ROME – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met on Wednesday with Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi at the Palazzo Chigi in Rome.

During the two-hour working dinner ahead of the EU-Western Balkans Summit and the upcoming European Council (on June 23 and 24), the two leaders discussed the European-wide challenges posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, especially in the field of energy and food supply, and stressed the need to implement solutions at a European level.

According to sources, Draghi briefed Mitsotakis on his recent visit to Kyiv and discussed ways to deal with the consequences of the war, including energy prices and the need to eliminate dependence on Russian fossil fuels. They also agreed to raise the issue of setting a ceiling on the wholesale price of natural gas.

The European Commission’s proposal for granting EU candidate-country status to Ukraine was also discussed, as well as the wider perspective for EU enlargement.

The prime minister reiterated Greece’s support for Ukraine’s European course. He also stressed the need to send a clear and positive message regarding the accession perspective and support of the Western Balkans, reiterating the initiative to revitalise the process set out at the recent South East European Cooperation Process Summit in Thessaloniki, where he proposed the integration of the Western Balkans by 2033.

Mitsotakis also briefed his Italian counterpart on the latest developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and on Turkish provocations.