Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-04-23

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

Last Update: 23:27 GMT+2

SECTIONS

[A] GREECE

[B] BALKANS

[C] EUROPE

NEWS HEADLINES

[A] GREECE

[B] BALKANS

[C] EUROPE

NEWS IN DETAIL

[A] GREECE

[01] PANGALOS OPPOSES EARLY ELECTIONS AND A GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE

Web Posted: 22:57 GMT+2

[02] GOVERNMENT, POLITICAL CABINET TO HOLD JOINT MEETING TOMORROW

Web Posted: 15:27 GMT+2

Later tomorrow, Mr. Simitis will meet with Cyprus President Glafkos Clerides who is coming to Athens for talks with the Greek government on the Cyprus problem.

On Monday, April 27, Parliament will hold a debate on social policy at the level of party leaders, a matterrequested by the Coalition of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos).

Next Wednesday, April 29, PASOK's parliamentary group will convene, while later in the day the first vote will be taken in parliament on the revision of the Constitution.

Mr. Simitis will fly to Brussels on May 1 to attend an ECOFIN meeting that will decide which countries will participate in the first phase of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). On May 2, an EU summit will be held in Brussels and the European Parliament plenary will meet to approve the new composition of EMU.

On Tuesday, May 5, Mr. Simitis will travel to Strasbourg to speak at a special ceremony marking the assumption by Greece of the presidency of the Council of Europe.

[03] TURKISH JETS INFRINGE ATHENS FIR

Web Posted: 15:27 GMT+2

Twelve Greek Mirage 2000 and F1 fighters immediately took off to intercept the intruders but the Turkish aircraft had already left the area. According to the same sources, the Turkish aircraft were not armed.

[04] GREECE WILL JOIN EMU IN THE SECOND PHASE, SAYS GOVERNMENT

Web Posted: 15:27 GMT+2

"It would be difficult for Greece to join the first phase of EMU at the same time as countries whose economies were more developed. Such a move could damage the economy," Mr. Reppas said.

[05] GREECE'S CHIEF OF STAFF TO OFFICIALLY VISIT YUGOSLAVIA

Web Posted: 14:27 GMT+2

During his stay, Mr. Tzoganis will meet with the political and military leadership of the Yugoslav defence ministry for talks on defence matters of mutual interest. He will also have talks with Yugoslav Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic and visit military installations and academies.

[06] ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS ON KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS' DEATH

Web Posted: 13:57 GMT+2

"Karamanlis' stamp on Greece encompassed many of the nation's defining moments this century: the rise and fall of the monarchy; the Nazi occupation in World War II and the civil war that followed; the 1967-74 military junta and, finally, Greece's recognition as a full Western European ally."

According to AP's press report, Mr. Karamanlis' measured -- almost regal -- manner set him apart from many of his political peers.

``I detest passion in politics. Passion obscures issues and blinds citizens to the truth,'' he once said. Karamanlis was frosty with those he disagreed with, but compensated with a self-deprecating sense of humor. Asked why he always played golf alone, he replied: ``Because I hate to lose.''

According to AP, Karamanlis, who strongly supported improving Greece's ties with NATO and other Western groups, dedicated himself to pushing for Greek membership in the European Economic Community -- now the European Union. Greece joined the bloc in 1981, culminating 22 years of negotiations.

[07] KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS' POLICY BETWEEN 1974-1998

Web Posted: 13:27 GMT+2

Under Karamanlis the deep divisions of the past were gradually bridged, and the effective reintegration of Greek society commenced.

Karamanlis's pragmatic approach to the thorny issues of domestic communists, the fate of the monarchy (whose abolition was confirmed in a December 1974 referendum), the recent show of power by Turkey in Cyprus, and punishment for the junta ended decades of mutual recrimination in the Greek political arena while reducing clashes between outside powers competing for influence within Greece.

When Karamanlis came to office in Greece in 1974, he faced the formidable task of clearing the wreckage left by the seven years of military rule. There were two major domestic missions: the restoration of a full range of political parties and reestablishing the military as a positive force. A new constitution and a legitimate referendum on the monarchy were the main legislative priorities, but the new role of the military remained more controversial in the 1970s.

Immediately after the fall of the junta, the Karamanlis government restored civil liberties, and the constitution ratified in 1975 fully guarantees equality before the law, due process of law, and the inviolability of individual rights. In the mid-1990s, police brutality is a rare occurrence, and police officers who exceed the limits of their authority during arrests or police interrogations are immediately suspended pending the results of an official inquiry on each case.

