This Week
MONDAY Foreign Minister George Papandreou and Alternate Foreign Minister Tassos Yiannitsis attend General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels that will decide which countries will host the 13 Palestinians exiled at the end of the siege of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. – Foreign Minister George Papandreou travels to Reykjavik, Iceland to attend NATO’s spring meeting. To Wednesday. – Interministerial meeting of government officials and Athens 2004 organizers discuss Olympic preparations. – Army Chief General Panagiotis Harvalas travels to China on a five-day official visit. He will hold talks with the head of China’s Chief-of-Staff, General Fu Quan You. To Friday. – EU health inspectors arrive in Athens for a series of inspections of the Greek food market. – Bank representatives meet with union members in an effort to reach a collective work agreement. – Victor Navasky, publisher of The Nation magazine, will talk on «Neo-McCarthyism: The Black List Then and Now.» Athens University, 30 Panepistimiou St, 1 p.m. Tel. 010.368.9724. – The 1st International Yachting Symposium begins at the Flisvos Marina. To May 16. Tel. 010.339.2500. TUESDAY UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrives in Cyprus to try to revive talks between Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash. To Thursday. – Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus arrives in Athens on an official three-day visit. To Thursday. – Victor Navasky speaks on «Sept. 11: Terrorism, Democracy,» Karageorgas Hall, Panteion University, 8.30 p.m. – Eleftherotypia newspaper opens a four-day forum on Europe, Globalization, the Middle East and the Balkans. At the French Institute, 31 Sina Street, 6 p.m. To Friday. WEDNESDAY American Community Schools of Athens hold their annual Student Art Exhibition at the Stoa tou Vivliou, 5 Pesmatzoglou & Stadiou streets. To May 25. THURSDAY Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao arrives in Athens on an official two-day visit for talks with Prime Minister Costas Simitis and other top government officials. To Friday. – Forum Training organizes a three-day seminar on «International Accounting Standards and Obligatory Implementation from January 1, 2003.» TÔ May 18. FRIDAY Lithuanian President Adamkus travels to Thessaloniki to participate in an economic forum organized by the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce. – Representatives of the German company HDW arrive in Athens to negotiate the purchase of the state-owned Skaramangas Shipyard. – The Culture Ministry organizes an international congress in Veria, titled «The Revival and the Everlasting Value of the Olympic Games.» To May 19. – Professors at technical colleges (TEI) stage a 24-hour strike demanding the amendment of the new law on TEI. SUNDAY Activists hold their annual peace march in memory of leftist politician Grigoris Lambrakis, starting at 8 a.m. in Marathon and ending at 7.30 p.m. in Syntagma Square.