European People’s Party (EPP) President Manfred Weber, whose grouping includes Greece’s ruling New Democracy (ND) party, arrived in the country this week to participate in two separate events highlighting projects funded by the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Fund.
Weber’s visit to Greece, which includes a high-profile meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, comes in the wake of the European Parliament’s (EP) adoption of a resolution this week expressing heightened concerns over the rule of law and media freedom in the east Mediterranean country. Weber’s EPP bitterly opposed the referendum, which however, achieved a majority passing with votes by MEPs from the Socialists, Liberals, Greens and the Left – 330 in favor to 254 against, and 26 MEPs abstaining.
Both events, in Athens and Thessaloniki, are jointly organized by the EPP and the ND party on Friday and Saturday.
The event in Athens on Friday, scheduled for a downtown hotel, will bring together Weber, Mitsotakis, visiting Croatian PM Andrej Plenković and EU Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas.
The venue switches to Thessaloniki on Saturday.