Greek military leaders and politicians collectively decided that only former Prime Minister Karamanlis possessed the ability and the level of popular support needed to dismantle the dictatorship and restore democracy to Greece.

He remained in the Presidency until 1985, when he was succeeded by Supreme Court judge Christos Sargzetakis, and was re-elected to the Presidency in 1990. At the expiry of his term in 1995, Karamanlis retired from public affairs and was succeeded by Kostis Stephanopoulos in the presidency.

In his address to the nation on July 24, 1994, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the return to parliamentary democracy, President Karamanlis pointed to Greek membership in the EC and then the EU as the single most fateful (and fortunate) move in determining the country's foreign policy orientation and economic development in the last two decades.

[08] KARAMANLIS' CONTRIBUTION TO GREECE'S ECONOMIC GROWTH

Web Posted: 13:27 GMT+2

The state bureaucracy, the largest employer except for agriculture, became bloated, inefficient, and politically entrenched in this period. The service sector was the fastest growing element in the Greek economy. Overall, the standard of living of the majority of Greeks improved markedly in the 1950s in comparison with the sufferings of the previous years. Between 1951 and 1964, average per capita income quadrupled, and prices remained stable.

Karamanlis wanted to move closer to Europe than membership in NATO alone, so in 1962 he won associate status for Greece in the European Community (EC) with the promise of full membership in 1984. Karamanlis was firmly convinced that Greece's fortunes lay with the West and that Greece must become "European."

He also established close personal contacts in Washington, receiving an official visit from the United States president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 1959. No other United States president visited Greece until 1990.

[09] THE POLITICAL CAREER OF KARAMANLIS BETWEEN 1945-1955

Web Posted: 12:57 GMT+2

He retained the post until the January 1947 reshuffle after Dimitrios Maximos took over as Prime Minister. In May 1948 he became Minister of Transportation in the Sofoulis government, and took over the Social Security Ministry in November that year, where he stayed for two years. In the 1950 elections, he was re-elected to Parliament from Serres with the People's Party, and in September that year became briefly Minister of Defense in the Venizelos government.

He served as Minister of Public Works in the royalist Greek Rally Party, under Field Marshal Alexandros Papagos, commander of the national army. In 1955, when Papagos died after four years in office, King Paul appointed Karamanlis to form a new government. The forty-eight-year-old Macedonian reorganized the Greek Rally Party as the National Radical Union (Ethniki Rizospastiki Enosis--ERE) and proceeded to hold power until 1963.

The Civil War ended in 1949, but economic stabilization was achieved only in 1953. The starting point of postwar recovery was a package of domestic economic measures passed in 1953, which included a 50 percent currency devaluation, laws for the protection of foreign investment, and banking regulations to control inflation and speculation. Extensive public investments in infrastructure (roads, seaports, airports, and electric and telecommunications networks) were undertaken under the leadership of Konstantinos Karamanlis, first as minister of public works (1952-55) then in his first term as prime minister (1955-63). The 1953 program began twenty years in which Greece would achieve high growth rates, effective industrialization, export expansion, urban growth, and significant-- although uneven--prosperity for its population.

[10] KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS, IN MEMORIAM

Web Posted: 12:57 GMT+2

He graduated from the Athens University Law School in 1929. At the onset of the Greek-Italian War, he enlisted in the 30th Infantry Regiment in Serres in 1930, but was discharged four months later due to a hearing impediment.

Karamanlis was elected to parliament for the first time in 1935 as a deputy for the Peoples Party from the Serres region, and was re-elected in 1936.

In 1941, the year of the Nazi occupation of Greece, he settled in Athens where he practiced law.

In 1944, Karamanlis secretly left occupied Greece and reached Cairo via Turkey and Syria and from there to Alexandria (October 1944). Upon arrival he learned that Athens had been liberated, and returned to Greece.

In July 1952 he married Amalia Kanellopoulou, niece of Panayotis Kanellopoulos, whom he divorced in 1970. He died on April 23, 1998.

[11] MPA FEATURES SPECIAL EDITION ON LATE PRESIDENT KARAMANLIS

Web Posted: 12:57 GMT+2

The edition, titled "Konstantinos Karamanlis - In Memoriam" comprises a brief biography, his accomplishments during the periods between 1945-1955, 1955-1974 and 1974-1998. Moreover, there are extensive analyses of the late ethnarch's Balkan policy, the country's accession to the European Community, the Cyprus issue.

