GREEK  BULLETIN                                                                                                                                        March 2002

Rogge:  “All Will Be Ready”

Athens 2004: Valuable Experience from Salt Lake City Olympics

The Salt Lake City Winter Olympics provided a valuable opportunity for Athens Organizing Committee officials to gain experience in preparing for the 2004 Olympic Games. Also present were Greece's Foreign Minister George Papandreou and Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos.

“Significant progress” in preparing for the 2004 Games was reported to the IOC Congress, held in Salt Lake City before the opening of the Winter Olympics, by the head of the Athens Organizing Committee, Gianna Angelopoulos‑Daskalaki. While noting that deadlines remain tight, Ms. Angelopoulos was able to report positively on projects such as the Olympic Village, transportation, and security.

Mr. Venizelos, who oversees within the Greek cabinet all Olympic preparations, also continued in Salt Lake City his regular consultations with IOC President Jacques Rogge during which, the minister said, some 100 issues were discussed, with problems inevitably arising in four or five areas. Discussions focused on hospitality arrangements and road works in the Athens area. While at the Winter Games, Mr. Venizelos visited the International Broadcasting and Press Centers and had contacts with executives of the NBC TV network, which has the broadcasting rights for the Athens Games. He also inaugurated a 2004 Cultural Olympiad Pavillion, set up by the Culture Ministry.

Referring to his contacts with IOC members, including former president Samaranch, Mr. Papandreou said that they were satisfied with progress achieved in Greece and anticipated “very good” Games in 2004.

IOC Inspection Tour of Athens

After a meeting with Greece's Deputy Public Order Minister, Evangelos Malesios, on February 20, Mr. Rogge stressed the presence in Salt Lake City of three Greek police delegations which studied the order, security, and traffic measures. Mr. Rogge praised Greece's concern for security at the 2004 Games. “The organization in Athens,” he said, “will be much greater than that of Salt Lake City, but the particular interest which Greece is showing indicates that all will be ready and that the security measures will be those befitting the holding of the Olympic Games.”

The generally favorable assessment by IOC officials of the 2004 preparations confirms the conclusions of the IOC Coordinating Commission’s inspection group, which visited Athens in late January. The group reported an “overall positive” impression, noting that “we are satisfied that the cruising speed reached in November has been kept.” The report warned, however, that because of time lost earlier in the operation, there is no reserve of time for unexpected delays. Areas of particular concern included: shortage of hotel rooms; road projects leading from the center of Athens to the Olympic Sports Complex; and the construction of some sports venues.

Olympic Truce Idea Takes Stronger Hold

Foreign Minister George Papandreou, a leading figure in the campaign to promote a revival of the ancient Olympic Truce, pursued his efforts during his visit to Salt Lake City, when he discussed the project with U.N. Secretary‑General Kofi Annan, who made an appeal for the observance of the truce. Mr. Annan noted that, though limited in its duration and purpose, the Olympic Truce could open a window in time for dialogue and provide brief relief to suffering populations.

Mr. Papandreou, who said that the Salt Lake Games provided a springboard for the effort, pledged that Greece will attempt over the next two and a half years to “cement this idea and have some results.” The Greek foreign minister is also gathering signatures to an international text promoting the Olympic Truce, and noted that the first of them were his own and that of Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, followed by the foreign ministers of several Balkan countries, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

At a meeting in Istanbul between delegates from European Union and Islamic countries on February 12, Mr. Papandreou used the Olympic Truce initiative as an example of constructive dialogue between cultures and religions.

The Truce idea received further backing when, during a meeting of the EU General Affairs Council and in the presence of Mr. Papandreou in Brussels on February 18, both the French and German foreign ministers signed the document supporting the project. Also, the president and prime minister of Poland and the president and foreign minister of Lithuania added their signatures to the document during visits by Mr. Papandreou in late February.

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Athens Life Will Be Transformed

Other recent Olympics‑related developments included an inspection of highway and metro worksites by Prime Minister Costas Simitis. He underlined progress indicating that all projects are on schedule and will be completed in time for the Athens Olympics. Public Works Minister Vasso Papandreou said that large‑scale projects, which include complex road junctions, flyovers, underpasses, tunnels and rail extensions, will "transform life in Athens," when completed.

Air quality in Athens will also improve from the operation of 2,500 new buses and 300 trolley buses added to the system to accommodate 600,000 spectators expected to travel daily to  various Olympic sites.

Athens 2004 Volunteers

Sixty thousand volunteers will be trained to work at the Athens 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games.  More than 37,000 had already applied by the end of January.  Anyone interested in making the Athens Olympic Games a success is welcome to become a volunteer. There are no restrictions based on sex, race, creed, physical ability, social standing or education. The only qualification is that the applicants must be 18 years old by 2004.

Those interested in applying must complete an official application form, attend an interview, commit to be available during the time period for which they will volunteer, and participate in a training program.

For more information, applicants may visit the Athens 2004 organizing committee website: www.athens2004.gr

As Efforts Continue for Cyprus Settlement

“Cautious Optimism” on Exploratory Greek-Turkish Dialogue

The recent meeting between the foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey, George Papandreou and Ismail Cem, in Istanbul on February 12, examined the prospects of a dialogue -  based on international law, international treaties and the EU’s “acquis communautaire”- to consider various issues. Although the issue of the delimitation of the Aegean continental shelf is the only one requiring a bilateral resolution, dialogue could address “other matters that are relevant to good‑neighborly relations.”  These, as Foreign Minister Papandreou suggested before his meeting with Mr. Cem, could include issues relating to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, violations by Turkish warplanes over the Aegean, and the so‑called “five points”—the system by which Turkey provides information about the identity and the position of its aircraft.  A  government spokesman in Athens recommended “cautious optimism” on the outcome of these exploratory talks that will start at foreign ministry political directors’ level.

