The Summit of the Presidents of the Republics of EU Member States will take place for the first time in Athens on October 10 and 11. The important gathering, called Arraiolos Meeting, is being held at the initiative of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, and is taking place at an extremely critical juncture for Greece, as tension with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean is on the rise, while the immigration crisis is remerging, raising the pressing question of the necessity for the adoption of centralised policies for European borders.

The Arraiolos Meeting will bring together thirteen non-executive Presidents of the Republic of EU countries, including Germany, Italy, Portugal and Bulgaria, to discuss the economic and refugee crisis and the measures that will lead to further European integration. The aim is to create a federal type of European Union. The final conclusions and possible actions will be included in a joint statement, the “Athens Declaration”, which will bear the signatures of the participants.