In an event that will take place on Thursday, November 1, in the New Ionia Gym at 7pm. The President of "Athens 2004", Gianna Aggelopoulou-Daskalaki, will speak about the importance of volunteerism, will promote the program formed by the Organizing Commi ttee, while she will also refer to the interest expressed by citizens of the Prefecture in the volunteer programs

As it was later made known, New Democracy is going to ask the Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization for the immediate checking and "cleaning" of the lists of voters, so that there is exact knowledge of the make-up of the vo ting body, the composition of the Interparty Body, which will control the lists of voters, the providing of a list with administrative actions, where Greek nationality was given, as well as an interparty check for all future administrative decisions.

Mr. Protopapas mentioned that the government considers the issue solved and referred to the relative legislature and circular of the Ministry of Education. He also added that if these children feel proud to bear the Greek flag, he could not understand wh o it was that would stop them and why.

The Minister of Press mentioned that many eminent philhellenes who helped Greece's struggles for independence, served philosophy, thought and our culture, have deservingly held up the Greek flag in the past. "They thought like Greeks, acted like Greeks, spoke Greek and were participants in Greek education", he said characteristically, and added: "When a child is an excellent student of a Greek school and it feels that it is an honor for him to bear the Greek flag, we should be the last to place obstacles

in front of it".

The government spokesperson surmised by saying that we cannot and must not in any case become a society with "gray areas" and characteristically pointed out: "You cannot accept someone to work for your business for 8 years, and then not let his child fun ction in a school".

The bank's offer took the lead in a meeting that took place yesterday afternoon, between the Ministers of National Economy, Nikos Christodoulakis, and Development, Akis Tsohatzopoulos. The administrators of the Bank of Greece, Loukas Papadimas, and of ET VA, G. Kasmas, and representatives of the sale consultants, JP Morgan, were also present at the meeting.

The "green light" for the sale of 66% of ETVA was expected to be given last night, by the Prime Minister Kostas Simitis himself. Those announcements are expected to be made today by Mr. Christodoulakis, during a press conference (after officially receivi ng the evaluation of JP Morgan).

The issue of Olympic preparation was the topic of discussion in yesterday's presided over by the Prime Minister with the participation of the Minister of Culture Evaggelos Venizelos, and Deputy Ministers of the Press, Tilemachos Chytiris, and Culture, Na sos Alevras.

After Mr. Papageorgopoulos welcomed Mr. Sasson, during their meeting, he mentioned the role that Thessaloniki is being called to take up in the restructuring of the Balkans.

During the meeting an agreement was reached for the attempts of fraternization between Thessaloniki and Tel Aviv, to be restarted.

As Mr. Papazachos told the MPA, last night's earthquake did not surprise seismologists, and he underlined with certainty that the area does not exhibit any new seismic activity. "This was a normal and completely expected aftershock, of the powerful earth quake of July 26, which should cause no worry".

Aram A' will attend the events organized by the Armenian Church on the occasion of the 1.700th anniversary commemorating the declaration of the Christian religion as the official religion of the Armenian state.

The Armenian Patriarch will visit the Armenian church in Thessaloniki and will meet with members of the local Armenian community as well as, local officials.

Mr. Papandreou stated that this is not the most favorable situation, stressing that it could be characterized as one of the most difficult ever faced by diplomacy in general and not just by the Greek diplomacy. The Greek Foreign minister said that diplom acy must be put to the service of peace, and cooperation aimed at finding solutions that will help in the eradication of conflicts of violence and war, adding that this is the biggest challenge of the times.

Meanwhile, in the following days and after the ECOFIN meeting, Mr. Christodoulakis is expected to announce the initial outlook on the course of the Greek economy, while an overall presentation of the 2001 budget and the early 2002 budget will take place next week.

Mr. Christodoulakis stated that the two factors determining the course of the economic policy is the incorporation into the Euro-zone procedure and the current international economic situation, while the target set is to achieve macro-economic stability through fiscal discipline and social spending increases.

A basic element of the economic policy is the course of privatization and the liberalization of the markets under the criterion of employment.

Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos characterized the meeting as very practical and effective, stressing that it dealt with the organizing and essence of Olympic preparations in view of the new International Olympic Committee visit.

Responding to the question if there are delays in the Olympic projects, Mr. Venizelos stated that we should avoid the tendency to humiliate our own country, stressing that we are capable of dealing with the Olympic preparations demands. He said that such

problems are usual in the Olympic Games preparations, adding that the past Olympic Games' host cities had faced exactly the same problems.

Of the stocks trading today, 75 recorded gains and 240 had losses, while the value of 64 stocks remained unchanged.

The Bank of Piraeus offered 173.8 billion drachmas corresponding to 57.8% of the ETVA capital share.

Also, it was made known that the announcements concerning the fate of the Greek state-run airline Olympic Airways will be delayed for two weeks.

Mr. Simitis stated that the Olympic Games are a top priority for the government and the country as it is not just any sports event and require intensive work by everybody. He also said that the scheduling phase has ended, stressing that the construction of all projects has to get underway.

In the meeting it was decided that the role of the Work Management Team will be upgraded and it will be presided over by Olympic Games undersecretary Nasos Alevras. In the team will participate the general secretaries of all responsible ministries. Befor e reaching the ministerial committee, every issue will be examined by the Work Management Team which will oversee the Olympic Games memorandums' course toward materialization.

He clarified that 367.000 of the "green cards" have been issued after the completion of the so-called "second chance" offered during the summer to illegal immigrants to register, while the rest of the legalizations concern earlier approvals.

He added that the number is very big and shows that the government managed to promote the immigrants' census procedure, legalized the immigrants working illegally in Greece and stopped the creation of a gray zone in the Greek society.

In the region's two camps, "Mile 46" and "Maikiki", the number of refugees are on the increase at a daily basis and the Iranian Red Crescent estimates that very soon they will exceed the 20.000 mark. The refugee camps are 40 kilometers away from the bord ers on the side of Afghanistan and the living conditions for the people who sought refuge there are extremely difficult.

According to an announcement by the Doctors of the World, the fact that there are no refugee camps on Iranian territory creates serious problems for the aid organizations and the United Nations, because the refugees are not protected by the Geneva Conven tion and are regarded as internally displaced population.

The truck with the Greek humanitarian aid is expected to arrive at the border city of Zabol, the last Iranian border outpost, on Sunday after covering a distance of 5.000 kilometers.

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