Leaders gather for EU enlargement dinner
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis hosted on Monday evening an informal dinner with the leaders of the Western Balkans, Moldova, Ukraine and the EU, during which issues related to the bloc’s enlargement and the European future of the region was discussed on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the EU-Western Balkans Summit and the Declaration of Thessaloniki.
The informal dinner is attended by visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who held talks earlier with Mitsotakis.
Before the start of the dinner, European Council President Charles Michel said that “enlargment remains a top priority” for the bloc.
“Western Balkans, Ukraine & Moldova have a common European heritage, history & future. Enlargement remains a top priority for EU -a strong tool to foster peace, security and prosperity on our continent. We need to find the way forward to make this vision of Europe a reality,” he said in a post on Twitter.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on her arrival to Athens that the EU needs “to bring our friends, the aspiring members of the EU much closer to us and much faster.”
She proceeded to hold meetings with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, the Prime Minister of Romania, Ion-Marcel Ciolacu, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti.
