the Commission concern the part of political intervention in the market's function. He also pointed out that the Greek economy is moving in the right direction, but "greater attention must be paid to the competitiveness of businesses".

who was clearly better in the game, were scored by Mavrogenidis (6'), Castillo (34'), and Giovani in the last minute of extra time. AEK, which had a lot of absent players, lost in Holland against Eindhoven by 1-0.

"We will fight for the rights of the Patriarchate and we are contesting what is ours." "We will allow no one and will not recognize the right to make decisions for the Patriarchate. We make decisions for ourselves, for our history, for our rights", he ad ded.

The Ecumenical Patrarch stated that he will await of the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece, before making his next moves.

When asked if the dialogue between the two sides will start again, Mr. Vartholomeos answered: "We'll see. I cannot say anything specific at the moment. We are waiting for the Hierarchy's decisions".

Furthermore, he condemned political interventions in the church conflict and added that the views of former Prime Minister Constantinos Mitsotakis, have no relation to reality. "Mr. Mitsotakis more or less said that the Patriarchate or the present eccles iastic regime is dividing Greece in half. We do not want to divide or anything of the sort. We just want the Patriarchate's rights to be respected", he pointed out.

According to the poll carried out by the National Center for Social Research on a sample of 2,500 people, published in the press today, those asked trust the law, the police, family and religion, while they are first in watching television among all othe r residents of EU member-states.

They are also last in social contact frequency, tolerance towards people of other races, nationality, all kinds of immigrants and homosexuals.

They also consider the importance of religion greater than any other EU people, but refuse coexistence with other religions and they believe more than other EU people that each person is interested only in himself. Furthermore, they believe that politici ans are not interested in the people, but they consider helping each other of great value.

Finally, they appreciated that the government should take measures against income differences, as with their present income, Greeks make ends meet with difficulty, they trust the European Parliament, but believe that defense policies should be planned on

a national level.

During the Bulgarian President's meetings with KKE Secretary General Aleka Papariga and the President of the Coalition of the Left Nikos Constantopoulos, with whom he discussed bilateral relations and developments in the Balkans.

New Democracy Constantinos Mitsotakis and the semi-autonomous Church of Crete. The Archbishop denied having given an interview to a magazine. Journalists were urged to show the proper respect towards the Ecumenical Patriarch by the Union of Journalists o f Macedonia and Thrace Daily Newspapers.

The proposal approved mentions that the list with the candidate Metropolites in northern Greece is going to be sent to the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the Ecumenical Patriarch to be able to exercise his rights as defined by the 1928 act namely, to add or

remove names on the list. However, the proposal points out that the clauses of the Church of Greece charter should be observed. According to those clauses, the final approval of the list belongs to the Church of Greece.

Earlier, eight Metropolites had left the hall where the meeting of the hierarchy was taking place, stating that a trend is being formed to interpret the 1928 act in which they do not wish to participate as they believe that the texts in question are clea r.

Of the stocks trading today, 255 recorded gains and 57 had losses, while the value of 70 stocks remained unchanged.

Mr. Protopapas stated that Turkey must get the message and realize that its European course, which is necessary for the Turkish people, passes through the solution of the Cyprus problem, which is also necessary.

Mr. Kaklamanis congratulated the Bulgarian people for their country's successful course to the European Union and expressed the wish that the negotiations with the EU will be completed by the year 2004and in 2007 the country will become a full EU member.

Mr. Kaklamanis referred to the region of southeastern Europe and to the importance of peace for the development and progress of its peoples, while he also said that peace and security in Europe is going to be secured only through a joint European system of defense.

Mr. Kaklamanis called for the active participation of Bulgaria in the development of the initiative for the promotion of the inter-Balkan cooperation to an Organization of Regional Cooperation in southeastern Europe.

The Bulgarian President called for the help of the Greek Parliament in the process for the harmonization of the Bulgarian legislation with the European. He pointed out that Bulgaria contributes to the idea of the joint European defense not as an alternat ive to NATO but as a prospect for Europe to be able to solve its own problems.

The Bulgarian President attended the parliament session during which the protocol for Bulgaria's accession into NATO was discussed and passed.

The Ministry of Defense announced that the armed forces are going to be rearranged in Evros, northeastern Greece and in the Aegean as the main threat from the east remains, while versatile forces will be formed and personnel will adjust to the current ne eds.

The goal of the Ministry of Defense is to bring defense spending to 3% of the GDP after 2008 and this goal will be achieved through drastic cuts in operational spending and by keeping armaments spending down through the purchase of "smart" weapons.

The accession protocol concerns seven new NATO members namely, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Mr. Parvanov watched the discussion in the Greek Parliament, which lasted half an hour.

Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis referred to the recent meeting in Geneva in which participated important Israeli and Palestinian personalities characterizing it as "a meeting of hope".

Mr. Beglitis said that such initiatives should be encouraged and praised, adding that it is a meeting that offers a way out to the dead end in the Middle East and the peace process and its results are absolutely compatible with the international communit y policy and the "road map". He underlined that they are results that create a new momentum for peace in the region.

Specifically on Turkey, Mr. Beglitis said that the European Commission report reflects the present situation in the Euro-Turkish relations, presents in an objective and clear way the important progress made by Turkey and at the same time, the significant

shortcomings in the area of reform implementation.

Referring to the issue of Cyprus, he said that the European Commission report confirms the EU policy for the solution of the problem based on the Annan peace plan and mentions that Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots have been following a policy of non-solut ion to the political problem in Cyprus.

The US State Department Spokesperson repeated the position that Greece has the political will and means to organize secure and successful Olympics. Also, he supported that the US trust the Greek efforts and that they are cooperating closely with the Gree k government.

Meanwhile, the Director of the FBI is expected in Athens, and he will talk with Greek colleagues on security issues, based on the cooperation on security issues in view of the Olympics. He will also congratulate the leadership of the Greek Police on the eradication of the "17 November" terrorist organization.

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