ATHENS — A meeting of the ministers of the EU Mediterranean countries (EU-Med7) will be held in Athens on Friday, with a focus on the preparations for the EU-Med7 Summit that will take place in Athens in September 2021.

The Ministerial Meeting wil be held in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who will deliver the opening speech at 10:00, according to a foreign ministry announcement.

Issues regarding the management of the pandemic, the Recovery and Resilience Fund (Next Generation EU), the green and digital transition, the European pillar of social rights, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, migration and the protection of the Mediterranean marine environment are on the meeting's agenda.

After the end of the morning session, the ministers of the seven countries participating will make joint statements to the press at 12:45. The meeting is to be held at the DIvani Apollon Palace and Thalasso resort in the coastal Athens suburb of Vouliagmeni.