This Week
Monday UN Security Council expected to discuss report on failure of UN-mediated Cyprus talks and pass a resolution on this. Foreign Minister George Papandreou to chair General Affairs Council of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. Talks will focus on the role of the UN in the reconstruction of Iraq after the war. The EU-Turkey accession council also will meet. To Tuesday. Defense Minister Yiannos Papantoniou to visit Berlin and Paris for talks with his German and French counterparts on EU-US relations, developments in Iraq and the role the UN should play, the European rapid reaction force and defense industry, and next moves toward joint defense. To Tuesday Foreign Press Association hosts a press conference with Cypriot government spokesman Kypros Chrysostomidis. At the FPA, 23 Academias St. European Parliament office in Athens, in cooperation with Euro MP Myrsini Zorba, holds a conference on «Education and Culture: Basic Prerequisites for the Future of Europe.» At the European Parliament building, 8 Amalias St, Athens. Tel. 210.921.2244. Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) holds a conference on «The Future of Europe and the Greek EU Presidency – The Convention and the Role of Greece.» At the Foreign Ministry. Tel. 210.331.5022. Tuesday Traffic restrictions in Athens and broader region begin to come into effect as 41 heads of state, government and international organizations begin arriving for Accession Treaty signing, summit and other events. Anti-war demonstration between Omonia and Syntagma squares to begin at 6 p.m. Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos, the President of the Cultural Olympiad Evgenios Yiannakopoulos and Kastaniotis Publishers hold a news conference to present the «Global Novel» program. «Cyprus-Europe» photo exhibition organized by the Cypriot Embassy in Athens opens at the Mela Mansion of the National Bank of Greece, 93 Aiolou St. Press Minister Christos Protopappas will inaugurate. Tel. 210.724.8057. Wednesday EU leaders to hold an informal summit at 9.30 a.m. at Zappeion Hall. Convention for the Future of Europe President Giscard d’Estaing, and European Parliament President Pat Cox will attend. EU leaders and leaders of 10 new members sign Accession Treaty at the Stoa of Attalos in Athens’s Ancient Agora, at 3.15 p.m. Many roads in Athens, municipal and public services and schools across Attica will remain closed today in view of Accession Treaty signing. Anti-war rallies scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., in Syntagma Sq, followed by marches to the British, Italian, Spanish and US embassies. Interior Ministry holds a conference on the e-government forum, at the Intercontinental Hotel. Interior Minister Costas Scandalidis will speak. Thursday Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov meets with EU leaders at European Convention meeting at Zappeion Hall. Easter shopping hours come into effect. Stores will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday Prime Minister Costas Simitis visits Cyprus, on his first stop in a tour that will take him, as president of the EU, to EU capitals. To Saturday. Civil servants’ federation (ADEDY) meets to discuss further strike action. The second Historic Acropolis Rally begins. Championship circuit car race will follow the historic Acropolis-Meteora-Athens route. Sunday President Costis Stephanopoulos visits Mesolongi to attend the 177th anniversary celebration of the exodus of the city’s defenders during a Turkish siege.
