By Penelope Galliou

With the aim of continuing the support provided to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people who are being tested, fighting for their freedom, the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis he will be today on the shores of the Adriatic, in Dubrovnik, for the Ukraine – Southeast European Summit, which will form the basis of the processes ahead of the first European Council Session of the new European cycle, which will take place on October 17 and 18 in Brussels.

The Presidents of Ukraine, Slovakia, Montenegro, Kosovo, the Prime Ministers of Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, as well as the Foreign Ministers of Serbia and of Turkey and the Commissioner of Croatia to the EU

Just last June, in Summit for Peace in Ukraine, Greece joined many other UN member states in calling for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, with full respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognized borders.

After all, for Greece and its leadership, the war in Ukraine it is not just another local or regional European conflict, but a brutal challenge to international stability and the rules-based international order championed by the UN. As such, it concerns the entire global community, while the consequences of the war have already touched international food security, affecting economies and the basic needs of populations around the world. Positions which are expected to be repeated by the Greek Prime Minister during the present Synod.

The first corresponding meeting with today’s Summit in Dubrovnik, with the participation of leaders of the Western Balkans and European member states of the region, was held at the initiative of Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens in August 2023, when the President of Ukraine visited Greece for the first time Volodymyr Zelensky.

In Athens, in the presence of the Presidents of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Council, Charles Michel, the leaders adopted the Declaration of the Athens Summit, while it was the first time that the leaders of the Western Balkans met the Presidents of Ukraine and of Moldova.

The meeting in Athens had focused on the enlargement and the European future of the region, while it had sent Greece a strong message of support for Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic perspective of the entire region and an even stronger message that this road for the entire region passes through Athens.