The edition features a series of photographs and can be found at www.mpa.gr.

[12] KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS' BALKAN POLICY

Web Posted: 12:37 GMT+2

Even from his first eight-year term in office (1955-1963), but mainly in the period between 1974-1980 when he was re-elected Premier and during his presidential terms of 1980-1985 and 1990-1995, Mr. Karamanlis zealously worked for the rapprochement of Greece with the other Balkan courtliness, often repeating what he had said in Bucharest in May of 1975, that is "the Balkans must no longer be viewed as the powder keg of Europe, but should be seen as a region of peace and cooperation."

During his premiership of 1976, Mr. Karamanlis smoothed Greece's relations with Albania by restoring first the trade relations between the two neighbors and then by re-establishing diplomatic relations.

After the restoration of democracy in Greece, Mr. Karamanlis took the initiative to develop ties with Bulgaria, a process to which Bulgaria's then [president, the communist Todor Zivkov had contributed. This development established the Athens-Sofia axis as the basic premise for maintaining balance in the Balkan peninsula.

When Mr.Karamanlis was elected Premier in 1974, the country' s toes with Romania took on unprecedented development.

According to Mr.Karamanlis' biographers, the late statesman's visit to Yugoslavia in June of 1975 was more of a friendly gesture rather than an opening towards the so-called socialist countries.

During his visit to Belgrade, Mr. Karamanlis presented the Yugoslav leader Tito with his plan of a multi-balkan summit which took place in Athens in January 1976 with the participation of Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, as well as a delegation from Turkey, while Albania, which politely refused to participate applauded the idea of Balkan cooperation. A second summit followed in June of 1979, with the he participation of Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Romania and Turkey.

Lastly, Mr. Karamanlis had developed exemplary ties with the then Soviet Union which resulted in the Soviet leaders favoring a fair solution to the Cyprus issue, a position which was especially declared during Mr./Karamanlis' official visit to Moscow in October of 1979.

[13] SIMITIS' STATEMENT ON KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS

Web Posted: 12:27 GMT+2

[14] PRESIDENT EXPRESSES SORROW FOR DEATH OF KARAMANLIS

Web Posted: 12:27 GMT+2

President Stephanopoulos stated that Mr. Karamanlis proved himself to be the country's first citizen, the founder of the modern democratic policy.

"Mr. Karamanlis's immense national offer is a heritage and his political behavior is a timeless example.

Also, the secretary general of the Greek Communist Party Aleka Paparega expressed her condolences to the deceased leader's family and the leader of the Coalition of the Left and Progress Party Nikos Konstantopoulos stated that Mr. Karamanlis's political presence marked the course of this country.

[15] KARAMANLIS' FUNERAL TO BE HELD TOMORROW EVENING AT SIX

Web Posted: 12:27 GMT+2

His burial will be held tomorrow evening at 6 p.m., in a service attended only by a close family circle. The memorial service will be held at the Aghia Foteini Church in Filothei and he will be laid to rest at the grounds of the "Konstantinos Karamanlis Foundation". There will be no funeral orations and special honors.

Greece's elder statesman Konstantinos Karamanlis, died this morning at 1.40. He moved Greeks of all ideological persuasions throughout the course of his career that spanned five decades and was replete with older battles, battles which the lawyer-turned-politician mostly won.

[16] SIMITIS' STATEMENT ON KARAMANLIS

Web Posted: 06:37 GMT+2

[17] MITSOTAKIS' STATEMENT ON KARAMANLIS

Web Posted: 06:37 GMT+2

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.

[18] STATEMENT BY THE LEADER OF ND ON KARAMANLIS

Web Posted: 06:37 GMT+2

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.

[19] THE DETAILS ON THE FUNERAL OF KARAMANLIS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT 8AM

Web Posted: 06:37 GMT+2

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.

[20] KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS

Web Posted: 06:37 GMT+2

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.

[21] KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS DIED AT 1.40 AM TODAY

Web Posted: 06:37 GMT+2

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.

[B] BALKANS

[22] BULGARIAN-RUSSIAN CONTACTS OVER NATURAL GAS

Web Posted: 22:57 GMT+2

Mr Komarev stated that the equipment was already into operation and whoever thought could stop it, "lied through their throat".

Mr Komarev and the president of "Gasprom" Rem Vyahirev will sign, from the russian side, the bilateral agreements for supplying Bulgaria with natural gas as well as the gas transit to other countries which belong to the Bulgarian state.

