Greek Foreign Minister Petros Moliviatis had a meeting yesterday with Brian Cowen, who is presiding over in the EU Council, and today he will meet with European Commissioners Verheugen and Patten.

Cypriot Republic Foreign Minister Giorgos Iakovou will announce measures in favor of the Turkish Cypriots.

Cypriot Republic President Tassos Papadopoulos called for new negotiations under the UN auspices.

Mr. Stephanopoulos will depart this afternoon for Bucharest and later in the evening Mr. Iliescu will give a formal dinner in honor of the Greek President.

Tomorrow, Mr. Stephanopoulos will be at the Presidential Building for talks with Mr. Iliescu and later he will meet with Patriarch Theoktistos and Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastaze.

At noon tomorrow, Mr. Stephanopoulos will visit the National Museum of Maps and then he is scheduled to meet with Greeks living in Romania. In the afternoon, he will visit the Senate and later in the evening will return to Athens.

Mr. Valinakis acknowledged that there is widespread disappointment in European Union circles regarding the referendum result but points out that Cyprus' EU accession on May 1 is a new European reality that cannot be ignored. He said that a security umbre lla will open over the island, adding that all the means of the international community should be used to meet the target. He added that the target is the speedy reunification of the island, trust between the two communities and cooperation on the basis o f the new European reality brought by Cyprus' EU accession.

He mentioned that the goal was always to have a solution that will be operational and viable, stressing that the efforts for peace and cooperation cannot stop.

Mr. Spiliotopoulos stressed that he briefed the Prime Minister on issues concerning the current management of the Ministry of Defense.

The issue will also be discussed in the Foreign Ministers dinner in the presence of Foreign Minister Petros Moliviatis and Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Valinakis who will represent Greece.

Athens and Nicosia prepare for the way they will manage the day after in Cyprus and the adoption of a new strategy after the referendum result in Cyprus and the unfavorable comments on the stance of the Greek Cypriots.

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos is expected in Athens tomorrow and on Wednesday he will have talks with Greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis and political party leaders.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Athens in early May and will discuss with Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis the Cyprus issue, the Greek-Turkish relations and Turkey's European prospect in the light of the new developments.

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis will be in the United States on May 20 where he will meet with US President Bush at the White House to discuss the Greek-US relations, the Cyprus issue, developments in Europe and the pending issues in the region.

Mr. Rousopoulos added that in the EU General Affairs and Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg the Cypriot Republic presented a package of proposals in favor of the Turkish Cypriots.

On the proposal for a national conference on Cyprus, he said that the two governments are in concert and cooperate as it happened today with the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Cyprus, Petros Moliviatis and Giorgos Iakovou respectively.

On the Turkish Prime Minister's visit to Greece, Mr. Rousopoulos stated that Mr. Erdogan is scheduled to visit Greece on May 6-7.

Mr. Rousopoulos added that any disagreement could be resolved in a spirit of understanding and good will.

The Prime Minister will meet with Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos at 11am on Wednesday.

The main issue in the Luxembourg meeting was the revision of the Common Agricultural Policy on the Mediterranean products namely, olive oil, cotton and tobacco.

The Greek demands regarding the improvement of the proposals made by the European Commission on the reform of the Mediterranean products were approved in their entirety.

Mr. Tsitouridis had stated after the meeting that the income of the Greek olive oil and cotton producers was secured through high subsidies, while the likely abandonment of tobacco cultivation was averted.

Of the stocks trading today, 96 had gains and 214 had losses, while the value of 72 stocks remained unchanged.

The meeting began this morning in a tense atmosphere. Archbishop Christodoulos made a historical reference to the issue of the elections of the Metropolites and called on the hierarchs to ratify the text of the agreement reached between the Church of Gre ece and the Ecumenical Patriarchate and then to proceed with the election of the four Metropolites.

The agreement was ratified with a big majority but the Archbishop's proposal concerning the election of the Metropolites got just a narrow majority.

Specifically for the Metropolis of Thessaloniki, it was decided that an already active Metropolite be appointed and Metropolite Anthimos of Alexandroupolis was elected Metropolite of Thessaloniki with 49 votes.

After the meeting, Mr. Voulgarakis stated that the common goal is to create a Balkan shield to protect all Balkan countries and not just during the Olympic Games.

Mr. Voulgarakis thanked his Albanian counterpart for the good cooperation between the two governments.

On his part, Mr. Toska underlined that in the meeting they shared the same views concerning measures against organized crime.