This development was announced by Foreign Minister of Spain Josep Pique in Myconos, where the Euro-Mediterranean Forum is being held.

Tomorrow morning, a Spanish military aircraft will travel to Cyprus, and 12 of the 13 Palestinians will board it. Greece and Ireland will each host 2 of the Palestinians, Italy and Spain will host 3, and Cyprus, Portugal and Spain will each host 1. The a ircraft will leave Cyprus on Wednesday morning, and its first stop will be Athens.

Mr. Pique, whose country holds the Presidency of the EU, thanked the Greek and Cypriot governments for their contribution to achieving the agreement.

"Both we and Cyprus have worked with the Spanish Presidency closely, and that is why it has stressed the special part our countries played in resolving this issue. I think that it is a positive development and we have managed solve a problem and avoid gr eater tension in the Middle East in what is for us a very important religious monument", stated Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou.

The volunteers, in steady cooperation with the local NGO, Union of Palestine Medical Relief Committees, and with the Mobile Medical Unit as their "vehicle", are able to provide first degree healthcare to remote locations on the West Bank. Specifically, t he group visited the Abuan village (30km outside Ramallah), access to which had been cut off for more than a month, and provided medical assistance to 200 residents. According to UPMRC information, the populations approached suffer from infections of the respiratory system, dermatological and chronic illnesses.

Help from NGOs is provided under extremely difficult and unstable circumstances, as the volunteers must "discover" new, safe and open passages to reach the populations endangered by the lack of health services and medicines. The checkpoints that fragment

the autonomous territories, and the delays caused by Israeli forces are serious obstacles in their humanitarian work.

He made special mention of delays concerning the Greek programme of Balkan reconstruction, and he accused the government of ignoring the problems of Greek businessmen active in Balkan countries.

Greece, he said, must promote a more specific plan for the gradual incorporation of Balkan countries into the European family and the EU. It must actively support them for development, progress and prosperity.

Mr. Karamanlis proposed the creation of a mechanism of regional cooperation between countries in the western Balkans, with the participation of the EU, similar to that of the Committee of countries of the Baltic.

"I believe that experience of the past, as well as messages from other neighboring countries, especially the Middle East, indicate that we should all become "protagonists" in joint initiatives and activities, in order to do away with bigotry, sterile con frontations, barren nationalistic stubbornness, and sad remnants of the past in the region."

sending it back to Alikarnassos, escorted by the Turkish Coast Guard.

Another 19 illegal immigrants were found yesterday by the men of the Chios Central Coast Guard, in the Kontari and St. Amalianos regions of Chios. Five of the illegal immigrants were in inflatable boats, while the other 14 were in a wooden engine powered

Turkish boat. The illegal immigrants were taken the Chios District Attorney.

Meanwhile, Mytilini Coast Guard authorities arrested 6 Iranian illegal immigrants in the area of Epano Skala. In addition to 41 Kurds arrested yesterday in Patra, 96 illegal immigrants were caught in 48 hours.

The Minister sent the following message to the Forum:

Southeastern Europe has fortunately just come out of a series of consecutive crises, which characterized the past 12 years. Today we can deal with the remaining sources of tension as well as the points of friction between countries calmly.

We all know that only in an environment of safety, peaceful cooperation and European completion can we offer people a vision for the future, hope for prosperity, a common course for democracy and freedom.

Lifting all barriers in inter-border and inter-state cooperation, and the development of bonds-networks of business cooperation in all sectors (power, industry, commerce, tourism, research and technology), makes it imperative for us to formulate rules an d practices to accelerate the adjustment of region's states, to the European precedent, the model of the European Union.

Greece, as the only member-state of the EU in the region, has proven both in the sector of security and in the sector of financial cooperation, that it is not possessed by "princely" syndrome. On the contrary, it works for the broadest possible effusion of European structures, for the reconstruction of infrastructure struck by long standing conflicts, for the funding of all factors of power and industrial production.

Regarding his absence from the governmental committee meeting, Mr. Papandreou responded from the Aegean island of Delos, speaking on the sidelines of the Euro-Mediterranean Forum Foreign Ministers meeting, and stressed that all scenarios will be proven g roundless because there is complete coordination.