[23] TENSION MOUNTS IN KOSSOVO, SERBS AND ALBANIANS EXCHANGE FIRE

Web Posted: 15:27 GMT+2

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic called the referendum after the United States threatened military intervention in Kosovo following a crackdown by Serb police on ethnic Albanian separatists seven weeks ago, in which 80 Albanians were killed.

"Ten years ago this would have certainly succeeded but in the present-day Serbia I do not think they have a chance to succeed" -- Milosevic opponent Zoran Djindjic head of the Democratic Party (DS).

Polls opened at 7 a.m. and results were expected on Friday, the eve of a deadline set by a Big Power Contact Group for Milosevic to start talks with Kosovo's Albanians or face the threat of renewed international sanctions.

NATO diplomats said yesterday that Yugoslavia had moved the units to the border amid concern that it may use arms smuggling as a pretext to put pressure on Albania or stage hot pursuit raids against suspected Kosovo guerrillas.

"The situation still has the potential for major violence," a senior NATO official said. Western intelligence sources also believe that the clandestine Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), dubbed a terrorist organization by both Washington and Belgrade, has gained in strength since the police crackdown in February and March.

[C] EUROPE

[24] GREEK PRESIDENT: AUTONOMY FOR KOSSOVO WITHIN ITS PRESENT BORDERS

Web Posted: 14:27 GMT+2

Since both Hungary and Greece are neighbors of Yugoslavia and its troubled province of Kosovo, "we are coordinating our efforts within the international community to achieve a peaceful solution to the crisis," President Stephanopoulos stated yesterday after meeting with his Hungarian counterpart, Arpad Goencz.

[25] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS ON OFFICAL VISIT TO HUNGARY

Web Posted: 14:27 GMT+2

Accompanying Mr. President are the Minister of Foreign Affairs Theodoros Pangalos, Undersecretary of National Economy Alexandros Baltas and various businessmen.

In regards to Greek-Turkish relations, President Stephanopoulos said it was paradoxical that an organisation such as NATO was not able to intervene to resolve problems between two allied nations.

President Stephanopoulos briefed his Hungarian counterpart Arpad Goncz and Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Horn on the present phase of the Cyprus issue.

He said that "there is no obstacle in promoting Cyprus' accession to the European Union", adding that interventions made by countries outside the EU cannot possibly have consequences in the accession process.

Apart from the Cyprus issue, the two leaders discussed the Kosovo issue, Hungary's bid to join Euro-Atlantic structures (a request strongly supported by Greece) and the promotion of bilateral relations in the cultural and, primarily, the economic and commercial sector.

Hungarian President Goncz said that there was a coincidence of views with President Stephanopoulos on issues in the region and referred to a possible Hungarian participation in the development of the Greek railway system.

President Goncz hailed Greek-Hungarian relations, stating that "we cannot find a point of disagreement between us even with a microscope."

President Stephanopoulos offered assurances that the Greek Parliament will ratify the Madrid protocol soon on the accession of Hungary and other countries to NATO. He also said that there was a coincidence of views on the need for cooperation between Balkan countries, as well as with neighbouring countries such as Hungary. He also expressed concern over the situation in Kosovo.

President Stephanopoulos said that a solution of widespread autonomy must be found without a change in the borders of Yugoslavia.

[26] PRESIDENT RETURNS FROM HUNGARY TO ATTEND KARAMANLIS' FUNERAL

Web Posted: 13:57 GMT+2

The President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos is to return from Budapest tomorrow in order to attend the funeral of the late statesman Konstantinos Karamanlis who died this morning.

President Stephanopoulos has forwarded his condolences to Mr.Karamanlis' family and has expressed his deep sorrow for the loss of the great politician.

[27] FOREIGN PRESS REPORTS ON DEATH OF KONSTANTINOS KARAMANLIS

Web Posted: 12:37 GMT+2

The British broadcasting Company's radio service featured the news of Mr. Karamanlis's death as the first item, making special mention of his contribution to the restoration of democracy in Greece in 1974, when he returned from his self-imposed exile in Paris.

France's Agence Francaise Press, (AFP) saluted Mr.Karamanlis as the Greece's leading figure in the second half of the century. The AFP reported on the late statesman's achievements, especially the strengthening of ties between Greece and the West, as well as with the Balkan countries, and the country's independence from the United States.

The US-based Reuters credits Mr. Karamanlis with taking Greece into what was then the European Community.

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