BRUSSELS – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President of the European Council Charles Michel held a two-hour meeting on late afternoon Friday in Brussels, before the resumption of the Special European Council meeting on the EU’s long-term budget for 2021-2027.

Early on Friday Mitsotakis attended the meeting of the cohesion group of EU member states and later participated in a broad meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Ministers Pedro Sanchez, Italy’s PM Giuseppe Conte and Portugal’s PM Antonio Costa.

The European Council plenary proceedings went into recess on Thursday night (at approximately 17:00 Athens time) to allow President Michel to have individual talks with the leaders of member states on the EU’s budget, in preparation for his final proposal on the overall size of the budget and how it is allocated.

Late afternoon on Friday Mitsotakis wrote on Twitter about his talks in Brussels: “In discussions with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Belgium on the EU Budget. We need a budget that addresses the problems EU countries face and supports the ambitious goals we have set for the future and prosperity of our citizens.”

(ANA-MPA/D. Manolis)