Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will attend the NATO Summit in Washington from July 9-11. The event marks the Alliance’s 75th anniversary and features a substantial agenda. For Mitsotakis, the focus will be on addressing various critical issues in Greek foreign policy.
Greek interest is primarily focused on the joint proposal by Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, to create a European air defense shield funded by Europe and functioning in harmony with NATO structures.
However, significant off-agenda topics also demand attention. Reports indicate that one of Mitsotakis’s priorities on the sidelines of the NATO Summit is a planned meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
This meeting continues a series of contacts over the past year but will take place under new circumstances due to recent indirect threats from Turkey and Hezbollah against Cyprus, and indirectly Greece, amidst the Middle East conflict. Expectations remain low, with Greece prioritizing the avoidance of pitfalls and missteps.
Additionally, the prime minister will meet with the leaders of North Macedonia and Albania, amidst escalating tensions in bilateral relations. Tensions with North Macedonia are ongoing and escalating because of North Macedonia’s internal use of the name “Macedonia” without the “North” prefix violating the Prespa Agreement, with Skopje recently claiming that Athens is the violator.
Relations with Albania are also strained due to the imprisonment of elected MEP Fredi Beleri, an Albanian citizen of Greek origin, and census data manipulation to downplay the Greek minority.
Athens has already responded diplomatically, but this international forum may yield new developments in these relationships.
