Mr. Konstantopoulos will participate in the presentation of Chrysanthi Sotiropoulou's album, titled "Movinglandscapes: cinematographic depictions of Greek space", to take place today at 6pm, in warehouse C of the Thessaloniki docks.

"The government has once again shown that all it is interested in is satisfying its Party's clientele, ignoring what is generally good for the public and transparency", underline the ND MPs.

New Democracy then accused the government of having created a black hole, which the people will have to fill.

"We will not pay attention, because these are its tactics and we are not afraid of it", stressed Mr. Simitis emphatically, reminding the reporters that the neighboring country had taken up intimidation strategies before the Helsinki agreement also, as we ll as later, with the connection agreement to the EU.

"Greece's position is that since Cyprus has all the requirements for its incorporation to the European Union, it is not interested in the political problem. We must not pay any mind to intimidation tactics. We are not afraid", he stressed.

At 11am, the Prime Minister had a meeting with the Minister of Culture, Evaggelos Venizelos, in order to be informed on issues concerning the Olympics.

At 7pm, the Prime Minister will meet with the Minister of Finance Nikos Christodoulakis.

According to Olympic Airways "there was momentary confusion and upset', since it is not possible to make a 24 hour journey to Bangkok, Sidney and Melbourne, without an air conditioning system.

About 20 minutes after take-off, the aircraft of the "Eleftherios Venizelos" company that was executing the particular flight, presented a problem in its air conditioning system, which forced the pilot to return to the airport.

The three basic elements that are the body's shield against diabetes are a balanced nutrition, physical exercise, and seeking medical assistance. In Greece there are 73 Centers for Diabetes, where people can have free tests and prevent possible effects.

On armament issues, sources from the Defense Ministry say that final decisions will be made at the end of the year. This move also serves the diplomatic strategy of the Greek side in December's meeting of the European Council, where issues of great Greek

importance will be discussed, such as the protection of Europe's borders against illegal immigration, while there will be work on the accession of the Cypriot Republic.

So a commission of 750 billion drs. is a good "card" to have, which the Greek government intends to put to good use.

Today from 7pm until 9pm, the students will form a human chain, along the seafront avenue from the White Tower, while tomorrow, when the strike ends, the students will march, starting from the Chemistry square and ending outside the Turkish Consulate, wh ere a resolution will be submitted to the Turkish Consul General.

After discussions it was decided that a force of over 5.000 police officers will be used to guard the Polytechnic School, the march and the American Embassy.

In the meeting that took place in the ministry of Agriculture were discussed issues of bilateral cooperation and agriculture policy, while it was established that trade transactions between the two countries in the sector of agriculture are developing po sitively.

They agreed that regular meetings should be held for the exchange of views within the framework of the EU Joint Agriculture Policy.

Mr. Papantoniou stated that defense spending will drop from 5% of the GDP to 4% by 2005, while by 2010 it will be stabilized at this level. Army camps will be moved away from urban centers, and a total of 25.000 new professional soldiers will be appointe d in the next three years.

Mr. Papantoniou also referred to the unacceptable claims by Turkey and confirmed that they will not be accepted by Greece which will use every legal means and exercise its veto power to avert any unfavorable developments. He also said that Turkey wants t o bring its problems to the EU via the Euro-army.

The Greek Defense Minister stated that the Governmental Council on Foreign Affairs and Defense will decide tomorrow on the widening of the military facilitation that will be offered to the allied forces in their military operations in Afghanistan, ruling

out the deployment of Greek soldiers in the region.

Of the stocks trading today, 324 had gains and only 27 recorded losses, while the value of 14 stocks remained unchanged.

Mr. Protopapas reiterated the statements made by the Prime Minister yesterday on the issue of Turkey and added that Greece works for the solution of the Cyprus problem. He also said that the EU accession of Cyprus will take place in accordance with the European Union positions that are based on the Helsinki decisions and are being confirmed constantly.

The music of Mikis Theodorakis is universal, stated the Greek government spokesman and added that it touches everyone and of course it is used by everyone. It is a music that has left the Greek borders and touches the whole world, said Mr. Protopapas.

Mr. Venizelos maintained that the Olympic Games preparations are complex, stressing that the problems that arise are being handled successfully.

On the likelihood of criticism on behalf of International Olympic Committee Coordinating Commission president Denis Oswald, Mr. Venizelos stated that he is not a inspector or judge but a partner who comes to Greece to convey the experience of the Interna tional Olympic Committee.

Mr. Simitis repeated that Greece does not want any change in the borders or modification of the map, and that is why everyone must contribute in the direction of the cooperation, from Slovakia where he was on an official meeting. The Greek Prime Minister

is for the intervention of the EU and NATO, so that the responsible parties for the latest episodes in FYROM are reminded that there are agreements and that they must be upheld. He himself, as he said, will begin a cycle of meetings with Balkan leaders o n the region's issues (so that there is a common undertaking) and he will go to Sofia and Bucharest in February, while during the same period he will either go to Tirana or the Albanian Prime Minister, I. Meta, will visit Athens, which is more likely.

Mr. Simitis, in reference to the issue of naming FYROM, stressed that a move on the side of Skopje is imperative, since Athens has done a lot for the neighboring country.

"The greater problem of the enlargement is not Cyprus", he said characteristically. He stressed that the great existing problems are the reformation of the Common Agricultural Policy in relation to the accession of Poland and the Social Fund and the Cohe sion Fund.

In fact, he directly stated that after September 11 the steady time frame and the until then view of events, is no longer in effect, hinting that there are pressures for different types of developments. One of these developments he mentioned is the Blair , Chirac, Schreder meeting, before the Summit Meeting in Gent and the meeting of the 7 Prime Ministers organized by the British Prime Minister in London a little later, a meeting, as he said, which was generally disapproved of.

Mr. Papandreou referred to the issue of terrorism, the need to forge a new moral order characterized by common values and responsibilities such as, the fight against terrorism, the promotion of justice, environmental protection, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, economic development and social equality.

Mr. Papandreou elaborated on Greece's ability to play an important role in meeting the goals mentioned above.

Referring to the Greek-Turkish relations, he spoke about the rapprochement of the two countries and the efforts to build mutual trust through a number of measures and initiatives, the co-signing of international agreements, the cooperation in dealing wit h natural disasters and the fight against organized crime.

On the Cyprus issue, Mr. Papandreou underlined the European prospect and Cyprus' EU accession course, stressing that the solution of the Cyprus problem can be mutually beneficial. He also added that it has to be in accordance with the UN decisions on the

basis of a two-zone, two-community Federation the establishment of which can be guaranteed by the UN.

He referred to the Middle East and the need to continue the peace initiatives, while he also mentioned the need for the incorporation of the Iraqi people into the international community and the significance of the establishment of a representative gover nment in Afghanistan.

Greek Euro-deputy Yiannis Marinos, elected with the right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy, entered the discussion and reminded that a short time ago the European Parliament had approved a report drawn up by a Portuguese Euro-deputy. In the re port it was clearly mentioned that the ancient Greek and the Latin languages are regarded as the "mother tongues" for every European language and therefore, they should be taught in the EU schools as they will be helpful for the students learning the cont emporary European languages.

Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article