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The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 99-07-08
From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <ert.ntua.gr/>
CONTENTS
[01] GREEK GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS DISCUSS FUEL PRICES
[02] CONSULTATIONS ON ORGANIZATION FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF BALKANS
[03] CYPRIOT PRESIDENT'S LETTER TO UN SECRETARY GENERAL
[04] SESSIONS OF INTERNATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMITTEE IN PARIS
[05] PASOK EXECUTIVE BUREAU APPROVES PROPOSALS AFTER EUROELECTIONS
[06] EUROPEAN SOCIALIST GROUP ELECTS OFFICIALS
[07] GREEK MINISTERS DENY STATEMENTS BY MANAGER OF SPATA AIRPORT
[08] US DEFENCE SECRETARY TO VISIT GREECE
[09] FAMOUS MANUSCRIPT EXHIBITED IN BALTIMORE
[10] NEW CRISIS IN ITALIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS
[01] GREEK GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS DISCUSS FUEL PRICES
The progress of the Greek economy and in particular the inflation rate
was the focus of yesterday's meeting of the government's economic
staff, chaired by prime minister Kostas Simitis. In statements he made
at the end of the meeting, national economy minister Yannos Papantoniou
said that for the time being the government would not go ahead with a
reduction in the special consumer tax to hold back fuel prices. Mr
Papantoniou added that a final decision on the issue would be made in
the fall, admitting however that fuel price increases in the
international market would complicate efforts for a lower inflation
rate. The national economy minister appealed to businessmen to freeze
prices, stressing that decisions about tax cuts would be made later to
allow the government to have a better picture of the situation.
Meanwhile, fuel prices are up, gasoline is more expensive by 7 drachmas
and diesel oil by 3.4 drachmas a liter as of today.
[02] CONSULTATIONS ON ORGANIZATION FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF BALKANS
Alternate foreign minister Yannos Kranidiotis had consultations in
Brussels yesterday with EU commissioner Hans van den Broek and other
European Commission officials on the establishment of the Organisation
for the Reconstruction of the Balkans in Thessaloniki, on the basis of
the political agreement reached recently at the Rio de Janeiro summit.
Mr Kranidiotis has made it quite clear that Greece does not plan to
back down on the issue of the Organization's headquarters and expects
the European Commission to respond positively to the political decision
made recently by the 15 EU leaders. The issue of the organization's
headquarters is expected to be discussed at tomorrow's meeting of the
committee of permanent representatives of the 15 EU member states. In a
related development, the bureau of the European Socialist party met in
Brussels on Tuesday with the participation of Greek national defence
minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos and alternate foreign minister Yannos
Kranidiotis. After the meeting, Mr Tsohatzopoulos referred to the
implementation of the stability programme for the Balkans.
[03] CYPRIOT PRESIDENT'S LETTER TO UN SECRETARY GENERAL
In a letter he sent recently to UN secretary general Kofi Annan,
Cypriot president Glafkos Kliridis outlines the real dimension of the
Cyprus issue and the positions of the Greek Cypriots regarding the
points mentioned in Mr Annan's latest report. The letter makes special
mention of Mr Annan's statements in London about rescinding earlier
commitments and presents the situation in its true light. President
Kliridis points out that paragraph 5 of Mr Annan's report promotes an
upgrading of the Turkish Cypriots which runs counter to UN Security
Council resolutions. Mr Kliridis also refers to the meaning of
political equality as mentioned in the UN secretary general's report in
1990.
[04] SESSIONS OF INTERNATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMITTEE IN PARIS
The sessions of the International Oceanographic Committee which opened
on June 27th at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris ended yesterday.
Greece was re-elected member of the executive bureau of the world
organization, while Turkey was excluded. Furthermore, the contribution
of the Greek permanent delegation to UNESCO was described as important.
Besides other responsibilities, the committee is also dealing with
issues of continental shelf. Heading the Greek delegation was the
director of the Oceanographic Institute, Georgios Chronis.
[05] PASOK EXECUTIVE BUREAU APPROVES PROPOSALS AFTER EUROELECTIONS
The executive bureau of the ruling PASOK party yesterday approved the
body's proposals on the results of the recent Euroelections and the
party's re-organization. The proposals will be submitted for voting at
the party's central committee session tomorrow. As the secretary of the
Pasok central Committee Kostas Skandalidis has stated, prime minister
Kostas Simitis described the meeting of the central committee as
crucial regarding the political climate that will be formed and called
on party cadres to keep a political consensus regarding the priorities
in both the government and the party.
[06] EUROPEAN SOCIALIST GROUP ELECTS OFFICIALS
The former speaker of the Europarliament, Spaniard Enrique Baron
Crespo, was elected chairman of the Europarliament's Socialist group,
while the head of the Greek ruling PASOK party delegation, Yorgos
Katiforis, obtained the place of deputy chairman.
[07] GREEK MINISTERS DENY STATEMENTS BY MANAGER OF SPATA AIRPORT
Referring to recent statements by the German general manager of the
airport in Spata that there is an agreement that the airport may
operate in March 2001 with or without the installations of Olympic
Airways, environment and public works minister Kostas Laliotis and
transport minister Tasos Mantelis have denied the statements.
[08] US DEFENCE SECRETARY TO VISIT GREECE
US defence secretary William Cohen will visit Greece next Tuesday and
Wednesday, in the framework of his 8 day tour of Europe.
[09] FAMOUS MANUSCRIPT EXHIBITED IN BALTIMORE
A famous manuscript, Archimedes' palimpsest, will be exhibited in
Baltimore till September the 5th. Experts using the most advanced
methods will try to decipher it.
[10] NEW CRISIS IN ITALIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS
A new crisis has broken out in Italian-Turkish relations, following the
death sentence the Turkish state security court passed recently on
Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. The Italian government will appeal to
the UN Security council to organize a conference on a peaceful
settlement of the Kurdish issue within the year 2000 and will try to
persuade Turkey not to go ahead with Ocalan's execution. Italy will
also work towards sending to Turkey urgently a European delegation
which will call on Turkey to respect human rights and give a political
solution to the Kurdish issue. For his part, Turkish prime minister
Bulent Ecevit has accused Italy of intervening in a Turkish democratic
trial and called on Italy to be careful so as to avoid damaging beyond
repair the two countries relations. Meanwhile, Iran has called on
Turkey to withdraw its troops from northern Iraq and respect Iraq's
territorial integrity.
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