Macedonian Press Agency: Special Report in English, 98-04-23

From: Macedonian Press Agency <mpa@philippos.mpa.gr>

Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory

BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY THE MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY

Thessaloniki, April 23, 1998

TITLES

[01] KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS DIED AT 1.40 AM TODAY

[02] KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS

[03] THE DETAILS FOR THE FUNERAL OF KARAMANLIS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT 8AM

[04] STATEMENT BY THE LEADER OF ND ON KARAMANLIS

[05] MITSOTAKIS' STATEMENT ON KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS

[06] SIMITIS' STATEMENT ON KARAMANLIS

NEWS IN DETAIL

[01] KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS DIED AT 1.40 AM TODAY

Konstantinos Karamanlis died at 1.40 am today April 23, 1998 at the age of 92. With this statement his close associate Mr. Petros Moliviatis formally announced a short while ago the sad news of the death of the politician who marked with his strong presence Greece's political life for the past five decades.

Konstantinos Karamanlis was fighting for his life for over 10 days at the medical center "Hygeia" and according to his doctors he died of heart failure.

[02] KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS

Prime minister of Greece from October 1955 to November 1963 and from July 1974 to May 1980. He served two terms in the presidency of the Greek Republic. The first term lasted from May 1980 to May 1985, when he was succeeded by Christos Sargetakis, and the second from May 1990 to May 1995.

He was born in the village of Proti in the prefecture of Serres, in northern Greece on March 8, 1907. He studied law and worked as a lawyer in the city of Serres. He entered politics in 1935 when he was elected in Parliament as a deputy of the Popular Party in the constituency of Serres. He was re-elected in 1936. During the dictatorship of Metaxas and the German occupation he withdrew from politics and after the liberation he entered politics again. In the elections of 1946 and 1950 he was elected in Parliament as a Popular Party deputy. He left the Popular Party to join Papagos' Ellinikos Sinegermos and under its banner was elected Parliament deputy in the constituency of Serres in 1951 and in 1952.

In the period of 1946-1952 he held many ministerial posts. He became labor minister in the Tsaldaris government on November 24, 1946 until the end of February 1947. In 1948 he became transport minister in the Sofoulis government and then social welfare minister until January 1950. In the period of January-November 1950 he held the ministry of national defense in the Sofoklis Venizelos government. In the Alexandros Papagos government he was minister of public works.

In 1955 he was appointed prime minister by the then King Pavlos to replace the dying Papagos. Within four months he founded the National Radical Union ( "Ethniki Rizospastiki Enosi" or ERE) and was joined by 190 Parliament deputies. As the leader of ERE he won three election races in 1956, 1958 and 1961 and remained prime minister until November 1963. In the November 3, 1963 elections, ERE was defeated by Georgios Papandreou's Center Union ("Enosis Kentrou") after the accusations made against the party on the murder case of leftist Parliament deputy Grigoris Lambrakis. Karamanlis resigned from the ERE leadership and left for Paris where he stayed as a private individual for 11 years until the political changeover.

He returned to Greece in July 1974 after the collapse of the seven-year dictatorship of the colonels and led a national unity government as prime minister. In the November 1974 elections his New Democracy party ("Nea Dimokratia") won the race with 54% of the vote and in the 1978 elections he was triumphant again with 41%. One of the first decisions made by Karamanlis after the political changeover was the legalization of the Greek Communist Party, the restitution of the Greek nationality for thousands of political refugees who returned to Greece and the rapprochement with most Balkan states. In the period 1975-1978, Karamanlis visited all the countries of the then Eastern Block, while in October 1979 he visited the Soviet Union and in November of the same year went to China. He made similar openings toward the countries of the Arab world as well.

However, the most significant achievement of Konstantinos Karamanlis was the accession of Greece into the European Economic Community which took place in May 1979 and the country's re- accession into NATO that was completed in October 1980.

[03] THE DETAILS FOR THE FUNERAL OF KARAMANLIS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT 8AM

The family of Konstantinos Karamanlis will announce at 8am today where and how his funeral will be held.

According to information, Konstantinos Karamanlis with a written statement asks not to be lied in state and the funeral service to be held in a close family circle in the presence of his political friends. He also requests to be buried outside the Konstantinos Karamanlis Foundation in Filothei, Athens.

[04] STATEMENT BY THE LEADER OF ND ON KARAMANLIS

Immediately after the death of Konstantinos Karamanlis, New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis issued a written statement.

In it he mentions that the great and inspired leader, who changed Greece's fate, has become part of history. In the statement it is also stressed that the vision and the principles of the party's founder Konstantinos Karamanlis will always be an inspiration and will offer guidance.

It is mentioned that it is "our duty to turn the deep grief into a force of creation and rebirth for Greece, Greece which was so much loved and faithfully served by Konstantinos Karamanlis.

[05] MITSOTAKIS' STATEMENT ON KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS

New Democracy honorary president Konstantinos Mitsotakis in a written statement on Konstantinos Karamanlis underlines that he played a leading role in the Greek political life in the second half of the 20th century. He was a politician with great abilities which he used for the benefit of the people and the nation. He always showed a sense of responsibility and realism on issues of foreign and domestic policy and managed efficiently the state economy. He was tough toward his colleagues but above all he was frugal and strict toward himself.

In the statement Mr. Mitsotakis mentions, that Konstantinos Karamanlis played a decisive role in three post-war achievements. Firstly, he freed the Greeks from poverty secondly, in 1974 he restored the best democracy modern Greece has known and thirdly, he won Greece's accession into the European Union which is the only stable compass the country has in this difficult and dangerous turning point. Mr. Mitsotakis concludes that Konstantinos Karamanlis died at an old age and his work has won the recognition of the entire Greek people, stressing that this is the best vindication a politician can wish for.

[06] SIMITIS' STATEMENT ON KARAMANLIS

Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis in a statement he made on the death of Konstantinos Karamanlis he stressed that the deceased played a leading role in the bloodless transition from dictatorship to democracy through the restoration and reform of democratic institutions and the establishment of equality before the law for all Greeks.

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