PARIS 03/12/2003 (ANA-O. Tsipira)
 Greece's foreign minister hailed the Geneva Initiative late Monday, on the sidelines of the Economic Forum held in the French capital, in which he participated as an official guest. 

   ''We welcome initiatives that advance peace, particularly when they emanate from the society of the citizens,'' Papandreou said, adding that in recent years Greece has warmly, but also tangibly, supported such initiatives.
   He said that Greece, during its EU presidency in the first half of the year, had worked diligently so as to highlight, in the conclusions of the Thessaloniki summit, the importance of initiatives by the society of citizens to the Middle East peace process, as well as the importance of women's organizations, the women's movement, to initiatives for peace.

   Papandreou noted that in all his meetings, during the Greek EU presidency, he had invited women's organizations from both sides, precisely in order to advance that effort. He added that recently, by Greece's proposal, the conclusions of the EU foreign affairs council welcomed such initiatives.

   ''It is our hope that, where the leaderships have difficulty in finding solutions, society itself will take the initiative,'' Papandreou said.
   ''We hope that the Geneva Initiative will give a boost to the roadmap, which is now recognized and accepted by all the sides but must also be applied in action. The new momentum emanating from society itself is a momentum of peace and must be heeded,'' he added.

Source: Athens News Agency

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