Mitsotakis expresses dismay at Sunak's cancellation of London meeting

The reason for the "indecent move" of Rishi Sounak, as Greek government sources characterize it, are the statements of the Greek Prime Minister about the Parthenon Sculptures and in particular what he said to the BBC, where he emphasized that "It is not a question of return, the Sculptures belong in Greece and they were stolen".

 In fact, he cited an example with the Mona Lisa to bolster his claim. "For us it's a question of reunification, where can you best admire these important monuments. If we cut half of the Mona Lisa and the other half was in the Louvre, what would happen?" asked the prime minister, during his interview with the BBC.

Sunak is bhind in the polls

The deeper reason for Mr Sunak's stance is believed to be his attempt to rally the conservative public in Great Britain ahead of the country's general election scheduled for 2024 and given that the Labor candidate, Starmer, is 20 points behind in the polls. .

After all, no one in the Greek mission was convinced by Downing Street's excuse for the British Prime Minister's busy schedule that they cited for canceling the meeting. It is probably no coincidence that the phone call was made to Mr. Mitsotakis' diplomatic adviser, Maria Boura, while the prime minister was meeting with Mr. Starmer, who, according to a report in the Financial Times, does not intend to stand in the way of a possible agreement by Athens with The British Museum.

Sunak's attitude is due to electoral expediencies

As reported to iefimerida.gr by a source with knowledge of yesterday's background, in London "Mr. Sunak is trying to highlight a point of confrontation with Labor in order to rally voters". In other words, his attitude is due to electoral expediencies and is an attempt to appear as an advocate of keeping the Sculptures in the possession of the British Museum, in order to reap political benefits. An attitude, which Greek sources characterized as an oxymoron, at a time when all the latest polls that have been conducted in Britain show a conversion of the citizens, the majority of whom do not view the reunification of the Glyptos negatively.

Annoyed Mitsotakis - "Greece's positions on the Parthenon Sculptures are known"

Mr. Mitsotakis, with his statement, immediately showed his annoyance at the diplomatic foul of his British counterpart, stressing that Greece's positions on the Parthenon Sculptures are well known and pointedly emphasized that "whoever believes in the correctness and justice of his positions he is never afraid of confrontation of arguments.' As emphasized by the Greek side in the agenda of the discussions, which had been set several weeks ago, there were a number of issues of common interest, such as the developments in Gaza, Ukraine, the climate crisis and immigration, while the country's positions were also known for the Sculptures. As a source close to Mr. Mitsotakis notes, "if he was bothered by the exposure of the prime minister's statements, Mr. Sunak could have told him during their meeting."

"No" to a meeting between Mitsotakis and the deputy prime minister of Great Britain

According to information, there was also a second phone call to Mrs. Boura, and it was suggested that Mr. Mitsotakis meet the deputy prime minister of Great Britain, with the Greek side, according to the same sources, leaving no room for the completion of such a meeting either. proposal, as it was considered highly offensive and unacceptable.