This week
Monday Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos visits Athens. He will meet with President Costis Stephanopoulos and Prime Minister Costas Simitis. EuroMediterranean partnership annual meeting, which brings together foreign ministers from the EU and Mediterranean countries, at Iraklion, Crete. To Tuesday. Employees of the National First Aid Center (EKAB) ambulance service stage a 24-hour strike demanding more staff. EU culture ministers’ informal meeting in Thessaloniki. To Tuesday. Chilean Parliament speaker Isabel Allende is in Athens. She will meet with President Stephanopoulos, PM Simitis, Foreign Minister George Papandreou and others. Trial of 13 people, including Abdullah Ocalan, begins in Athens. It concerns Ocalan’s illegal entry into Greece in early 1999. Right-wing publisher Grigoris Michalopoulos testifies before investigating magistrate on charges of extortion. Navy holds Kataigis 2003 excercise in Aegean, involving the whole Greek fleet. To Friday. Defense Ministry, in context of Greece’s EU presidency, holds seminar on «European potential and the strengthening of security and defense policy.» Hilton Hotel, 9.15 a.m. International Social Services (ISS) Greek section hosts international conference on unaccompanied minors. US Embassy and consulates are closed to commemorate Memorial Day. Athens Bar Association holds a press conference on its decision to sue Britain in the International Criminal Court for taking part in the US-led invasion of Iraq. «The Beauties and Secrets of the Czech Republic» exhibition opens at Technopolis arts center, Athens. Tuesday Canadian PM Jean Chretien attends semi-annual summit between Canada and the EU in Athens. To Thursday. EU troika to hold meetings with Arab countries and Israel (separately) at EuroMediterranean partnership conference at Iraklion, Crete. Cyprus President Papadopoulos to meet with New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis. The second Inter-Religious meeting between Greek Orthodox and Jewish religious leaders is held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Thessaloniki. The summit is organized by the Istanbul-based Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate. Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios, Foreign Minister George Papandreou and Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos will attend. To Wednesday. PASOK Central Committee and parliamentary group meet to discuss the EU, Cyprus and other current developments. The first International Book Fair Scripta opens at the Helexpo Fairground in Thessaloniki. Friday PM Simitis visits St Petersburg, Russia, to attend the EU-Russia Summit. To May 31. Saturday Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios visits Mt Athos. Sunday PM Costas Simitis attends G8 meeting in Evian, France, as leader of the country holding the EU presidency. Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) holds a conference as part of its fifth annual meeting of the board of governors, on «The Development of Economic Relations between EU and Black Sea Countries.» Macedonia Palace Hotel, Thessaloniki. To Monday. Tel 2310.290.400.
