11 June 2025
(Photo screen: Office of the President)
On Wednesday, June 11, the Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit was held in Odesa. Ukrainian officials and representatives of the Balkan countries took part in the event.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the leaders and partners who gathered in Odesa for the fourth Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit.
"Your presence has become a clear and united signal against Russia's attempts to destabilize our region and weaken sovereignty in Europe. Thank you for helping to protect lives and values we all share," he said.
He noted that this format of cooperation is important and should be further developed. There is more support to come.
The forum in Odesa was joined by Romanian President Nicuşor Dan, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Speaker of the Albanian Parliament Eliza Spiropali, First Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia Izet Mehiti, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia Tanja Fajon.
The Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit is a key platform for strengthening political, security, and economic cooperation between Ukraine and the countries of the Balkan region. The last, third summit took place on October 9, 2024, in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik. It adopted the Dubrovnik Declaration.
At the meeting, the leaders of the countries expressed support for Ukraine. In particular, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic offered Zelenskyy assistance in rebuilding the country. Romanian President Nicusor Dan was outraged by the spread of disinformation about the war. And Moldovan President Maia Sandu announced close cooperation with Ukraine in countering Russian hybrid aggression.
Speaker of the Albanian Parliament Eliza Spiropali expressed her full support for Ukraine's European integration efforts and noted the acceleration of the processes for all candidate countries. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, Tanja Fajon, expressed solidarity with Ukraine and the need to achieve a just peace based on the UN Charter. She emphasized the importance of bringing to justice those responsible for war crimes and drew attention to the fate of civilians held in Russian captivity.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis proposed to create a transport corridor that would connect the Greek port of Alexandroupolis with Odesa via Bulgaria's Varna and Romania's Constanta. Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic emphasized the importance of holding a summit of Southeast European countries in Odesa as a demonstration of support for Ukraine.
Today, on June 11, several kilometers of traffic jams appeared on the roads of Odesa. One of them was observed by Intent<b> </b>around two pillars from all sides. The reason for the traffic jam was probably the summit itself.
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