Skopje, 21 August 2023 (MIA) — The European Union needs to bring its friends, the aspiring members of the EU, much closer to the union and much faster, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote ahead of an informal dinner held in Athens, Greece, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Thessaloniki EU–Western Balkans Summit.

"Glad to be in Athens to discuss the European perspective of our neighbors and partners in the East and the Western Balkans," she posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

"We will keep bringing down barriers between our regions," she pointed out.

Other attendees of the informal dinner include Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, European Council President Charles Michel, the Presidents of Serbia and Montenegro, Aleksandar Vucic and Jakov Milatovic as well as the prime ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borjana Kristo, of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, of Bulgaria, Nikolay Denkov, of Romania, Marcel Ciolacu, and of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic. mr/