The meeting was initially set to take place at 10:30am (Greek time) but due to other engagements the two Prime Ministers had the meeting was rescheduled to take place at 1:00pm today.

Mr. Karamanlis has meetings with other leaders as well participating in the Summit meeting.

The nurse was kidnapped on the way from the hospital to the hotel where she was staying and after 10 hours of interrogation she was released by her captors after they became certain that she was Greek.

She told the newspaper that she explained to them what was her work in Iraq they apologized to her for the inconvenience and explained to her that unfortunately they have no other way to defend themselves except from kidnapping the allies of the American s.

The nurse also pointed out that having lived the drama of many African countries from up close, as a veteran of volunteer missions since 1967, she believes that the tragedy in Iraq cannot be compared to any other.

In statements he made after the meeting, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis pointed out that he reiterated the known positions of the Greek government on Cyprus and gave a special emphasis to the issue of the strengthening of the Greek-Turkish relations, s aying that both sides expressed the will to strengthen bilateral relations. The Prime Minister said that the European prospect of Turkey was also discussed.

On his part, Mr. Erdogan stated that in the meeting with Mr. Karamanlis he expressed Turkey's good will on the Cyprus problem, while it was also pointed out that there is a need for progress in bilateral relations.

In the Karamanlis-Erdogan meeting participated Foreign Ministers of Greece and Turkey, Petros Moliviatis and Abdullah Gul.

Based on speculations, the circle of bilateral consultations will be completed today and the EU Presidency will present a compromise solution text late this evening, which will constitute a basis for further discussions that are expected to continue unti l late at night.

In the meeting with the ambassador of Russia Vdovin Andrey it was decided that a Greek-Russian one-day business conference is going to be held in Athens in the fall of 2004.

Mr. Alogoskoufis presented the government's intention to proceed with the establishment of a Greek "house" in Russia within the framework of the policy for the promotion of exports and tourism.

The Greek "houses" which will also open in Germany, France, USA, Japan, China and Britain will offer a complete picture of the Greek products and the tourist destinations in Greece, will organize exhibitions and in general, they will promote Greece.

In the meeting with Spain's ambassador Junco Bonet it was agreed that a Greek-Spanish one-day conference will also be held in Athens in the fall.

The Minister of Finance agreed with Britain's ambassador David Madden to proceed with the cooperation between the Greek and the British Ministries of Finance given the fact that the British have the know-how regarding the control of public spending.

Mr. Karamanlis met with Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov, Romanian President Ion Iliescu, Bosnia-Herzegovina President Suleiman Tihic, Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Croatian President Ivo Sanader, Ser bia-Montenegro President Dragan Marovic and acting FYROM President Ljupco Jordanovski.

The Greek Prime Minister speaking in the Summit meeting referred to the common future of the countries in southeastern Europe and underlined that cooperation among the peoples in the region has to be based on the European values.

Of the stocks trading today, 98 had gains and 184 had losses, while the value of 117 stocks remained unchanged.

They discussed issues concerning the Olympic Games in Athens and the preparation of the Bulgarian Olympic team, while they also agreed that in another meeting they will discuss the greater cooperation of the two countries in the area of sports.

After the meeting, Mr. Ivanov expressed certainty that Greece will host the best and safest Olympic Games of the past 104 years.

He also said that they discussed issues concerning those who will come to Athens for the Olympic Games via Bulgaria and assurances were given to the Greek side that Bulgaria will do everything possible to make them feel completely safe.

The inauguration ceremony will attend Ukrainian Foreign Minister Konstantin Grisenko.

The Greek Prime Minister underlined that cooperation is a priority for his government and himself personally pointing out that cooperation should be based on a future founded on the common European values and not in the past

Mr. Karamanlis also referred to the situation in Kosovo condemning the disasters and vandalisms targeting cultural monuments, churches and religious sites during the recent incidents.

The Prime Minister welcomed FYROM's application for EU membership and congratulated Bulgaria and Romania for their NATO membership.

In conclusion, Mr. Karamanlis reiterated the EU commitment to keep the issue of the Balkans high on the agenda, clarifying that the effort of Greece toward this direction will be a dynamic one.

Meanwhile, according to information, the Turkish Prime Minister will probably visit Greece between May 5 and 7 as the guest in an international conference organized by "The Economist".

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