Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-06-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece - Russia - Presidents

[02] Crisis management seminar - Athens 2000

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates-Tuesday

[04] Weather Forecast-Tuesday

[05] Stock Market-Close

[01] Greece - Russia - Presidents

MOSCOW (ANA- D. Constantakopoulos) - The presidents of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and of Greece, Kostis Stephanopoulos, on Monday held talks covering the whole spectrum of bilateral relations and also international issues, in the presence of the two countries' foreign ministers, Igor Ivanov and George Papandreou.

President Stephanopoulos began the same day a four-day official visit to Russia, the first ever by a Greek head of State.

Speaking to reporters later, Putin expressed support for the solution of all problems in the Mediterranaean on the basis of international law, and welcomed Greece's proposal for the examination of all arising issues by international judicial bodies. He described as particularly significant Greece's views on Balkan issues and expressed support for a solution of the Cyprus issue on the basis of UN resolutions.

The two sides examined the potential for further cooperation in the sectors of energy, military and technical cooperation, natural gas and the construction of electrical power plants in Greece.

[02] Crisis management seminar - Athens 2000

Eighty delegates from 24 countries, both politicians and members of the military, will be participating in the "Athens 2000" crisis management seminar that begins in Athens on Tuesday morning.

The seminar is part of the "Partnership for Peace" programme.

The aim of the seminar is to brief participants on:

The procedures and means used by the international community to handle crises; recent and ongoing crises and other unstable situations; the legal aspects of crisis management.

Among the countries that will be represented are Albania, Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Georgia, Germany, Estonia, the US, Spain, Italy, Britain, Norway, the Netherlands, Hungary, the Ukraine, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey and the Czech Republic.

Greek officials attending the seminar will include representatives of all three branches of the Armed Forces (army, navy and airforce), and from the national defence, foreign, public order and interior ministries.

Among the speakers will be staff of Greek institutes for political, strategic and defence planning, while the opening address will be delivered by General Staff Deputy Chief Vice-Admiral Antonios Antoniadis.

Seminars of this type first began in 1996 and take place every year - with the exception of 1999, the year of NATO operations in Kosovo.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates-Tuesday

Following are indicative foreign exchange rates for commercial banks released by the central bank for the next working day.

Tuesdays rates (buying)

Euro 333.877

U.S. dollar 357.943

[04] Weather Forecast-Tuesday

Sunny weather is forecast throughout the country on Tuesday, with scattered cloud in the east and south.

[05] Stock Market-Close

The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) fell sharply in light trade on Monday, remaining under pressure for the sixth consecutive session with some players believed to be trying to drive the market down in order to buy cheaply. The ASE's general share index ended at 4,041.37 points, down 2.52 percent. Turnover was light at 92 billion drachmas.

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