Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with acting Prime Minister of The Netherlands Mark Rutte at The Hague on Friday.
Their talks focused on the agenda of the upcoming European Council meeting (Dec. 14-15) which includes Ukraine, the EU enlargement policy, and the EU long-term budget 2021-2027.
“We are particularly interested in enlargement about the Western Balkans, as are you”, noted the Greek premier.
Mitsotakis and Rutte also discussed developments in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean. At the same time, the Greek prime minister briefed Rutte on Thursday’s Athens visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the signing of the Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighbourliness.
Regarding the debate on reviewing the multiannual financial framework, Mitsotakis reiterated the need to strengthen resources for migration and natural disaster response.
In his remarks, Mitsotakis pointed out that Greece has regained investment grade status from rating agencies, with Rutte recalling that “I remember the discussions in 2011, 2012 and 2015, that this could never happen.”
Greece “has now returned to normalcy, and this for us, of course, is a rather important achievement”, said Mitsotakis.
Greece and the Netherlands are close allies, cooperating in NATO and the European Union”, noted Rutte, adding that “we share similar positions on many issues. At the same time, on a bilateral level I think we have a great relationship.”
Talks between delegations followed, discussing issues of the upcoming EU-Western Balkans summit that will take place on December 13 in Brussels, and about the European Council meeting on December 14-15.
Photo: EPA/REMKO DE WAAL
