patriarch or anti-patriarch supporters stated the Archbishop's spokesperson.

the Merchant Marine Giorgos Paschalidis, who called all parties, movements, currents, people of the Left in a dialogue with prospects of participation in the government, in his interview to the "Sunday Eleftherotypia".

The postponement of the meeting, mentioned the "Sunday Eleftherotypia", plows under the slim hopes of finding a way out of the dead end. The most recent meetings of the hierarchs were intensely emotionally charged, as most of them were trying to convince

the Archbishop not to burn his bridges with the Patriarchate.

Mr. Christodoulos, however, even called on personal security reasons in order to convince them that he should not go to the Fanari, and finally the hierarchs let him decide for himself, leaving them out of it, as they said.

The Archbishop was trying block the reply the Fanari's answer on the list of candidate metropolites for Thessaloniki, however his maneuver failed as the Fanari insisted on the application of the terms of the 1928 Act.

The Archbishop's close associates stated that he would not go to the Fanari as subordinates. "If the Archbishop went to the Fanari, he could expect nothing less than his humiliation".

Essentially, the Archbishops and his associates hope to gain some time and affect the majority of metropolites in order to receive a positive decision of the Hierarchy at the meeting on November 4. This, they believe, will put them in a stronger negotiat ion position, if Mr. Vartholomeos accepts a meeting then.

But there are many high church officials, who pointed out that if Christodoulos' metropolites do not "back down" at the hierarchy meeting, division is unavoidable, and it will have unforeseen consequences both on the Church of Greece as well as on other Orthodox Churches.

"We either yield and send the list to the Patriarch for approval with no "games", or we head for a schism", stated the hierarchs.

"The metropolises of Northern Greece are and will remain metropolises of the (Ecumenical) Throne", stressed Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos while addressing the Greek community in Switzerland.

He also referred to the contribution and deaconate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, characteristically saying: "You must be proud of being members of the Great Church of Christ's martyrdom, which has given its blood throughout the centuries in order to gi ve life and more to others".

During the liturgy at the orthodox church of Agia Sophia in Switzerland, the Ecumenical Patriarch mentioned the metropolises of Northern Greece, underlining that "they are metropolises of the Throne and will remain metropolises of the Throne, the adminis tration of which, as a committee and under certain terms, the Patriarchy has assigned to the Church of Greece.

Discussions at the meeting will include bilateral issues, such as the two countries financial relations, Greek-Russian power and military cooperation, and the Greek candidacy at the Security Council. Issues to be explored also include EU-Russian relation s, the review of the Greek Presidency, the Balkans, Caucasus, and the Cyprus issue.

Mr. Simitis met this morning with PASOK official Paraskevas Avgerinos and at noon with Secretary of PASOK's Central Committee Michalis Chrysochoidis.

Later this afternoon he will meet with Minister of Finance Nikos Christodoulakis and deputy Minister of Finance Christos Pachtas.

Meanwhile, Mr. Simitis' visit to the School for the Blind in Kalithea, which had been scheduled for tomorrow at 10:30am, has been postponed.

Responding to a relevant question, Mr. Hitiris stated that the reaction of the Greek government is going to be proportional to the incidents that took place, which will have to be clarified first.

Of the stocks trading today, 98 recorded gains and 208 had losses, while the value of 77 stocks remained unchanged.

Mr. Hitiris added that a solution could be found in a spirit of compromise and love.

Mr. Hitiris stated that there is a change in the position of the ND President regarding the Greek-Turkish relations.

Mr. Hitiris also commented on the visit of Mr. Karamanlis to Tblisi, saying that he had strongly criticized the government for its policy regarding the Greeks from the former Soviet Union and now he is visiting them.

The "Simitis package" will be implemented stated Mr. Hitiris and clarified that except from the measures concerning wages and pensions that will materialize starting on January 1, 2004, all other measures will be implemented by the end of 2003. He used a s an example the 1,000euro economic aid offered to the parents of higher education students who are studying away from their home and not at the city of their residence. This sum will be given starting now under certain circumstances.

On the strike mobilizations, Mr. Hitiris reiterated that the government sees the Greek society as a whole and the increases it has approved are as much as it can give. He added that the government can understand the demands of the workers but on the othe r hand, it also sees the problems of the unemployed suggesting that everybody should display social consciousness.

is a positive thing that the government was finally able to discover and applaud those positions, added Mr. Rousopoulos in response to the statements made earlier by Undersecretary of Press Tilemachos Hitiris.

He also said that the government has to realize that there is a huge difference between giving the Greek nationality to people of Greek origin and giving the Greek nationality to foreigners through procedures that are not open, having as a motive politic al expedience.

path of Greece's neighbor towards Europe may not be an easy one, it is however the necessary one. "He is struggling to change the atmosphere with significant reforms", said Mr. Karamanlis regarding Mr. Erdogan.

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