[01] FYROM DELEGATION ARRIVED TODAY IN ATHENS

[02] THE GREEK PRIME MINISTER DOES COMMENT ON IN-PARTY CRITICISM

[03] THE GERMAN DEFENCE MINISTER ARRIVED IN ATHENS

[04] THESSALONIKI:INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BALKAN ENERGY NETWORKS

[05] GREEK PM EXPESSES CONDOLENCES FOR THE VICTIMS OF QUAKE IN TURKEY

[06] ORTHODOXY WAS RECOGNIZED AS AN OFFICIAL RELIGION IN HUNGARY

[07] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LASER BEAMS IN IRAKLION

News in English

[01] FYROM DELEGATION ARRIVED TODAY IN ATHENS

A governmental deligation from FYROM under Foreign Vice Minister mr Lubco Arsovski arrived today in Greece so that they participate in the bilateral talks which will take place in application of the New York agreement for the normalization of the relations between Athens and Scopje.

The delegation will be made up of 8 members 4 out of whom are official members and the remaining 4 experts and administrative personnel.

According to information from the FYROM Foreign Ministry, the delegation will stay in Athens for a total of 3 days during which they will have formal talks and consultations with the greek side.

As the state-owned radio station of Scopje transmitted, the talks will focus on technicalities stemming from the agreement in New York while there will be discussions concerning the opening of a diplomatic liaison office in Athens in application of the New York interim agreement.

Mr. Arsovski is responsible for legal issues and issues concerning diplomacy and in the past in the middle of the 1980s he served as Consul General in Thessaloniki of the then united Yugoslav Federation for four years.

It is expected that mr Arsovski who had also taken part in the first bilateral talks held in Athens in January 1992 and having failed in 20 miniutes, will be the first head of the liaison office FYROM will open in Athens.

In the bilateral talks, due to be held in the Greek Foreign Ministry at 11:00 local time tomorrow, Greek deligation will be headed by ambassador Kipreos, head of the Directorate of Balkan Affairs.

Mr Dimitrios Kipreos had also been a member of the greek deligation which under Foreign Minister mr Carolos Papoulias negotiated and signed the interim agreement in New York.

[02] THE GREEK PRIME MINISTER DOES COMMENT ON IN-PARTY CRITICISM

Greek Prime Minister mr Andreas Papandreou declined today to comment on the criticism he suffers from prominent MPs and ex-ministers belonging to his party.

During a session of the parliamentary group of the governing socialistic PASOK at the chance of the opening of the new season of the parliament Mr Papandreou said that his office is open to any deputy wishing to meet him while he announced that there will soon be a new session of the parliamentary group of the party which will discuss all big and open issues of the party which has governned the country for almost ten years with three one- party governments since 1981.

PASOK has now 169 out of the 300 members Greek parliament has.

A few minutes later ex-minister mr Constantinos Simitis who attributed his recent resignation from the governemnt and the executive bureau of the party to the fact that mr Papandreou did not offer him much coverage, said that the session announced by the Prime Minister is delayed.

At the same time one of the most critical towards the government MPs, ex-Minister mr Theodoros Pangalos in an interview with the daily Ethnos (Nation) accuses the party and the Prime Minister of having been stuck in 1981 when they formed their first government. Mr Pangalos did not exclude the eventuality that he breaks up with the party.

Main opposition party of New Democracy spokesman mr Vassilis Maginas, accused mr Papandreou of not being able to govern since he does not even call for the official session of the bodies of the party.

[03] THE GERMAN DEFENCE MINISTER ARRIVED IN ATHENS

German Defence Minister mr Volker Ruehe stated today after arriving in Athens that there is well-founded hope for a peaceful solution to be reached in former Yugoslavia in the next few weeks.

Mr Ruehe pointed out that there are still difficulties which he will have the opportunity to discuss with his greek counterpart.

During the talks they will have today mr Ruehe and his Greek counterpart mr Yerassimos Arsenis will examine issues concerning the greek-german cooperation in the defence sector especially on defence industies level and also issues concerning the Western European Union and NATO.

They will also exchange views on the agenda of NATO Defence Ministers' informal meeting which opens on Wednesday in the United States.

Among the issues to be discussed will be NATO's expansion to Eastern Europe, the Bosnian crisis and the situation in the Mediterranean region.

Mr Arsenis stated that mr.Ruehe's visit to Athens is a follow-up of the dialogue and cooperation which started with his visit to Germany early this year. Yesterday, first day of mr.Ruehe's visit to Greece, the two Ministers had the opportunity to discuss in the Ionian Sea island of Cephalonia issues concerning the environment.

[04] THESSALONIKI:INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BALKAN ENERGY NETWORKS

International Conference on the link-up of the Balkan energy networks is organized by the Energy Directorate General of the European Commission which will be held in Thessaloniki on October 16-17.

The International Conference will be officially opened by greek EU Commissioner on energy issues, Christos Papoutsis and have been invited to participate, cabinet ministers, government officials, senior executives of energy and banking organizations, representatives of technical and construction companies from Balkan and Black Sea countries and also members of the greek government.

In the conference will be presented investment programmes on energy link-ups in the Balkans and in the wider region of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and also plans concerning the projects of the Bourgas- Alexandroupolis oil pipe-line, the natural gas pipe-line and the electricity link-up between Greece and Italy.

Thessaloniki was selected by the European Commission to host this year's conference because of its important geographical position. The conference aims at promoting a complete and widely acceptable strategic plan of energy link-ups in the Balkans which will effectively contribute to the security of Europe's energy supply.

[05] GREEK PM EXPESSES CONDOLENCES FOR THE VICTIMS OF QUAKE IN TURKEY

Greek Prime Minister mr Andreas Papandreou in a message to his turkish counterpart ms Tansu Ciller expressed condolences for Sunday's catastrophic earthquake measuring 6,0 on the Richter scale that hit southwestern Turkey killing at least 50 people.

In his message the Prime Minister expressed the most sincere condolences and support of the greek government over the loss of human lives and material damages caused by the devastating earthquake.

Mr Papandreou also underlined that the greek government is prepared to provide every possible assistance.

[06] ORTHODOXY WAS RECOGNIZED AS AN OFFICIAL RELIGION IN HUNGARY

Orthodoxy is from now on an official religion in Hungary after a Budapest court decision recognized the presence of the Ecumenical Patriachate of Constantinople in Hungary under the name "Ecumenical Patriarchate - Orthodox Exarchate of Hungary" and is now equal to the other religions in the country.

Exarchate Hungary is considered as a province of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople and it will be headed by Metropolite of Austria - Exarch of Hungary and Central Europe, mr Michail.

In Hungary about 5 thousand greeks live today and this is the first time that an expression of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is recognized in the country.

The presence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Hungary has been activated since 1991 through the Greek- Orthodox Diocese of Vienna and Orthodoxy lived historic moments when in February of 1993 mass was celebrated for the first time in the greek village Beloyiannis, 50 kilometers south of Budapest.

In the village has been appointed a greek-speaking hungarian priest and religion classes are being taught in the village's school while the Saints Dimitrios and Constantinos Cathedral will be inaugurated next May.

[07] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LASER BEAMS IN IRAKLION

The applications of laser beams in medicine, industry and tele-communications and also in compact discs and laser printers increase constantly.

In the international convention that will be held in the city of Iraklion on the south Aegean island of Crete on October 4-6 will be presented the latest developments in the laser beams' use for the maintenance of works of art and of monuments which constitute our cultural heritage.

The convention will be held under the auspices of the European Programme EURECA - EUROCARE and is organized by the Institute of Technology and Research, the University of Crete and the National Art Gallery.