Visegrad-Western Balkans meeting in Athens a 'smart call,' says US envoy

The US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt welcomed an initiative by Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias to organise a meeting of his counterparts from the so-called Visegrad Group countries - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia - and the Western Balkans, describing it as a "smart call."

Pyatt said the move underlines Greece's role "as a builder of bridges across the region."

The summit, held in Sounio, east of Athens, on May 11, focused on energy, the future of the European Union and the bloc's expansion ahead of an EU summit next week in Bulgaria.