In Istanbul, Mr. Papandreou said that the two sides were “proceeding step by step in a calm fashion . . . to build a strong foundation” for bilateral relations.  “It is better,” he stressed, “to move slowly and steadily rather than go fast and not arrive where we want to go.”

Mr. Papandreou also raised the Cyprus issue, which he had discussed with his Turkish colleague. “Turkey,” Mr. Papandreou said, “is confronted with a dilemma: either to help solve the Cyprus problem and have Cyprus join the EU, or see Cyprus as an EU member without a solution.”

After a meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who will visit the White House on March 5, Mr. Papandreou praised “the pioneering role of Orthodoxy in times of crisis.”

Economic Cooperation

The improved political climate between Greece and Turkey has encouraged increased cooperation in other areas of bilateral interest, among them the expansion of economic relations.  This was exemplified by the first meeting in Athens on February 12 of the Greek‑Turkish Ministerial Committee for Economic Relations which discussed cooperation in trade, energy, shipping and other areas covered by the nine bilateral agreements signed in recent years.

The delegations at the meeting were headed by Greece's new Deputy Foreign Minister, Andreas Loverdos, and Turkey's Deputy Foreign Trade Minister, Kursad Tuzmen. Opening the meeting, Mr. Loverdos described it as a milestone in the process initiated by the countries' two foreign ministers in 1999 for cooperation on “low‑impact” issues. Mr. Tuzmen said that the goal was to increase the current one billion dollar level of bilateral trade to five billion in the next few years. He spoke also of joint activity by Greece and Turkey in projects for the development of  Balkan countries. Other areas of cooperation discussed included the transportation of natural gas to western Europe, and the joint organization of the 2008 European soccer championship.

Appreciation for improved Greek‑Turkish relations was implicit in a message sent by NATO Secretary‑General George Robertson to mark the 50th anniversary of the date, February 18, 1952, when Greece and Turkey together joined the NATO Alliance.

No Significant Progress in First Round of Cyprus Talks

Despite continuing U.N.‑sponsored direct talks between President Clerides and the Turkish‑Cypriot leader Denktash (with 12 meetings held so far), a Cyprus settlement is not yet in sight.

During a visit to Athens on February 15, when he had discussions with Prime Minister Simitis and Foreign Minister Papandreou, the Speaker of the Cyprus House of Representatives, Dimitris Christofias, spoke pessimistically of the recent developments. “Unfortunately,” he told a press conference, “the situation cannot be described as good or auspicious . . . Denktash remains devoted to his partitionist philosophies.” The same view was voiced by the Cyprus government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou, who said during a visit to Athens on February 20 that the prospects for a solution had “not significantly improved” at the end of the first round of direct talks.

The same conclusion was reported by Prime Minister Simitis to the cabinet after a telephone conversation with President Clerides on February 21st. Mr. Simitis spoke of his disappointment that Mr. Denktash had not changed his position and was agreeable only to minimal shifts of minor importance. He said that the participation of Mr. Denktash in the talks so far was nothing but a “tactical ploy.”

Meanwhile, the Turkish government seems also to remain inflexible in its Cyprus policy which, as expressed in a recent letter to the EU from Foreign Minister Cem, continues to urge a settlement based on two independent entities, rather than a bi‑communal, bi‑zonal federation as called for by the United Nations, the European Union and the United States.

EU Approves Greece’s Economic Stability Plan

Economy and finance ministers of the European Union approved at the end of January an updated stability plan which Greece has prepared for the period 2002‑2004.

The plan reflects policies aimed at restraining consumer‑oriented spending in the public sector, completing an overhaul of the tax system this year, and continuing the process of privatization which is expected to produce revenue of some 1.7 trillion drachmas (US $ 4.5 billion) in the three‑year period.

Growth rates are set at 3.8 percent in 2002, rising to 4.0 percent in both 2003 and 2004 (the highest in the EU), with the possibility of an average 0.6 percent shortfall in adverse global conditions.  Unemployment is expected to drop from 10.5 percent in 2002 to 9 percent in 2004.

Inflation is forecast at 2.8, 2.7, and 2.8 percent in the years 2002, 2003, and 2004 respectively, while the budget surplus is expected to increase from 0.8 to 1.0 and 1.2 percent of GDP in those years.

The EU economy and finance ministers, while approving the plan, warned against inflationary action, especially in the context of wage negotiations. They also urged the acceleration of structural reforms in the sectors of services, labor and pensions. Greece’s Economy and Finance Minister, Nikos Christodoulakis, commented that Greece needed to continue lowering its public debt and allocating more funds to social policies. Discussions between the government and interested parties on reform of the social insurance system are to begin in March.

In endorsing the stability plan, the EU Commission noted that the program was based on a realistic macro‑economic scenario, with rapid growth rates reflecting the “significant public and private investments ahead of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, and lower interest rates in the wake of the country’s entry in the European Monetary Union.” 

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