PM Mitsotakis in Brussels for European Union-Western Balkans Summit

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is arriving in Brussels on Wednesday to take part in the EU-Western Balkans Summit, and in the European Council on Thursday and Friday.
On Wednesday evening, Mitsotakis will attend a working dinner held in the context of the EU-Western Balkans Summit. Government sources said that Greece has a standing position of support for the European membership perspective of the Western Balkans as an investment in the stability, growth and prosperity of the region.
The sources noted that this support is subject to the known conditionalities, however, namely that the candidate countries must meet the requirements and implement the necessary reforms. They said that this is a difficult and painful process that depends on the performance of the candidate countries and that a key condition is respect for the fundamental European values and on reforms that concern the rule of law and the protection of human rights, including the rights of minorities.
Concerning the accession progress of Albania, the Greek position is clear and has been made known to the Albanian side, the sources noted. Greece will not consent to the accession process if there is no progress regarding the issue of the elected mayor of Himare, Fredi Beleri, they said.
While Greece agreed to the sending of an EU letter to Tirana, the first step for starting accession talks, this was on the condition that there would be a clear move toward allowing Beleri to assume his duties as mayor before the next stage of the process, and that his right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence will be respected. Otherwise, the sources said, Greece will not consent to the next stages in the accession process.

source:amna.gr