Meanwhile, the common position of Athens and Washington for the accession of Cyprus, in every case, and regarding the effort of resolving the Cyprus issue as quickly as possible, was ascertained during the meeting between Greek Minister of National Defen se, Giannos Papantoniou, and US Undersecretary of State, Mark Grossman, according to Mr. Papantoniou's statements after the meeting in Athens yesterday.

At that point the Defense Minister pointed out that if the island's political issue is resolved by December 12, it would be the most desirable outcome, but even if that is not attainable, the procedure must be kept alive even after Copenhagen.

Another point addressed by Mr. Grossman and Mr. Papantoniou, was the need to encourage our EU partners to set a date for Turkey's accession negotiations. The Minister of Defense stated characteristically that Ankara's European prospects are an especially

positive development both for Europe in the long-term, as well as for Greek-Turkish relations and stability in the region.

On the same issue, the US official noted that "setting a date for the commencing of Turkey's accession negotiations will be a very important step of progress for Turkey and Greece, and, in general, for the EU and the US".

On another front, Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou was very pleased with his meetings in Ankara last night, and stressed that the Turkish leadership has committed itself to continuing its efforts after December 12, if no solution has been found.

Mr. Papandreou added: "We consolidated our progress up to this point and now we will continue, not merely step by step, but with great leaps".

Their meeting has been scheduled to take place three days before the crucial meeting of the European Council, and Mr. Cox will be accompanied at his meetings by the Vice President of the European Parliament, Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos.

Mr. Cox is expected to arrive in Athens on the afternoon of Monday, December 9, and have his meeting with the Prime Minister immediately following his arrival. At 20:30, Mr. Simitis and Mr. Cox will make statements to the press.

On Tuesday morning, Mr. Cox will have successive meetings with the President of the Parliament, Apostolos Kaklamanis, the President of New Democracy, Kostas Karamalis, the Secretary General of the KKE, Aleka Papariga, the President of the Coalition of th e Left, Nikos Konstantopoulos, and the President of DIKKI, Dimitris Tsovolas. In the afternoon he will depart for Warsaw.

On December 19-20, Mr. Cox will return to Athens, in order to meet the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and discuss details concerning the Greek Presidency of the EU.

As the Minister of the Interior stressed, the three gates that express Greece's overall national immigration policy are the complete handling of immigrant flow, social incorporation of immigrants and deterring illegal immigration.

Mr. Scandalidis and Deputy Minister of the Interior Lambros Papadimas mentioned that from now on, immigrants will have to pay approximately 147 euro in order to receive their new residency status.

This amount will have to be paid annually during the first five years of residency in order to renew their permit. Then their permit will become of "indefinite duration".

Mr. Papadimas pointed out that there is still a problem with immigrants who are unable to present any traveling documents or passports, documents required for them to be granted a residency permit.

These are the cases of immigrants from countries that are unable to supply them with such documents or are in a state of war, and thus Greece has contacted these countries in order to reach a solution of some kind.

So far, 47,168 people have submitted applications to "Athens 2004", in order to make their own effort as volunteers, knowing that it will be their presence that will define Greece's global image to a great degree.

According to the information of "Athens 2004", 61.35% of the volunteers are Greek residents, 12.01% are Greeks from abroad, 22.97% are foreigners, and 2.15% are foreigners residing in Greece.

56% of the volunteers are women, 74% of which are between the ages of 18-34. 34% have prior experience as volunteers, while it is a noteworthy fact that 11% have post graduate degrees, 24% have university education, 10% are institute graduates, 43% are h igh school graduates and 10% have grade school education.

56% of the applications were submitted electronically, while the volunteers are characterized by their knowledge of other languages. The dominant language, after Greek, is English, spoken by approximately 80%. Then is French (approximately 20%), German ( about 18%), Spanish (about 10%), while there are smaller percentages that can speak Arabic and Russian. Another noteworthy point is that 20% speak various other languages.

their text, which had been sent earlier to Alvaro De Soto, be returned to them immediately, since they had been assured the two texts were going to be delivered at the same time.

In statements he made this morning on his way to brief the Cabinet about his meetings in Ankara, Mr. Papandreou pointed out that time is running out for the resolving of the Cyprus issue before the Copenhagen Summit, and that, as he said, "is a heavy bur den on Mr. Denktash side's shoulders, who have been delaying".

In any case, the Foreign Minister made it clear that Cyprus will be incorporated to the EU, as has been repeatedly stressed by the Prime Minister, while he noted that the question really is whether the Cyprus issue will be resolved before Copenhagen or n ot. In the latter case, Mr. Papandreou underlined the need to continue the efforts being made to resolve the Cyprus issue and retaining the present dynamics.

Referring to Turkey's position on the specific issue, he pointed out that through the contacts he had in Ankara, he ascertained that Turkey's political leadership was positive in continuing efforts even after the Copenhagen Summit, even by setting its re quest for a date to begin accession negotiations as a term.

On his side, Alternate Foreign Minister Tassos Giannitsis appreciated that there will be no problems in the accession of Cyprus: "Apart from that, the issue of resolving the Cyprus issue is in a very delicate stage. Everything is at stake until late on t he night of the Copenhagen Summit, even until the last minute", stressed Mr. Giannitsis.

Specifically, 87.8% appreciated that the world fair would help the development and global promotion of Thessaloniki. This opinion was expressed by over 90% of those residing in Northern Greece.

From the beginning of the 1999 to the present, the Bureau of Food and Animal Inspection of the European Commission has carried out 39 inspections in Greece, according to European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection David Byrne's response to a

question of ND EuroMP Stavros Xarchakos.

In Mr. Xarchakos' question there were reference to two recent Commission reports on meat and dairy products, according to which "in facilities inspected in Greece, rusty and old mechanical equipment, unclean water in the pasteurizing system and rust in t he ventilation system were found".

According to Mr. Xarchakos, the Commissioner confirmed the above and added that "in the last two years, he has in personally talked with the Greek Ministers of Agriculture and Development on many occasions, both in Brussels and in Athens, expressing the Commission's concerns on the shortcomings of the food safety inspections systems in Greece".

The Minister of Culture also proposed to include a special clause in the General Assembly's decision, so that the need to protect cultural heritage in less developed countries be covered by developmental aid from more developed countries, especially conc erning countries in conditions of poverty, underdevelopment or war, where protecting cultural heritage is very difficult, since it is not a first priority issue when there is human life at stake.

Mr. Venizelos repeated the Greek position for a long-term lending of the Parthenon Marbles, and a joint exhibit by the new Acropolis Museum and the British Museum. It should be noted that it is the first time the Greek proposal was heard at the UN Genera l Assembly.

Mr. Venizelos characterized the Athens Olympics as an important example of combining elements of cultural heritage, such as the monuments of Ancient Olympia, with elements of incorporeal cultural heritage, such as the ideals of peace, competition, and co existence. It is clear, Mr. Venizelos stressed, that cultural heritage can function as a factor of social and financial development.

The Greek Minister of Culture also referred to the importance of the message of "The Culture of Cultures", especially in this day and age, which is characterized by deep cultural conflict. "The Culture of Cultures", underlined Mr. Venizelos, "is the only

position that can guarantee an honest and essential dialogue between cultures, transforming cultural differences into bridges of communication and not cause for friction, misunderstandings and military conflict".

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