Athens bans gatherings ahead of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Sunday visit

The President of Ukraine is expected to visit Athens on Sunday. As analysts say Zelenskyy’s visit to Greece is likely tied to developments in the energy sector.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to visit Athens on Sunday afternoon. He is due to meet with his Greek counterpart Konstantinos Tasoulas, as well as Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.For security reasons, neither the details of Zelenskyy’s programme nor the timing of his stay in the Greek capital have been made public.What's on the agenda?According to analysts, Zelenskyy’s visit to Greece is largely linked to the energy sector. Ukrainian media, citing sources within the Ukrainian president’s office, have not ruled out the possibility of an agreement in this field.In recent months, Athens has been pushing forward with its own energy planning — both with the inauguration of a gas compression station in Komotini and with efforts to accelerate the Greece–Cyprus link through the Great Sea Interconnector.The Komotini compressor station is the first electrically driven facility of its kind in Greece, a technologically advanced, zero-emission project capable of receiving natural gas and hydrogen blends, marking a step towards a new era of clean fuels.Ban on gatherings in AthensA ban on public gatherings from 6am to 10pm has been announced for 16 Sunday November in central Athens, Filothei and Halandri due to Zelenskyy's visit.According to the authorities, "the above ban is imposed as the holding of gatherings poses a serious threat to public safety due to the possible commission of serious crimes, in particular against life, physical integrity and property, and seriously threatens to disrupt the socio-economic life in the areas concerned".