The political parties have announced the schedule of their pre-election campaigns.

The last opinion polls before the Euro-elections have showed that the governing party of New Democracy has a lead of 7-8 percentage points over PASOK.

Government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos stated that the Euro-elections are not like state elections which decide who will run the country from the post of the Prime Minister and therefore, a televised duel between Kostas Karamanlis and Giorgos Papandre ou is not regarded as necessary.

According to figures provided by the "Athens 2004" Organizing Committee, a total of 65% of the tickets are still unsold because it has not been decided yet the date or time of the team sports' events.

A specially modified aircraft will take the Olympic Flame to 34 countries with first stop Sydney, Australia, while the Olympic Torch will be carried by a total of 3,600 people.

A special ceremony will take place at Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens tomorrow during which the Olympic Flame will leave for the airport where "Athens 2004" Organizing Committee President Mrs. Yianna Angelopoulou-Daskalakis will hand the Olympic Torch ove r to the airplane crew.

The Presiding Board will review SAE's activities and plan its moves until the end of the year. It will also draw up the organization's strategic plan for the period 2004-2010.

The SAE Presiding Board together with the youth, women, culture, businessmen and scientists network coordinators will discuss those issues with Deputy Foreign Minister Panagiotis Skandalakis, responsible for issues concerning the Greeks abroad.

The SAE Presiding Board will also have meetings with the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace and local authorities.

Businessman Sotiris Proios was re-elected president of the association that represents about 50,000 Greeks living in the United States, who originally come from Macedonia, northern Greece, Nina Gatsouli was elected vice-president, Panos Spiliakos is the new general secretary and Kostas Hatzistefanidis was elected treasurer. The governors of the Pan-Macedonia Association in all the US states were also elected by the conference.

In the declaration issued by the conference, Greece's preparations for successful Olympic Games are praised and the Greek government is congratulated for the efforts aimed at promoting the Olympic Truce.

The conference delegates also demand the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece and congratulate the government of the Cyprus Republic for its accession into the EU, while they urge the EU, the UN and the United States to encourage the necessary chang es to the Annan Plan that will ensure the reunification of the island.

They condemn the violations of religious freedom by Turkey targeting the Ecumenical Patriarchate, call for the reopening of the Theology School of Halki and demand that the rights of the Greeks of Istanbul to their property be reinstated.

They demand that Turkey should recognize the genocide of the Greeks from Pontos and other Greeks in Asia Minor, condemn terrorism and urge all Greek-Americans to exercise their right to vote in the November 2004 presidential elections in the United State s.

Referring to the issue of the FYROM name, the Pan-Macedonian Association of America calls on the Greek government, the Greek political leadership, the US government and the international community, to make sure that the name of FYROM clearly distinguish the country's residents from the people in Macedonia, Greece.

Of the stocks trading today, 251 had gains and 74 had losses, while the value of 60 stocks remained unchanged.

Regarding agricultural development, government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos pointed out that the responsible minister Savvas Tsitouridis presented to the governmental committee the goals, problems, prospects and priorities of the government.

Mr. Tsitouridis stated that his priority is the refoundation of the state in the sector of agriculture as the administrative mechanism is not enough to deal with issues stemming from the revision of the Common Agricultural Policy and the need to keep the

rural regions alive.

Mr. Rousopoulos pointed out that the televised discussion will be free, meaning that there will be no limitations on the issues that will be discussed. The participating journalists will have the right to repeat their questions if they feel that they are

not getting a satisfactory answer, while the political party leaders will make a two-minute closing statement when the procedure is completed estimated to last an hour and a half. There will be no other televised debate with the participation of the poli tical party leaders.

The debate will be held in the state-run television station, ERT, and there will be four rounds of questions namely, a total of 20 questions.

The six television channels will have to decide on who will be the journalists representing them and then the journalists will decide on who will be the coordinator of the debate.