Mr. Papandreou stated that foreign policy is drawn-up collectively and always in close cooperation with the Prime Minister.

Also, 33% of the people in Greece will take 10-day vacations , 30% will have 15-day vacations and only 7% will be fortunate enough to go away on vacations for a full month.

Mr. Christodoulakis stated that the social security system reform will solve the social security problems for the decades to come by creating conditions of security and reliability, while affecting in a positive way the workers' prospects and the prospec ts of investments in Greece.

The course of privatization was another issue under discussion. Mr. Christodoulakis stated that privatization nears completion and this process will give a new boost to the Greek economy. He said that the Greek economy is prepared to display greater comp etitiveness, and attract private capital and investments in this crucial period of time, when recession gradually subsides in the international economy and the Greek economy must be ready to achieve even higher growth rates.

The Finance Minister also stated that the new Governor of the Bank of Greece will be appointed by the end of May.

The above were stated by Hellenic Petroleum President Giorgos Moraitis in the transportation and energy workshop that was held today within the framework of the 9th Thessaloniki Forum.

Mr. Moraitis stated that the reform process in the energy sector of southeastern Europe is a hard one and passes through privatization, clarifying however, that there can be no development in the Balkans without quick growth rates in the energy sector.

He said that in the next few years, the energy sector will be at the forefront of the development process in the region, while the link of the energy networks will force the Balkan countries to readjust their planning toward this direction.

He said that toward this direction the Ministry of Finance should approve funds within the framework of the Greek Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans.

The support to the investments made by Greek clothing companies in the Balkan region is necessary given the fact that the production of the Greek companies that are active in the region's countries will be skyrocketed to 75% in a three-year period compar ed to 55% it is today.

Mr. Akkas stated that more than 400 Greek companies are active in southeastern Europe based on a recent research conducted by the Association of Knitwear and Clothing companies in Northern Greece. According to the report, the majority of the companies, n amely 86%, are based in Bulgaria followed by FYROM, Albania, Romania and Turkey.

In a joint press conference today, the Greek Foreign Minister stated that the strengthening of cooperation and dialogue in the sectors of culture, policies and economy can bring significant results and lead to the adoption of a common stance and behavior

when dealing with terrorism and organized crime.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Pique gave a special emphasis to the decision for a common code of behavior when dealing with terrorism. He also backed the proposal for an international peace conference on the Middle East aimed at guaranteeing Israel's 196 7 borders and the creation of a Palestinian state that will be politically and economically viable.

At an economic level, the Mediterranean Forum participants stressed the need to boost investments in the region on the occasion of the establishment of the Mediterranean Bank of Investments that was decided by the "15" in their meeting in Valencia, Spain

last April.

The participants also signed the Olympic Truce proposal for the 2004 Olympic Games and agreed that their next meeting will take place in Turkey which will take over the Forum's presidency.

Of the stocks trading today, 119 recorded gains and 188 had losses, while the value of 66 stocks remained unchanged.

Referring to the goals of the Greek policy, Mr. Vougias underlined that Greece, due to its geographic position and its long experience as an EU member, has a comparative advantage in the drawing up and promotion of the transportation policy in the wider Balkan region and the Black Sea.

Referring to the main point of the policy followed, he said that it is the construction of infrastructure networks and services.

Speaking in the 9th Thessaloniki Forum, he called for the intensification of the efforts made by the alternative Stability Pact office in Thessaloniki underlining that its link with Brussels is very important. He also called on everybody to use the inves tment mechanisms more effectively for more immediate results.

The Stability Pact special coordinator also referred to the need to combat terrorism and illegal trade stressing that the Balkan states lose 600 million Euro annually as a result of the contraband trade.

The two diplomats, in statements they made, they confirmed the agreement reached by the "15" during their meeting on the island of Myconos. According to the agreement, the 12 of the 13 Palestinians will be received by six European countries.

The EU representative stated that the 12 Palestinians will depart from the Larnaca Airport on board a Spanish military aircraft, while the 13th Palestinian will remain in Cyprus temporarily.

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