MPA NEWS IN BRIEF (24/06/1996)

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

Macedonian Press Agency Brief News in English Directory

BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY

Thessaloniki, June 24, 1996

TITLES

[01] PAPANDREOU TO BE BURIED ON WEDNESDAY WITH STATE LEADER HONORS

[02] COUNCIL OF GREEKS ABROAD EXPRESSES GRATITUDE TO ANDREAS

[03] PASOK PARTY FOURTH CONGRESS TO TAKE PLACE AS SCHEDULED

[04] NEW YORK TIMES FEATURES LENGTHY OBITUARY ON ANDREAS PAPANDREOU

[05] GREEKS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD MOURN THE LOSS OF PAPANDREOU

[06] CYPRIOT PRESIDENT TO ATTEND ANDREAS PAPANDREOU'S FUNERAL SERVICES

[07] LEADERS OF BALKAN COUNTRIES SEND THEIR CONDOLENCES TO GREECE

NEWS IN DETAIL

[01] PAPANDREOU TO BE BURIED ON WEDNESDAY WITH STATE LEADER HONORS

Andreas Papandreou, who died yesterday at the age of 77, will be buried on Wednesday afternoon with state leader honors at Athens' First Cemetery where his father is also buried. Government offices will be closed that day.

Thousands of mourning citizens have been filing outside the Athens Metropolitan Church since yesterday afternoon, holding a flower in their hands, in order to pay their last respects to the Socialist leader and PASOK President. Mr. Papandreou's body will lie in state for three days.

The news of Mr. Papandreou's death has travelled around the world, with leaders from just about every country expressing their admiration for the Greek leader and their sadness for his loss, among them United States President Bill Clinton, France's Jacques Chirac, United Nations Secretary-General Butros Ghali, European Commission President Jacques Santer, the Prime Ministers of Britain, France and Belgium, Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos, and the Archbishop of North and South America Iacovos. Turkey's President Suleiman Demirel and Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz also expressed their sincere condolences.

[02] COUNCIL OF GREEKS ABROAD EXPRESSES GRATITUDE TO ANDREAS

Yesterday's convention of the Council of Greeks Abroad in Asia and Africa was overshadowed by the death of Andreas Papandreou and, as such, the Conference began with a minute of silence honoring the deceased Greek leader.

The President of the World Hellenism Council Andrew Athens told the Macedonian Press Agency that Mr. Papandreou was not only a great political leader but a personal friend of his as well and the creation of the Council was his inspiration.

"We are deeply grateful to him and I hope that we will continue his path and we will bring life to his dreams for Greeks living abroad," Mr. Athens stated.

[03] PASOK PARTY FOURTH CONGRESS TO TAKE PLACE AS SCHEDULED

PASOK party Executive Bureau has decided that its fourth Congress will take place as scheduled, on Thursday June 24, one day after its President Andreas Papandreou's burial.

The four-day party congress will elect the PASOK President and Vice-President, with Prime Minister Kostas Simitis and Interior Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos being considered as the top candidates.

Mr. Papandreou died just hours after adding the final touches on an address to the 4,000 PASOK delegates.

[04] NEW YORK TIMES FEATURES LENGTHY OBITUARY ON ANDREAS PAPANDREOU

One of the most prestigious daily newspapers in the United States, "The New York Times", featured a lengthy obituary on Andreas Papandreou in its Sunday edition yesterday.

The article describes the Greek leader as a fiery and ambiguous Premier who dominated greek politics.

According to the author, Marilise Simmons, few other politicians in modern Greece have inspired as much love and loathing at home and as much bewilderment and irritation abroad as Andreas Papandreou.

"He was successful at home because he appealed to Greece's thirst for change and his nationalist polemics appealed to the Greeks' perennial feeling of being misunderstood and unappreciated."

Author Nicholas Cage, who has written several books on Greece and is a former NY Times correspondent in Athens, stated that Andreas Papandreou had the rare gift to make ordinary people feel they mattered.

The paper's obituary refers also to the race for succession in the PASOK party leadership and concludes by stating that during his decade-long presence in office, Andreas Papandreou modernized Greece.

[05] GREEKS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD MOURN THE LOSS OF PAPANDREOU

Greeks throughout the world are mourning the loss of Andreas Papandreou and Greek flags are placed at half mast outside the Greek embassies were Greeks are signing the condolences books.

Canadian Prime Minister Jan Cretien has sent a condolences telegraph through the television and radio media, in which he emphasizes that Andreas Papandreou was a great political personality in Greece's contemporary history. Also, Mr. Papandreou had special ties with Canada being that he had stayed in Toronto during the junta regime in Greece and had been a lecturer at the city's York University.

In Melbourne, Australia, the greek-australian community will hold a short memorial service on Wednesday whose time will coincide with Mr. Papandreou's funeral in Athens. Also, the Australian Parliament will observe a minute of silence in honor of the Greek leader.

[06] CYPRIOT PRESIDENT TO ATTEND ANDREAS PAPANDREOU'S FUNERAL SERVICES

The President of the Cypriot Republic Glafkos Clerides will travel to Athens in order to attend the funeral of Andreas Papandreou on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr. Clerides has stated that Cyprus is especially mournful of the Socialist leader's death since he, aside from the joint defense doctrine, presented many examples of his government's will to defend the Cypriot Republic.

[07] LEADERS OF BALKAN COUNTRIES SEND THEIR CONDOLENCES TO GREECE

Messages of condolences have been forwarded by the leaders of Balkan countries, honoring the memory of Greek leader Andreas Papandreou.

In Belgrade, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic sent a telegraph of condolences on behalf of his people to Mr. Papandreou's familly, Greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos, Prime Minister Kostas Simitis and PASOK's Central Committee.

Serbian Socialist Party Secretary-General Gorica Gajevic said "the Greek people and the contemporary socialist movement have lost a great man and socialist, as honest fighter for the promotion of modern socialist ideas and the founding of contemporary socialist thought, while the Serbian people have lost a great and honest friend, a European leader and a founder of the Greek-Serbian friendship."

In the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Prime Minister Zoran Lilic stated in his condolences that the Yugoslav people will always remember the great understanding and support they received during Mr. Papandreou's stay in office.

Albanian President Sali Berisha sent a telegraph from Tirana to President Stephanopoulos in which he called Mr. Papandreou a "historic figure of modern Greece. The Greek people and generations to come will remember for a long time Mr. Papandreou's contribution to the consolidation of democracy and his country's development."

In Bulgaria, Prime Minister Zhan Videnov sent a message of condolence to Prime Minister Kostas Simitis expressing his sadness over the death of Papandreou, whom he called "one of the greatest men of european states."

"Bulgaria lost a very good friend who will remain in the memory of million of Bulgarians, as one of the most outstanding representatives of European politics, the socialist and social democratic movements," Prime Minister Videnov stated.

In FYROM, the news of Mr. Papandreou's death was featured on the first page of local newspapers although, up to date, no official statement has been issued from the skopjan government.

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