This Week
-Parliament’s plenary session begins. -National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou presents a parliamentary committee with a draft of the 2002 state budget proposal. -Lebanese President Emile Lahoud begins official visit. To Wednesday. -Foreign Minister George Papandreou visits Moscow where he will hold talks with his Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov. From there he will fly to Berlin for talks with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer before leaving for Brussels and a meeting with Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, who is currently president of the EU’s Council of Ministers. -Defense Minister Akis Tsochadzopoulos is on a visit to Cyprus to attend celebrations for independence day. -NATO’s Adventure Exchange 2001 exercise starts today in Eastern Thrace. To October 25. -The Municipality of Drapetsona will hold a concert of the work of Mikis Theodorakis. The concert is to take place at the site of the ancient Ietionian Gates. Entrance is free. -Rally is scheduled outside the Old University on Panepistimiou Street (Eleftherios Venizelos Street) to commemorate the 60th year since the founding of the Communist-led EAM resistance movement in World War II, at 6.30 p.m. Tuesday Foreign Minister George Papandreou to visit Washington where he is to meet with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, members of Congress, journalists, anti-terrorism specialists and Tom Weston, US State Department special coordinator for Cyprus. Papandreou will meet with US Secretary of State Colin Powell at 4.30 p.m. -Communist Party plans anti-war rallies in Thessaloniki (Aristotelous Square at 8 p.m.), and the cities of Iraklion, Ioannina and Halkida at 7.30 p.m. -The chairman of Croatia’s chiefs-of-staff, Peter Stipetic, to visit Greece. He is to meet with his Greek counterpart, Manousos Parayoudakis, as well as Defense Ministry officials. To Friday. Wednesday Foreign Minister George Papandreou will visit New York, where he will meet with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Archbishop Demetrios, leaders of Greek-American organizations and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He is also expected to visit the site of the destroyed World Trade Center. On Wednesday night, Papandreou will leave for Sofia, Bulgaria. Thursday Communist Party plans anti-war and anti-American rallies in Alexandroupolis, Mytiline and Istiaia at 7.30 p.m. -New Democracy is organizing a two-day event to celebrate the 27th anniversary of the party’s foundation, at the Old Parliament on Stadiou Street. -Fourth Panhellenic Exhibition of Organic Farm Products begins at Zappeion Mansion, Athens. To Sunday. Saturday PASOK Central Committee meets to prepare for party Congress next week. -Plane crews of Olympic Airways subsidiary Olympic Aviation are staging a 48-hour strike in protest at government plans to privatize the company.
