"Although he knows what is at stake, Mr. Simitis proved that he would intentionally twist History, in order to get positive results, not for Greece, but for his petty party objectives", he underlined.

In vote intent New Democracy received 36.2%, PASOK 27.4%, the KKE 4.8%, the Coalition 2.8%, KEP 2.7% and DIKKI 2.2%. On the party those questioned believe will win the elections, ND is ahead with 57.8% in contrast to 22.7% of PASOK.

Kostas Simitis is considered the most suitable for the position of Prime Minister, with a percentage of 36.1%, in contrast to the 35.3% of Kostas Karamanlis.

In the comparison between PASOK ministers and ND staff members who would take up those ministries if the party were to win the parliamentary elections, PASOK's ministers are ahead with a large difference in all but two cases. Nikitas Kaklamanis is ahead of Lucas Papadopoulos as Health Minister and Byron Polydoras is ahead of Philippos Petsalnikos as Minister of Justice.

"Greece embraces and cares for all who work and live in this land honestly. Greece has been a country of immigrants. We know well that the relation to a place is not a relation of descent, but mainly an issue of upbringing. Greece considers people living

in it and struggling for a better life, its children. Immigrants are not just a social force, but a cultural entity", said Mr. Reppas, and he guaranteed immigrants will receive everything necessary so that they may live in Greece with love and respect to

history and the tradition of the country. He also said that it is in everyone's best interest for immigrants to be incorporates to Greek society steadily, so that they too can contribute on their side, to Greece's gaining of an increasingly stronger posi tion in the world.

"Our society, is an open democratic society, that reaches out in friendship and love, to all living powers, which are claiming a better fate, in a legal and honest way", said the Minister, and he added: "Immigrants are part of Greek society. We love and embrace them, we want our homeland, that offers what it does to them, to become their homeland too, with love and respect which will correspond to the kindness Greece shows them".

Proof of this panic, is the fact that ND staff members are asking for PASOK accounts to be opened as well, he said to Flash Radio, clarifying that PASOK has nothing to hide. "Our responsibility and efforts for transparency cannot come with an expiration date. This is the level at which politicians and parties are judged", he observed. He wished Mr. Mitsotakis good health and that he may live many years, and he underlined that his effort is one for the strengthening of legality and public interest, and th at there is no vendetta with Mr. Mitsotakis and his family. "ND has created a company that has been functioning for 22 years. It has been proven that there is a flow of "dirty" money from "MAYO" to ND. My evidence is substantiated. Justice is obliged to b oldly continue till the end and there are many within ND who will rub their eyes in disbelief. Something similar happened in Germany with former Chancellor Helmut Kohl. I believe that there will be developments and that that is when today's leadership wil l be judged, Kostas Karamanlis, and previous leaderships of ND", said K. Laliotis.

Justice must truly show it moves "blindly", and investigate charges that PASOK moved registered voters to different districts during the 2000 parliamentary elections, pointed out the secretary of New Democracy's Central Committee Vaggelis Meimarakis.

Concerning MAYO, he commented that ND has given all evidence of its own initiative and added that PASOK should open up its own books. Speaking to Flash Radio, he said that the MAYO investigation should be completed as soon as possible, so that the case i s closed and not brought up again by Mr. Laliotis every time that PASOK is in a difficult position.

Mr. Paschalidis will have meetings with the President of the Organization of World Trade Fairs, Jules Noget, the Secretary General, Mr. Losertales, and the responsible party for the 2004 EXPO, Mrs. Trootman. The 2004 EXPO will be held in Paris and the Mi nister will visit the facilities where it will be held.

Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance Minas Stavrakakis, Regional Director of Central Macedonia, Ilias Liakopoulos, and CEO of HELEXPO- Greek Exhibitions A.S. Christos Geroukis, will accompany Mr. Paschalidis. The visit to Paris will be completed on Wednesday.

According to his doctors, if all goes well, Mr. Lamprakis should be released in 7 days.

The meeting will also take place in Cyprus and Italy with the participation of 24 young people from Greece, Cyprus and Italy.

The specific institution concerns the Greek State which can maintain increased rights as a shareholder if it has in its possession a limited number of stocks in order to be able to control decisions of strategic importance.

In earlier statements, Minister of Finance Nikos Christodoulakis had pointed out that the specific institution could be implemented in the cases of the Hellenic Petroleum Company and the Greek Telecommunications Organization, OTE.

The draft bill allows the Ministerial Committee on Privatization to choose the form of privatization that will be adopted in each case taking under consideration the company and the existing conditions.

Mr. Papantoniou, who met with members of the Cypriot Association of Reservists Commandos, stated that the Joint Defense Doctrine between Greece and Cyprus is active, which means that Greece will regard any attack on the Cypriot Republic as an attack on i ts own territory.

However, he expressed the hope that this will not be necessary and announced that he will visit Cyprus soon.

Mr. Beglitis stated that negotiations on the Euro-army issue continue within the framework of the Barcelona European Council mandate and added that these negotiations are of a dynamic nature. He also expressed the hope that a mutually acceptable solution

will be reached to satisfy both sides.

Mr. Beglitis pointed out that Greece is among the countries that support the further political unification of the EU and its autonomous presence in the international scene.

Mr. Lambrakis is likely to be released from hospital tomorrow or the day after.

Of the stocks trading today, just 45 recorded gains and the overwhelming majority, namely 299, had losses, while the value of 29 stocks remained unchanged.

He said that the people express skepticism and concern but it appears that they have expectations only from the governing Socialist Party of PASOK. Mr. Protopapas commented that the faces promoted by right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy are not new and have been judged during older ND governments when they failed tragically.

Mr. Protopapas stated that the Greek people regard Prime Minister Kostas Simitis more fit to rule, while they trust more in PASOK and its officials. He said that when the government's work is completed the situation will change and therefore, the opinion

polls will also be different. "We will win the elections", he stated characteristically.

The pipeline will carry natural gas from Iran or/and other Asia countries to Europe via Turkey and Greece. The Iranian President had stated in the meeting he had with Mr. Tsochatzopoulos that the project is of strategic importance for his country.

Mr. Tsochatzopoulos and his Iranian counterpart agreed to hold a tripartite meeting soon at a government ministers level for the promotion of the project, while in the following three months the Turkish Energy Minister will visit Greece to further clarif y the terms of cooperation between Greece and Turkey.

The doors for profitable investment opportunities were opened by the big infrastructure projects that are being announced in the country and the increased housing needs recorded, as each year about 1 million Egyptians are looking for new homes.

The overall climate for the foreign companies is positive as they are regarded more reliable than the local ones. Within this framework, diplomatic sources in Cairo mention that the Greek construction companies are welcomed, given the historical ties bet ween the two countries and the long presence of the Greek community in Egypt.

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