Home woes postpone PM’s crucial visit to Belgrade
The state of emergency on the domestic front due to this week’s snowstorm is impacting the international obligations of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whose visit to Belgrade this week to attend the Supreme Cooperation Council has been postponed. Athens attaches particular importance to the effort to restore Greek-Serbian relations to full functionality. Contacts are under way to find a new date.
Meanwhile, there is growing concern for the approximately 90,000 Greeks living in the wider area of Mariupol, Ukraine, on the border with Donbas, an area of escalating tension.
In 2014, clashes on the outskirts of Donbas led to the deaths of several ethnic Greeks. Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias wants to visit Mariupol soon to show Greece’s support for this remote community, while an attempt is under way to reopen the Greek consulate there.
