The new greek government that was a result of a resuffle, made yesterday by the Prime Minister mr Andreas Papandreou was sworn in today in front of the President of the Hellenic Republic mr Constantinos Stephanopoulos and in the presence of Prime Minister.
The new cabinet was announced yesterday and consists of 22 Ministers, 7 Deputy Ministers and 22 Undersecretaries, one of the biggest cabinets ever formed.
Six of the Cabinet Ministers were not members of the previous government while two of them had served as Ministers in the past, and the rest were members of the last cabinet.
The main new person in the government is mr Akis Tsohadjopoulos who undertook the duties of the new ministry which replaced the ministries of Presidency and Interior Affairs and which under the name of "Ministry of Interior Affairs, Public Administration and Decentralization will have the political responsibility of all public services.
Mr Stephanos Djoumakas, member of the Executive Bureau of the governing Socialistic party PASOK, who short ago had expressed its will to resign from politics, undertook the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
Press and Media Minister mr Evangelos Venizelos moved to the ministry of transportation and Communications while minister of Justice mr Anastassios Peponis replaced mr Constantinos Simitis who last monday resigned from the Ministry of Industry accelerating the reshuffle.
Mr Simitis, one of the most prominent PASOK members, also had the duty of the ministry of Commerce where he was replaced by MP mr Nikos Akritidis who had served in this ministry for five years during the period 1981-89.
Thirteen out of the twenty ministers keep the posts they had in the previous scheme as well as two out of the seven alternate ministers and fourteen out of the 22 vice ministers
The econnmic ministries as well as the ministry of National Defense and Foreign Afairs did not have any change in their political leadership.
Another significant change is that up-to- now Alternate National Economy Minister mr Georgios Romeos, an ex-Vice President of the European Parliament has moved as an alternate minister again to the Foreign Ministry where he will serve as the Minister for European Affairs, replacing mr Georgios Alexandros Mangakis.
Political circles in the Greek capital expect that soon there will a reshuffle of the party leadership as well, since tow of its members mr Michalis haralambidis and mr Constantinos Simitis have reigned without being substituted and the Secreatary f teh Central Committee mr Akis Tsohadjopoulos has to be replaced since the secretary of the party can not participate in the government according to the statute of PASOK.
It is likely that up-to-now Interior Minister mr Constantinos Scandalidis will be proposed by the prime minister and President of the party mr Andreas Papandreou to replace mr Tsohadjopoulos.Yesterday at the announcement of the new governmental scheme it was said officially that mr Scandalidis will be moved to the party.
The name of the FYROM will have to negotiated according to the New York agreement said today professor Crateros Ioannou, legal councillor of the Hellenic Republic in the New York negotiations between Athens and Scopje, in an interview with the Macedonian Press Agency.
Mr Ioannou said that the agreement says that the two parties should continue negotiating with the aim to achieve a solution in the problem described in the 817 and the 845 resolutions of the Security Council of the United Nations and added that this procedure can not be unterminable stressing that in such a case there can be used the legal measures that can help unreliability of one party be faced.
If there is no negotiation on the name, then the agreement is not valid and Greece has the right even to refer the case to the international court of Hague, said mr Ioannou.
Greece entered the negotiations with the position that the measures against FYROM should not be lifted before the start of the negotiations and not only was this position accepted but also it was agreed that the measures will not be lifted before FYROM fulfils its obligations from the agreement, underscored profesor Ioannou.
As far as it regards the criticism that the two countries are referred to as the first and the second party in the agreement mr Ioannou said that tyhis is a common phenomenon in the international treaties when one of the parties does not recognise the other.
Asked whether the existense among the documents of the agreement of leters which Foreign Minister of FYROM mr Stevo Crvenkovski signs as the "Foreign Minister of the Republic of Macedonia" creates commitments regarding the name mr Ioannou said that in the agreement ther is such a settlement for the assistance of the communication between the two countries till the issue of the name be solved.
Professor Ioannou declined to compare the signed agreement with the 1993 draft agreement, on which he also served as the legal councillor saying that the 1993 draft was not accepted by both parts which made it liable to possible changes till it was accepted and reminded that the FYROM side in a letter signed by President Gligorov had expressed certain objections on some of settlement then suggested by the international mediator mr Cyrus Vance who was then working with Lord Owen..
Asked about the character of the problems noted in New York till the the agreemnt was signed, mr Ioannou said that they were of a political and legal character.
Professor Ioannou stressed that even President Clinton of the US in a statement of his at the presense of Greek Ambassador in Washington mr Loukas Chillas and FYROM Foreign Minister referred to Scopje as FYROM.
Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman ambassador Constantinos Bikas stated today that the committees which will be formed by the Foreign Ministries of Greece and FYROM will start meeting as soon as possible so that their conclusions on the development of the bilateral trade relations will be ready within 30 days, in accordance with the agreement signed by the two countries in New York. Meanwhile, liaison offices will open in the two countries at the earliest.
Mr.Bikas said that there is no agreement on a timetable regarding the length of the negotiations on the issue of the name but he pointed out that the greek government will enter the negotiations in order to deal with the problem as soon as possible, while he reiterated that the government will participate in the negotiations on the name with its known positions.
Mr Bikas did not clarify whether those negotiations will be held in the presence of a mediator but they will be held under the auspices of the United Nations.
White House spokesman Michael McCurry stated that the easing off of the tension between Athens and Skopje is another factor of stability which will prevent the spreading of the war in former Yugoslavia.
Mr McCurry responding to questions by reporters on whether the presence of US troops in FYROM will be affected by the agreement between Greece and FYROM stated that their deployment aims at preventing the spreading of the war in the rest of the Balkans.
Italy welcomed today the agreement signed by Greece and FYROM stressing that the two neigbouring countries made a decisive step toward the settlement of their differencies.
In a statement issued by the italian Foreign Ministry is mentioned that the italian government trusts the two sides which continue to have an open and flexible attitude that allowed them to reach such an important result.
The quick solution, through negotiations, of issues that are still pending and the development of friendly relations between the two countries will contribute considerably to the stability in the Balkans, is stressed in the italian Foreign Ministry statement.
Bulgarian government spokesman Nikola Baltov said on the state radio that his country believes the agreement between Greece and FYROM is a big step toward the normalization of their bilateral relations and toward stability in the region.
Also, the bulgarian government spokesman stated that Sofia supports the peace initiative in Bosnia which is under the auspices of the United Nations and added that will participate in the talks for the lifting of the international sanctions against former Yugoslavia.
The European Parliament reiterated to the turkish government the terms under which the agreement of Turkey's customs union with the European Union will be ratified.
European Parliament representative Carlos Carnero Gonzales, who arrived yesterday in Ankara in order to prepare his report on the issue, met with the turkish Justice Minister and underlined the possibility of a negative result for Turkey of the vote in the European Parliament if the 6 jailed Kurdish deputies are not released and if Article 8 of the anti- terrorist law which limits the freedom of expression is not abolished.
Mr. Carlos Carnero Gonzales visited this morning the jailed kurdish MPs who were sentenced in December 1994 and received jail terms of up to 15 years in prison accused of being members and of supporting the Labour Party of Kurdistan.
The cypriot government reiterated through its spokesman mr Yiannakis Kasoulidis that the United States have no plan for the solution of the Cyprus problem and that they do not intend to impose a solution of the problem.
The cypriot spokesman commenting on information that after the Athens - Scopje issue the US will intensify their efforts for the solution of the Cyprus problem mr.Kasoulidis stated that the Cyprus problem is totally different from the other issue and therefore a comparison is not possible, while also there can not be a comparison between the role of the United States in those two issues.
Mr Cassoulides alos said that the americans themselves have stated that they have no intention to impose a solution plan while he added that the only mandate that exists is the mandate comming from the UN Security Council resolutions on the good services of the UN Secretary General.
The construction of the oil pipe-line that will bring russian oil from the bulgarian port of Bourgas in the Black Sea to the greek port of Alexandroupolis in the Aegean Sea, in north- eastern Greece, will create the potential for dynamic development in the region.
It will be the largest project built in the last years in Europe and will be directly related with the European Union energy policy.
For the first time Greece becomes the "road" through which the russian oil will reach the european markets and for the first time Turkish monopoly through the Bosporus straits in the oil transportation is broken.
The oil pipe-line will be 300 kilometers long and with its construction Greece's role in the region will be upgraded while its economic ties with Russia and Bulgaria will be strengthened and new investors will be attracted in the region of Thrace.
The construction cost of the oil pipe-line is estimated to reach 700 million dollars and will be concluded in 3 years. In the first 4 years of its operation will carry about 20 million tons of oil annually while later it will be able to carry each year twice as much oil.
Stiff prison sentences and heavy fines were announced today by the greek government for violators of the legislation on toxic and hazardous waste management.
According to Environment Minister Mr Kostas Laliotis violators will face prison terms from 5 to 15 years, fines ranging from 10 million to 1 billion drachmas plus deprivation of their civil rights.
Mr. Laliotis stated that after a joint ministerial decision, an integrated, severe and contemporary institutional framework is being formulated on the management of the toxic and hazardous waste which brings the greek legislation into line with EU directives.
Greece produces an estimated 500 thousand tons of toxic waste annually of which 120 thousand tons are recycled while the rest end up in dumping sites.