PM’s Serbia visit underscores Balkan EU integration efforts

Athens' interest in boosting the Western Balkans' European integration prospects and particularly those of Serbia - the largest and most influential country in the region - was underscored by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' visit to Belgrade on Wednesday evening, during which he and his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, attended a dinner hosted by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

The meeting followed a series of diplomatic contacts between Athens, Warsaw and Belgrade, with the initial discussions between Mitsotakis and Vucic taking place last September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Notably, Vucic chose to decline an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan in favor of meeting with the two most influential prime ministers of the European People's Party (EPP).

Athens' interest in Serbia's EU...