French President François Hollande will be visiting Athens October 22-23, at the invitation of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
Government sources note the significance of the visit for Greek-French relations, given especially that Greece considers the French president an important ally on the issue of renegotiating its debt, a process expected to begin immediately after the conclusion of the first review of the Greek adjustment programme.

During his two-day official visit, Hollande will be received by the Greek President and will hold talks with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, followed by a joint press conference. He will also address Greek Parliament and visit the University of Athens, which will award him with an honorary doctorate. High on the meetings’ agenda will be the forthcoming negotiations on debt relief, bank recapitalization, collective labour agreements and the safeguarding of transparency and social cohesion. The two sides will also discuss the progress made in the implementation of the country’s agreement with its lenders, as well as the “Juncker package” on growth, synergies for the strengthening of investment activity and wider cooperation in the financial sector.