Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told the Financial Times newspaper that he was concerned over Russia's alleged interference in the affairs of the Western Balkan nations
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2019) Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told the Financial Times newspaper that he was concerned over Russia's alleged interference in the affairs of the Western Balkan nations.The region in question has repeatedly accused Russia of meddling, for example, in the internal affairs of Montenegro and North Macedonia. Moscow has refuted all the allegations.
"I was worried, I am worried, and I will continue to be worried. That is why I think that the decision taken at the [European] Council needs to be revisited in 2020," Mitsotakis said, referring to the council's decision to postpone all decisions on enlargement to the EU-Western Balkans summit in Zagreb in May 2020.
The prime minister went on to disagree with French President Emmanuel Macron's position that further EU enlargement needed to be vetoed.
"If we look at the big geopolitical context, it is very clear that the European path needs to be kept open for all Western Balkan countries, provided they meet the requirements, this is not an automatic process, otherwise this void is going to be filled," Mitsotakis added.
In 2016, Russia was accused by Montenegro and some US officials of masterminding a coup attempt in the former Yugoslav republic ahead of the general election. In 2018, Greece decided to expel two Russian diplomats over allegations of their attempts to sabotage the Greek-Macedonian talks on renaming the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the Republic of North Macedonia.
Russia has repeatedly insisted that all accusations are unsubstantiated.
