Strengthening Greece’s role in the Balkans—both as a pillar of stability and as a supporter of the European prospects of the region’s countries—will be the focus of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s meetings today in Bulgaria and Montenegro.The visit to Sofia takes on particular significance at a time of heightened geopolitical challenges for Europe and NATO’s southeastern flank. The meeting with Bulgaria’s new Prime Minister, Rumen Radev, underscores the twocountries’ commitmentto maintaining close coordination on issues of security, energy, and regional cooperation.
Greece and Bulgaria, as neighboring countries, partners in the European Union, and allies in NATO, according to government sources, have developed particularly close cooperation in recent years, spearheaded by projects of strategic importance that strengthen the connectivity of the wider region. At the center of this is the Vertical Corridor for natural gas and LNG, which elevates the role of the two countries as energy gateways for Central and Eastern Europe and contributes to the diversification of energy sources and routes.
At the same time, cooperation in the field of security is becoming increasingly important. Greece’s recent assistance in strengthening Bulgaria’s air defense, according to the same sources, highlights the depth of the strategic relationship between the two countries and Greece’s growing role in bolstering regional security.
Particular significance
In Montenegro, Kyriakos Mitsotakis will participate in meetings between leaders of the European Union and the Western Balkan countries ahead of the EU–Western Balkans Summit. Greece’s presence carries special symbolic significance, as Athens seeks to keep the region’s European perspective alive at a time when enlargement is returning to the center of the European strategic debate.
The Greek position remains firm: the future of the Western Balkans lies in the European Union. However, accession is not viewed as an automatic political process, but as a path that requires specific reforms, commitment to the rule of law, respect for international law, protection of fundamental rights, and maintenance of good-neighborly relations.
Athens considers the European integration of the Western Balkans to be a strategic investment in the stability, security, and economic development of the broader region. In this context, promoting enlargement is emerging as one of the key priorities of Greek foreign policy, particularly in view of Greece’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2027.
The upcoming initiatives of Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis are also moving in this direction. On June 10, he will participate in Sofia in the proceedings of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), where the focus will be on regional connectivity, security, and the European perspective of the Western Balkans. This will be followed by visits to Serbia on June 12 and to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro on June 19, with the aim of reaffirming Greece’s support for their European path and strengthening cooperation in the areas of reforms and alignment with the acquis communautaire.