Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke on the phone today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and reaffirmed Greece’s unwavering support for Ukraine. Mitsotakis reiterated Greece’s support for Ukraine’s European aspirations and endorsed the EU-Ukraine Intergovernmental Conference scheduled for June, which will mark the official start of Ukraine’s accession negotiations with the EU. Mitsotakis also accepted an invitation from Zelensky to participate in the Conference for Peace in Ukraine on June 15 and 16 in Switzerland.

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The decision to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova was announced on December 14, 2023 by the President of the European Council Charles Michel. This decision came after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán left the room during the vote. Orbán’s move, described as a “constructive abstention”,” allowed the action to proceed without his country’s veto. This mechanism, set out in Article 31 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, allows a member state to abstain from voting on collective action instead of using a veto, provided it agrees not to interfere with the EU’s decision.