The issues with which the Committee will be occupied, are the review of the visit of Dennis Oswald, the President of the IOC, to Athens, as well as security measures during the Olympics.

Also, Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Papandreou is expected to meet with the President of the IOC, Jacques Rogge, in Lozanne today.

An event-concert will take place on the same issue, on Thursday at 8:30pm, in the Theater room of the Thermi Cultural Center. The event being organized by the Municipality of Thermi in the framework of fraternization with the Condofuri Municipality of Ma gna Grecia, includes book presentations of "The Acropolis of Magna Grecia" and "Modern Greek Poetry in Lower Italy", while the "Trip to Magna Grecia" documentary will be shown.

In the framework of the artistic program, Cum. El. Ca. (Greek-speaking Community of Calabrya) music group will perform with folk songs, tarantellas in Grekanic dialect, accompanied by the tamburello (tambourine), the organeto (accordion), and the tsampon ia (bagpipes).

The series will include lectures on culture, social organization, economy, and political systems of peoples of the Balkans, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and the Near East. It is mainly aimed at students of the Balkan, Slavic and Eastern Studie s Department.

In the framework of the series, a lecture will be given tomorrow at 8pm, on "Afghan Illegal Immigrants in Greece Today", by the Consultant of Legal Protection and Education of the UN High Commission for Refugees, Petros Mastakas.

Mr. Papandreou and Ms. Waldner will also discuss the future of Europe and issues concerning the joint EU foreign policy and policy of defense.

Mr. Beglitis stressed that it is unacceptable for a politician, member of the Italian government, to turn against Greece and Cyprus repeatedly by making unfounded statements.

Mr. Beglitis said that the Italian Foreign Ministry official should be more careful when he refers to Greece and Cyprus, adding that he should be aware of the fact that there is a contractual framework between Greece and Italy concerning organized crime and illegal trade and therefore, all accusations made by him from time to time are unfounded.

Both sides stressed that bilateral trade transactions are not at a satisfactory level and therefore, there is huge potential for their further improvement.

Mr. Habib conveyed to Mr. Bakatselos the wish expressed by his country's businessmen for cooperation deals with their Greek colleagues mainly, in the sectors of building material supplies, as huge projects are in progress in Lebanon for the construction of infrastructure and housing settlements.

In the meeting an agreement was reached on two business missions to be held in Beirut and Thessaloniki.

Also, the deficit in the current transactions balance was lower by 273 million Euro in the nine-month period of January-September 2001 and reached 4.977 billion Euro compared to the same period last year.

The positive development in the month of September is associated with the trade balance improvement and the surplus increase in the balance of transfers.

The POLIS exhibition is held every two years in 8 pavilions occupying a space of 11.000 square meters. A total of 653 direct and indirect exhibitors will take part in this year's event.

Specifically, in the event will participate 595 Greek and 58 foreign exhibitors representing 11 countries namely, Austria, Albania, Bulgaria, Belgium, France, Germany, Yugoslavia, Denmark, Italy, Russia, and FYROM.

Of the stocks trading today, 171 recorded gains and 150 had losses, while the value of 42 stocks remained unchanged.

The Holy Synod statement mentions that the Church supports every scientific effort that promotes health and offers the hope of life, but it also expresses its sensitivity regarding the need to protect the eternal moral and spiritual values.

party exploitation.

Mr. Simitis said that the Athens 2004 Olympic Games preparations procedure is a difficult and extremely complex work in which many people are involved. He stated that the initiatives undertaken in the coordination of the efforts made are aimed at the cre ative combination of the different roles undertaken by the government, the agencies active around it and the "Athens 2004" Organizing Committee, always in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee.

With the resolution plan the General Assembly among other things:

Expresses its solidarity towards other countries that have suffered natural disasters.

Expresses its appreciation towards all countries of the international community, international organizations, international and non-governmental organizations, as well as individuals, which offered help to areas that were struck by natural disasters.

Notes the progress of achieved by the Greek and Turkish governments, in cooperation with the Coordination Office of Humanitarian Affairs of the UN Secretariat, on the creation of a joint Greek-Turkish standby unit for the encountering of natural disaster s, which will deal begin functioning in the near future, without financially burdening the UN project budget.

Asks the Secretary General through the Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, to continue to work on the procedure of using the standby unit for dealing with natural disasters by the UN system, and also

Asks the Secretary General to mention the progress of application of the specific resolution at the 57th General Assembly.

stated by IOC President Jacques Rogge, who stressed that if the preparations continue in the same pace the 2004 Olympic Games will be a success.

Mr. Rogge presided over the International Center of Olympic Truce Executive Committee meeting in Lauzanne for the first time. The committee vice-president Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou presented the Greek initiative for the observance of Olym pic Truce during the 2004 Olympic Games. A special emphasis was given to the briefing of the people all over the world on the Greek initiative.

Mr. Rogge is scheduled to meet with US President George Bush with whom he will discuss the Greek initiative on Olympic Truce and the observance of a ceasefire in every war-torn region in the world.

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