This Week
TUESDAY Prime Minister Costas Simitis visits the Acropolis for a briefing by Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos and Culture Ministry General Secretary Lina Mendoni on the course of restoration projects. – Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash hold their last meeting in the second round of direct talks on reunification. Talks will resume at the beginning of April. – Foreign Minister George Papandreou meets Dr Sima Samar, deputy prime minister in the interim government in Afghanistan and minister of women’s affairs, at the Foreign Ministry. – Alternate Foreign Minister Tassos Yiannitsis meets at the Foreign Ministry with Baroness Symons, minister for trade, Foreign Office & Department of Trade and Industry of the UK. – Foreign Minister George Papandreou to meet a delegation of Brazilian congressmen at the Foreign Ministry. – Transport and Communications Minister Christos Verelis goes to Brussels for a meeting of EU transport ministers. They are expected to reach a deal on a multibillion-dollar satellite navigation system. – Farmers in Farsala are to hold a demonstration against government measures on cotton. – The Mediterranean College is to hold a lecture on «The Contribution of Greece during World War II.» Resistance hero and veteran left-wing politician Manolis Glezos will be the keynote speaker. At the Bageion Megaron, Omonia. WEDNESDAY President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga to start a three-day visit in Athens. She will meet with her Greek counterpart Costis Stephanopoulos. They are expected to sign bilateral agreements. – The Press Ministry, in cooperation with Athens University and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, is holding a conference on «The Communication Challenge in view of the 2004 Olympic Games.» Press Minister Christos Protopappas will attend. At the Zappeion Hall, Athens. – Main opposition New Democracy party leader Costas Karamanlis to chair a party meeting where he is expected to announce Dora Bakoyiannis’s candidacy for the mayoralty of Athens. – Journalists start a 48-hour strike demanding pay increases and an end to mass sackings. – Local-authority employees to hold a three-hour work stoppage, demanding pay increases. THURSDAY UN envoy Alvaro de Soto visits Ankara, where he will hold a series of talks with top government officials on the Cyprus issue. – Development Minister Akis Tsochadzopoulos visits Ankara to explore the possibilities for the extension to Greece of the gas pipeline from Iran to Ankara. FRIDAY Prime Minister Costas Simitis chairs a meeting of the Government Council on Foreign Policy and Defense (KYSEA). A revision of defense strategy will top the agenda. – UN envoy Alvaro de Soto arrives in Athens for talks on the Cyprus issue. He is expected to meet with Foreign Minister George Papandreou and other top government officials. – Local-authority employees, including rubbish collectors, stage a 24-hour strike. SATURDAY The International Publishers Exhibition opens in Thessaloniki. The exhibition includes a series of seminars, workshops and presentations by well-known authors and teacher trainers on developments in foreign language teaching. At the Capsis Hotel. To March 31. For further details, call 010.984.2155. SUNDAY Agriculture Ministry to announce the subsidized cotton quantities for 2001-2. – The Thiseion Union for the Protection of the Environment holds an open debate at the local Melina Mercouri Cultural Center, on problems arising from construction works in the region and the closure of the Philopappos Hill ring road. – Farmers to hold a demonstration in Larissa, northern Greece, protesting at government measures on cotton.
