Οί Μέν και οί Δέν

Athens, 16/11/1993 (ANA): Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou had talks yesterday with President Constantine Karamanlis on the economy and a range of national issues including the Cyprus problem, relations with Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. "The Cyprus problem is again at a new impasse", Mr. Papandreou said after the meeting. "As you know the Turkish side has rejected the confidence-building measures. This does not mean that the Greek Cypriot side is satisfied with these measures ... and the aim of my meeting with Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides (today) will be to formulate a joint policy on the Cyprus issue". Mr. Papandreou said that he agreed with Mr. Clerides that "our principle is not 'Cyprus decides and we support', but rather 'we jointly decide' ".

Replying to questions on the results of Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias' tour of Balkan capitals, which included Tirana, Mr. Papandreou said that there was a "general agreement"
that the ethnic Greek minority in Albania will be entitled to Greek education "wherever they live in Albania, not just in Northern Epirus". He said there would also be a "corresponding"
agreement on the issue of illegal Albanian immigrants entering Greece which would "conclusively" settle the problem. When the issue of the Tsamides was raised, Mr. Papandreou said, Mr. Papoulias told the Albanian side that the issue of compensation could be examined by the legal departments of the Greek and Albanian foreign ministries. The Tsamides are an
Albanian-speaking group which collaborated with the Italian and German fascist occupation forces in Greece during the Second World War. After the liberation, they sought refuge in
neighboring Albania.

On the issue of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Papandreou said that President Kiro Gligorov "now has the responsibility to demonstrate that he desires good relations with Greece, which is the only country that does not pose a threat to Skopje". Mr. Papandreou reiterated that Greece would not recognise a country on its northern border under the name of
'Macedonia' or any derivative of that word. The talks were the first between Mr. Papandreou and Mr. Karamanlis since the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) came to power following
elections on October 10. Mr. Papandreou said that he intended to have regular meetings with the president in the future.