Mr. Stefanopoulos stressed that Mr. Adamkus' visit to Athens, in return to his visit to Vilnius in 1999, further upgrades bilateral relations.

Mr. Stefanopoulos also referred to the Middle East, stressing the right of Israel to live within safe borders and the right of the Palestinians to live in an independent viable state, recognized by all, as UN decisions foresee. He also expressed the hope

that the tragic crisis of the last few months will be the catalyst to finding a final solution for the Palestinian problem.

The President of the Republic also mentioned the accession of Cyprus to the European Union. "We reasonably believe that it will be a powerful factor in resolving the problem", he said.

Specifically, the greatest percentage of tax evasion is observed in construction companies, with 35%, followed by services companies with 34% and tourism and hospitality and Greek commerce with 31%.

Another wound to the government's income, is fuel smuggling, since last year alone 1.5 million tons more than Greece's needs were used, resulting in losses of more than 35,000,000 euro. By the end of last year, 6,200 cases of false account books, worth 6 1,628,760 euro before taxes.

Mr. Gitonas welcomed the Lithuanian President on behalf of Greek Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis, who is on a visit to the United States, and stressed that the Greek Parliament wants greater cooperation with the Lithuanian Parliament.

He expressed Greece's support to the efforts for the accession of Lithuania into the European structures and honored Mr. Adamkus with the Gold Medal of the Greek Parliament.

However, the fact that inflation in April was higher than it was initially expected (2.2%) increases the pressures on the European Central Bank to raise interest rates.

the United States accept the Spanish Prime Minister's proposal to proceed with the adoption of the Ankara text on the Euro-army. Furthermore, the US official urged the rest EU members to also accept the text in question.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Kostas Simitis made it clear that Greece will not accept the Ankara text.

Meanwhile, Mr. Beglitis stated that Athens had informed the EU since Monday that it will not accept the Ankara text on the Euro-Army.

He also rejected the allegations made by FYROM newspapers according to which, Greece's stance blocks the deployment of a European peacekeeping force in FYROM because there are still problems in the NATO-EU relations.

However, in spite of the upward course recorded in April the trend was downward in the first four months of the current year. Specifically, the private car sales in the country as a whole appear decreased by 3.6%.

A total of 103.500 private cars were sold in the first four months of the year with Hyundai at the top controlling a market share of 9.94% (9.953 sales), followed by Peugeot with 8.87% (8.881 sales) and Toyota with 8.70% (8.713 sales).

Of the stocks trading today, 176 recorded gains and 124 had losses, while the value of 73 stocks remained unchanged.

Mr. Simitis in statements he made after the meeting, pointed out that Greece must use every means to protect its national interests and social goals in a period of time characterized by complex and dangerous conflicts and changes that need special attent ion.

Mr. Simitis stated that the fundamental goal is a strong Greece that will be respected, present and active in the international community, stressing that Greece has become a factor of peace, security, stability and cooperation in southeastern Europe. He said that Greece's international position has been strengthened at all levels, pointing out the completion of the armaments program, the policy of peace and cooperation in the Balkans, the Greek-Turkish relations and Cyprus' EU accession course.

The Prime Minister stressed that the EU can contribute to the creation of a more secure international scene and it should deal with important issues such as the crisis in the Middle East, terrorism, the conservative forces and the Euro-army. He reiterate d Greece's objections to the Ankara text, stressing that the EU should be autonomous in decision-making, and the EU and NATO should be on equal terms, expressing opposition to any preferential treatments.

On the Middle East, Mr. Magriotis stressed that the international community must show determination and guarantee peace based on the UN decisions, while on the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation he expressed Greece's intention to strengthen it further. Mr. M agriotis stated that during the Greek EU presidency, Greece will back Libya's full accession into the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation especially, after the positive decision reached in Valencia on the EU-Libya relations.

They also discussed the immediate signing of bilateral education and cultural cooperation agreements and the strengthening of economic and trade relations.

Libya and Tunisia welcomed the Greek initiatives and underlined the important role Greece has played in the efforts to end the crisis in the Middle East, stressing that they will support its candidature as a non permanent member of the UN Security Counci l and the Olympic Truce proposal.

Finally, the Libyan officials pledged to find a solution soon to the problem of the debts to Greek businesses that were active in the country in the 70s and 80s.

Meanwhile, the Libyan Foreign Minister announced that he will visit Athens in the first week of June, while his Tunisian counterpart will be in Greece next week to attend the Euro-Mediterranean Forum.

Meanwhile, Greek Minister of Development Akis Tsochatzopoulos stated after meeting with Cypriot President Clerides in Nicosia today, that apart from the procedure for the progress and completion of the talks on Cyprus, another important procedure is in p rogress in the EU concerning Cyprus' accession into the European Union.

Mr. Tsochatzopoulos stated that at the end of the year the necessary political decisions will be made for the EU enlargement to proceed with the accession of Cyprus.

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