border post on the Greek-FYROM frontier yesterday to protest the NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia.

Initially protesters gathered in Thessaloniki yesterday morning and formed a convoy of cars that wound its way to Evzoni.

Waving Greek and Serbian flags, pennants of the Orthodox Church and holding flowers, protesters lined up along the Greek side of the border for a concert also attended by local mayors, prefects and deputies of various political parties.

Local officials addressed the crowd, calling for peace, and protestors, after observing a minute of silence for the victims of the war in Yugoslavia, threw the flowers up into the air.

The flowers, an organiser said, would remain strewn on the border road along which NATO military vehicles carrying supplies destined for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia would pass.

Messolonghi exodus marked as statements point to Yugoslavia crisis

President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos yesterday said he was "deeply saddened" over the bloodshed in neighbouring Yugoslavia, expressed bitterness over the international community's stance.

Speaking at an event in the western city of Messolonghi to mark the 173rd anniversary of the "Exodus of the Free Besieged" - as the town's heroic inhabitants came to be known during the 1821 War of Independence - the Greek president expressed sadness over the victims of the conflict and the uprooting of thousands of unarmed civilians, adding that "the international community hesitates to be moved."

On Saturday night, speaking at a similar event, Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece called for an end to the war in Yugoslavia and for the prevalence of peace, as "no one has the right to kill unarmed civilians and harm or violate territor ial integrity".

Main opposition New Democracy leader Costas karamanlis said the sacrifice of the "Free Besieged" should inspire all Greeks, calling for national unity regarding the Yugoslav crisis.

Plans for more decentralisation cited by V. Papandreou

The government on Saturday said the interior ministry was studying plans for the transfer of more responsibilities to municipal and prefectural governments.

Speaking to local officials of western Crete in Hania, Interior Minister Vasso Papandreou said the approximately nine trillion drachmas of EU funds recently allocated to Greece for the next seven years would be supplemented with a further six trillion coming from national coffers.

Referring to the tragic developments in Yugoslavia, Ms Papandreou expressed regret that "the European Union, a major hope for the future of Europe and the co-existence of peoples, considers that it has no interest in the fire that has been lighted in its neighbourhood."

"The peoples of Europe have the obligation to put politics on the table again, to again demand of the EU not to remain just a major economic force, but to become a large political force..." she added.

"Greece is not, cannot, and must not become part of the Balkan problem...The bombings worsen the situation and lead to deadlock," she stressed.

Greek first division soccer results

Proodeftiki Piraeus-Apollon Athens 0-1 Xanthi-Ionikos Piraeus 2-2 OFI Heraklion-Veria 3-0 Paniliakos Pyrgos-Panelefsiniakos 2-0 Iraklis Thessaloniki-Aris Thessaloniki 2-1 Ethnikos Astir-AEK Athens 2- 3 Ethnikos Piraeus-Kavala 0-2 Olympiakos-PAOK Thessaloniki 2-1 Panionios-Panathinaikos 0-2 Standings/points: Olympiakos 62, AEK 58, Panathinaikos 53, PAOK 44, Aris 42, Xanthi, Ionikos 40, Iraklis 39, OFI 38.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Monday's rates (buying)
U.S. dollar          300.576
Pound sterling       481.874
Japanese yen (100)   249.151
French franc          49.346
German mark          165.500
Italian lira (100)    16.717
Irish Punt           411.001
Belgian franc          8.024
Luxembourg franc       8.024
Finnish mark          54.441
Dutch guilder        146.883
Danish kr.            43.642
Austrian sch.         23.523
Spanish peseta         1.945
Swedish kr.           36.436
Norwegian kr.         38.819
Swiss franc          202.983
Port. Escudo           1.615
Aus. dollar          190.464
Can. dollar          199.432
Cyprus pound         560.361
Euro                 323.690

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