Greek Press and Media Minister mr Evangelos Venizelos, said today in Athens that there is a problem in the negotiations with FYROM which were supposed to start yesterday but were postponed.
The Greek minister attributed it to the petitions the FYROM side introduced on the greek measures and said that Athens thinks that there may be developments today but declined to make any more comments since the procedure is o the way.
"We are ready to sign an agreement which will normalize the bilateral relations and form a tacticcs of communication between the two sides said mr Venizelos who added that in the framework of this procedure Greece is ready to lift its measures against Scopje if Scopje undertake the commitment to realize the changes in the flag and the constitution.
The meeting between the Foreign Ministers mr Carolos Papoulias of Greece and mr Stevo Crvenkovski of the FYROM which was scheduled to take place at 10:00 New York time yesterday was postponed in the beginning for two hours and then until a new statement is edited by the UN.
The talks hit a snag before they started as a result of the FYROM Foreign Minister's persistence in demanding the lifting of the greek measures against his country immediately after the signing of an agreement.
It should be noted that the greek side is willing to lift the measures simultaneously with the materialization of the terms of the agreement concerning the changes in the Constitution and the flag of FYROM which uses greek symbols and the end of the irredentist propaganda launched by Skopje.
The US government had sent in New York the White House special envoy Mathew Nimetz who met the greek delegation head while UN mediator Cyrus Vance and US foreign undersecretary of State mr Richard Holbrooke met with the delegation of FYROM whose stance, according to information, made the US diplomat furious.
The greek Foreign Ministry spokesman ambassador Constantinos Bikas stated yesterday that the greek side is ready to sign an agreement with Skopje.According to his statements made yesterday "we are waiting for them to come. Until now they have not come to sign".
The greek Foreign Minister is in continuous contact with Athens and Prime Minister Papandreou who gave him the "green light" to walk out of the talks in case Skopje insists on its position for the immediate lifting of the embargo.
President of the minor opposition party of the Political Spring mr Antonis Samaras accused the government and the main opposition party of New Democracy of having concluded in the closure of the issue of the relations with Scopje under the guidelines from the US and blamed the president of New Democracy mr Miltiades Evert for his statement with which he included the problem with Scopje in the Bosnian crisis.
President fo the political party of the coalition of the left mr Nikos Constantopoulos repeated the position of his party that the problems with Scopje should be solved with dialogue.
Meanwhile, the state radio station of Scopje invoking UN sources reported today that the New York talks between the Foreign Ministers of Greece and FYROM were postponed as a result of their different views on when the greek embargo should be lifted.
Also, daily "Nova Makedonia" of Scopje wrote today that the organizations of their homogens living in the United States, Canada and Australia are against any negotiation on the name, the flag and the Consitution while many of them are calling for the resignation of Foreign Minister Crvenkovski.
Greek Prime Minister mr Andreas Papandreou will have completed the reshuffle of his government till the end of the week according to the Press Vice Minister who acts as his spokesman.
Today the government announced that the ministries of Presidency and Interior affiars are united, which fed impressions that mr Akis Tsohadjopoulos, secretary of the central committee of the governing party who according to the party's statute does not take part in the government, is to the return to the cabinet.
In such a case, he will be replaced in the party secretariat by either the Environment minister mr Costas Laliotis or the Interior minister mr Costas Scandalidis, two of the most prominent members of the party leadership.
Ministers of Foreign Affairs mr Carolos Papoulias and National Defense mr Yerassimos Arsenis are nit considered among those who will be moved, although it was rumoured that mr Arsenis may return to the Ministry of National Economy where he served in the first mandate of PASOK, 1981-85.
In such an eventuality the National Economy Minister mr Yannos Papantoniou will take the place of the industry minister where the current minster's resignation accelerated the reshuffle.
It is also said that Press and Media Minister mr Evangelos Venizelos may be moved to the Foreign Ministry to undertake the responsibilities of the relations with the European Union.
Today mr Venizelos did not comment on the rumoured refusals by prominent MPs of the governing socialistic party to take part in the government.
Opens tomorrow in Thessaloniki the 2nd Festival of Education and Culture that will last until Sunday, September 17th. In the Festival participate greek and foreign Universities.
Very important is the participation of the Romanian Education Ministry and of the greek Universities of Macedonia, Thessali, Ioannina. Also, participate the University of Sofia, the American University of Blagoevgrad and Sofia's Institute of Foreign Students.
Six pakistanis who tried to enter Greece illegally passed through a minefield close to the greek-turkish borders in the region of Evros in north-eastern Greece and as a result of land mine explosions 4 of them were killed while the other 2 were seriously injured.
The six pakistanis, ages 20 to 40 yearsold, entered the minefield inspite of the warning signs in the region.
The meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Greece and FYROM Karolos Papoulias and Stevo Chervenkofski that was scheduled to take place yesterday in New York was postponed until today. The talks hit a snag before they started as a result of the skopjan Foreign Minister's persistence in demanding the lifting of the greek embargo immediately after the signing of an agreement.
It should be noted that the greek side is willing to lift the embargo simultaneously with the materialization of the terms of the agreement concerning the changes in the skopjan Constitution, the flag and the end of the irredentist propaganda launched by Skopje.
The US government has sent in New York the White House special envoy Mathew Nimetz who met with the greek delegation while UN mediator Cyrus Vance and US special envoy Richard Holbrooke met with the skopjan delegation. According to information, mr.Holbrooke was furious because of the skopjan stance.
The greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Kostas Bikas stated yesterday that the greek side is ready to sign an agreement with Skopje. According to his statements made yesterday "we are waiting for them to come. Until now they have not come to sign".
The greek Foreign Minister is in continuous contact with Prime Minister Papandreou who gave him the "green light" to walk out of the talks in case Skopje insists in its position for the immediate lifting of the embargo.
Meanwhile, the skopjan state radio invoking UN sources reported today that the New York talks between the Foreign Ministers of Greece and FYROM were postponed as a result of their different views on when the greek embargo should be lifted.
Also, the skopjan newspaper "Nova Makedonia" wrote today that the organizations of skopjans living in the United States, Canada and Australia are against any negotiation on the name, the flag and the Consitution while many of them are calling for the resignation of Foreign Minister Chervenkofski.
Opens tomorrow in Thessaloniki the 2nd Festival of Education and Culture that will last until Sunday, September 17th. In the Festival participate greek and foreign Universities.
Very important is the participation of the Romanian Education Ministry and of the greek Universities of Macedonia, Thessali, Ioannina. Also, participate the University of Sofia, the American University of Blagoevgrad and Sofia's Institute of Foreign Students.
Six pakistanis who tried to enter Greece illegally passed through a minefield close to the greek-turkish borders in the region of Evros in north-eastern Greece and as a result of land mine explosions 4 of them were killed while the other 2 were seriously injured.
The six pakistanis, ages 20 to 40 yearsold, entered the minefield inspite of the warning signs in the region.