[01] THE VISITING FRENCH PRIME MINISTER MET WITH HIS GREEK COUNTERPART IN ATHENS

[02] THE PRIME MINISTER CHARACTERIZED AS FRUITFUL YESTERDAY'S TELEVISED DEBATE WITH THE LEADER OF ND

[03] THE PRE-ELECTION CAMPAIGNS OF THE POLITICAL PARTY LEADERS CONTINUE

[04] THE CYPRIOT GOVERNMENT EXAMINES THE POSSIBILITY OF A NEW INCIDENT IN CYPRUS THAT COULD BE PROVOKED BY TURKEY

[05] BALKAN CENTER FOR THE PROTECTION OF CONSUMERS IS PLANNED BY BULGARIA AND GREECE

[06] PROBLEMS IN THE ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA

NEWS IN DETAIL

[01] THE VISITING FRENCH PRIME MINISTER MET WITH HIS GREEK COUNTERPART IN ATHENS

French Prime Minister, Alain Juppe met at noon today with his greek counterpart, Kostas Simitis. Mr.Juppe arrived in Athens for a two-day formal visit on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the French Archaelogical School.

After the meeting the two Prime Ministers made statements and mr.Simitis characterized the discussion he had with his french counterpart as especially useful, while he pointed out that the opportunities for cultural cooperation between the two countries will help toward the further improvement of relations between the two peoples.

The french Prime Minister characterized the greek-french relations as traditionally very good and pointed out that Greece and France are working on joint plans in order to give a new boost to the already positive relations between them.

Referring to the greek-turkish relations the french Prime Minister stressed that his country will offer its assistance in a dialogue between Greece and Turkey, as well as in the solution of the Cyprus problem.

[02] THE PRIME MINISTER CHARACTERIZED AS FRUITFUL YESTERDAY'S TELEVISED DEBATE WITH THE LEADER OF ND

Prime Minister and PASOK leader, Kostas Simitis characterized as fruitful yesterday's televised debate with leader of main opposition party New Democracy, Miltiadis Evert that centered around issues of foreign, economic and social policy.

He said that the greek people heard their proposals and can now reach their own conclusions, while he responded negatively when asked if there will be another televised debate.

On the contrary, the ND leader called for the repetition of the debate this time with the participation of all political party leaders.

Mr.Evert in an unscheduled press conference today proposed a televised dialogue among all political party leaders to be held next Thursday. He said that this dialogue should have more directness without the presence of journalists, while referring to yesterday's televised debate, called the Minister of Defence to respond to the statement made by the Prime Minister, according to which, the night of the events in Imia an order was given that was not followed by the country's armed forces.

Political Spring party leader, Antonis Samaras commenting on the debate stated that mr.Simitis and mr.Evert are "pseudo- duellists" who talk about the past, while a Communist party statement mentions that the existence of a deadlock created by two- party politics has been confirmed.

Coalition of the Left party leader, Nikos Konstantopoulos stated that the content of the debate was disappointing, while Democratic Social Movement leader, Dimitris Tsovolas said that it was a dull monologue.

[03] THE PRE-ELECTION CAMPAIGNS OF THE POLITICAL PARTY LEADERS CONTINUE

Prime Minister, Kostas Simitis will speak tonight in front of intellectuals in a central hotel in Athens.

New Democracy leader, mr.Evert will visit Thessaloniki later this afternoon and will present his party's economic programme. Tomorrow, he will visit the city's International Trade Fair and afterwards he will give a press conference.

Political Spring party party leader, Antonis Samaras is touring the central prefecture of Magnisia , while Communist party General Secretary, Aleka Papariga will speak to party supporters in an Athens suburb. Coalition of the Left party leader, Nikos Konstantopoulos will speak in the city of Gianitsa and tonight he will speak in an open-air political rally in a central Thessaloniki square.

Democratic Social Movement leader, Dimitris Tsovolas arrived in Thessaloniki this morning and in the afternoon he will visit the city's International Trade Fair, later he will give a press conference and afterwards he will speak in an open-air political rally in a central Thessaloniki square.

Mr.Tsovolas upon his arrival in Thessaloniki's Airport stated that after the elections the two main political parties of PASOK and New Democracy will be split and the whole political setting in the country will be changed. According to mr.Tsovolas, the fragmentation of the two main political parties will be the result of their inability to get the majority of seats in Parliament necessary to form a government.

Mr.Tsovolas did not rule out the possibility of post-election cooperation with progressive forces, if there are any, as he characteristically stated, adding that New Democracy and today's PASOK are two conservative parties.

[04] THE CYPRIOT GOVERNMENT EXAMINES THE POSSIBILITY OF A NEW INCIDENT IN CYPRUS THAT COULD BE PROVOKED BY TURKEY

The Cypriot government is examining the possibility of a new incident in Cyprus that could be provoked by Turkey and based on that likelyhood Cypriot Foreign Minister, Alekos Michailidis met in his office yesterday with the ambassadors of the 5 permanent member-states in the UN Security Council.

The cypriot government has information on turkish troops movement in the occupied territories and the UN forces along the buffer zone and the two cease-fire lines, are in a state of readiness after information that the turks are planning "hot incidents" in order to maintain the tension on the island. For the moment, the UN has observed no turkish troops movement along the demarcation line.

Meanwhile, the leader of the "Grey Wolves" in Cyprus, Mehmet Aslan was incharge of the turks who participated in the cold- blooded killing of Tasos Isaac during the recent incidents in the Derinia buffer zone. This shocking fact was revealed in today's issue of the cypriot magazine "Selides", which publishes photos proving that the leader of the "Grey Wolves" also hit the victim a number of times in the head.

[05] BALKAN CENTER FOR THE PROTECTION OF CONSUMERS IS PLANNED BY BULGARIA AND GREECE

The Center for the protection of Consumers based in Thessaloniki and the Bulgarian Federation of Consumers are planning the founding of a Balkan Center for the Protection of Consumers.

The above were stated to bulgarian news agency, BTA by the Center's President, mr.Sotiris Paschalidis on the sidelines of the 2nd Greek-bulgarian seminar for the Protection of Consumers that is being held in a seaside resort near the city of Varna at the Black Sea coasts.

Mr.Paschalidis described as positive the cooperation of the two sides in the materialization of the first joint plan for the protection of consumers which was financed with 180 thousand ECU by the EU PHARE programme.

Finally, the two sides agreed to exchange information through Internet regarding the quality of products in Greece and Bulgaria, while they also agreed on holding joint market research.

[06] PROBLEMS IN THE ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA

The voting in the first elections held in Bosnia after the war in former Yugoslavia began with problems.

According to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), responsible for monitoring the elections, NATO forces had to block one of the 19 safe passages used by the voters on their way to polling stations.

OSCE General Director, Jeff Fischer stated that the serb police refused to open an access road in the region of Prijedor in north-western Bosnia.

Meanwhile, hundreds of muslim voters did not exercise their right to vote afraid of entering serb-held territories.

Voters will elect today Bosnia's three-member collective presidency and also a serb, croat and muslim Parliament.

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