GMA off to Europe next month

President Arroyo is set to take a three-nation swing through Europe next month, culminating in the Europe-Asia summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, Press Secretary Ignacio Bun-ye said yesterday.

Bunye said the President will kick off her trip with a three-day visit to Spain followed by an overnight visit to Rome, apparently in anticipation of the fourth World Congress of Families which will be held in Manila on Jan. 25-26, 2003.

Mrs. Arroyo would then proceed to Copenhagen for the summit where, Bunye said, she expects to meet with the prime ministers of France, the Netherlands and Belgium.

But Bunye did not announce the dates covering the presidential trip.

While in Denmark, however, Bunye said the President would like to personally thank the Dutch authorities for freezing the assets of the National Democratic Front after the United States placed the communist group in a blacklist of foreign terrorist organizations.

Government officials have also revealed that the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army are also being funded by a "Welsh Maoist party" and that may also be a talking point with Dutch and Belgian leaders. - Jose Rodel Clapano