Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-06-02

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] EU supports W. Balkans' European prospect, FM says

[02] Exhibition of Faiyum portraits at Athens Concert Hall

[03] Greek PM to meet French president this week

[04] Greek FM to attend EU-NATO meeting in Madrid on Tuesday.

[05] Karamanlis to address City University on 'Greece in the new European

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

[07] Weather Forecast: Sunshine followed by rain, storms Tuesday

[08] Greek stocks jump 3.59 percent on Monday

[01] EU supports W. Balkans' European prospect, FM says

SKOPJE (ANA - N. Frangopoulou) - The European Union supports the European prospect of the Western Balkan countries and their efforts for the strengthening of their European course, Foreign Minister George Papandreou said on Monday in Ochrid, speaking in his capacity as president of the EU council of foreign ministers.

Papandreou participated in the summit meeting of the five Western Balkan countries in Ochrid, which is taking place in light of the EU Summit of Thessaloniki, due in late June.

Papandreou stressed that a Balkan Peninsula within the European Union, would mean a region fully peaceful, a region of cooperation, protection of all citizens, minorities and of course prosperity, adding that Greece, as a country of the region, will of course support all the efforts toward that direction.

Papandreou underlined that the priorities of the Greek EU presidency for the Western Balkans were especially well received by the leaders of the region's countries in Monday's meeting.

''The Ideas which we submitted about this sector, are systematic, very well worked and with specific targets. The countries of the Western Balkans have adopted them and our aim is that they are also adopted by the 15 EU member-states during the Summit of Thessaloniki,'' Papandreou concluded.

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Albania, Serbia-Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia participated in the meeting.

[02] Exhibition of Faiyum portraits at Athens Concert Hall

An exhibition featuring an impressive selection of Faiyum portraits on loan from Cairo Museum opened its doors at the Athens Concert Hall on Monday, alongside an exhibition of photographs featuring the oases and necropolis and information of a development programme planned by the Egyptian government for a ''new Nile Valley''.

This will involve redirecting waters from Nasser lake to the oases of Egypt's western desert in order to revive an area threatened by drought.

The exhibition was opened by President of the Republic Kostis Stefanopoulos and Egypt's First Lady, Susan Mubarak, with Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos attending.

[03] Greek PM to meet French president this week

Prime Minister Costas Simitis is due to return from the G-8 meeting in Evian, France on Tuesday night, while on Wednesday he will take part in an off-the-agenda debate in Parliament on the economy, government spokesman Christos Protopapas announced.

On Thursday morning Simitis is to chair a meeting on the Thessaloniki-Halkidiki European Union summits with the leadership of the foreign and press ministries.

On Thursday afternoon, the premier is due to depart for Paris for a meeting with French President Jacques Chirac the following day.

[04] Greek FM to attend EU-NATO meeting in Madrid on Tuesday.

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, whose country currently holds the European Union presidency, will represent the Union at a NATO meeting in Madrid on Tuesday and Wednesday, where the foreign ministers from the alliance's 19 member-states will meet with their counterparts from the Russian Federation and EU member states to discuss the latest international developments and joint NATO-Russia initiatives.

[05] Karamanlis to address City University on 'Greece in the new European scene'

LONDON (ANA/L. Tsirigotakis) - Greece's main opposition New Democracy party (ND) leader Costas Karamanlis has accepted an invitation by the Economics Department of the City University, London, to be the guest speaker at an event on July 1, the University announced on Monday.

The theme of Karamanlis' address will be ''Greece in the new European scene''.

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.176

Pound sterling 0.723

Danish kroner 7.483

Swedish kroner 9.185

Japanese yen 139.7

Swiss franc 1.539

Norwegian kroner 7.932

Cyprus pound 0.591

Canadian dollar 1.618

Australian dollar 1.804

[07] Weather Forecast: Sunshine followed by rain, storms Tuesday

The day will start sunny, with isolated showers and storms from afternoon, mainly in the centre and north. Winds northerly, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from 16C to 26C; and in the rest of the country from 16C to 30C. Temperatures in Athens between 18C and 30C; and in Thessaloniki from 16C to 28C.

[08] Greek stocks jump 3.59 percent on Monday

Greek stocks soared to their highest levels in several weeks on Monday led by impressive gains in Hellenic Telecommunication Organisation's and Emporiki Bank's shares (+8.74 percent and 7.79 percent, respectively).

The general index jumped 3.59 percent to end at 1,768.85 points, with turnover an improved 136.4 million euros.

All sector indices ended higher, led by the Textile, Publication and Bank sectors (6.16 percent, 5.68 percent and 5.20 percent, respectively), while the Industrial sector recorded the smallest percentage gain of the day (+2.25 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks jumped 4.69 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index ended 2.27 percent higher and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index soared 3.94 percent. The High-Velocity index jumepd 3.95 percent in its first day of trading in the market.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 309 to 29 with another 23 issues unchanged.

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