At the meeting of its leaders European People’s Partywhich will take place today and tomorrow in Berlin, will be attended by the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. On the sidelines of the talks, the prime minister will meet, among others, the leader of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) Friedrich Merz, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metzola, the president of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber and the president of of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulidis.

After an invitation from Mr. Weber and Mr. Mertz, the leaders of the EPP parties – among the 15 heads of state and government – but also the presidents of European CommissionUrsula von der Leyen and the European Parliament’s Roberta Metzola are meeting a few weeks before the German elections (February 3) and just a few twenty-four hours before the inauguration of the new US president, Donald Trump. At the top of the agenda are the position of the European Union in the new global reality, the issues of security, competitiveness and red tape reduction. “The electoral program of the EPP is now becoming a working program”, said Mr. Weber ahead of the meeting, speaking to foreign correspondents.

On the sidelines of the two-day conference, which is hosted at his headquarters Konrad Adenauer Foundation at BerlinMr. Mitsotakis, who is considered one of its strongest leaders ELPwill meet tonight (20:30 Greek time) with the candidate of the Christian Union (CDU/CSU) for the chancellor, Friedrich Mertz. According to the opinion polls so far, the Union is steadily ahead with percentages of 31-33% and more than 10 points difference from the second party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), and Mr. Mertz is expected to lead the next coalition government.