Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-01-08

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Stephanopoulos-Israel

[02] Greece-Italy

[01] Stephanopoulos-Israel

Greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos concluded on Saturday a four-day visit to Jerusalem and was due back to Athens later in the afternoon.

Stephanopoulos, who attended a gathering of all Orthodox Church leaders in Bethlehem celebrating the 2000 years since the birth of Jesus Christ, on Saturday morning visited a Greek Orthodox monastery near the Dead Sea. He was accompanied by Foreign Minister George Papandreou and Deputy Foreign Minister Grigoris Niotis.

During his visit, Stephanopoulos met with Israeli President Ezer Weizman in Jerusalem, and with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in Bethlehem

[02] Greece-Italy

Greece's decision at the EU Helsinki summit to accept Turkey's candidacy for European Union accession is very important and bold, Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema said on Friday.

Speaking to Greek journalists ahead of his visit to Athens on Monday, D'Alema said that the gates of Europe will close for Ankara if it does not accept the Copenhagen principles and does not resolve the dispute with Athens and the issue of Cyprus.

He also praised Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis' personality and opposed independence for Kosovo and Montenegro, underling that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic remained a problem.

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