A diplomatic crisis between Athens and London is caused by the cancellation of the Sounak – Mitsotakis meeting with the Parthenon Sculptures in the background. The British Prime Minister’s decision to cancel the planned meeting with the Greek Prime Minister caused a resounding reaction from the Greek government, while the British, for their part, expressed their skepticism about this move by the British Prime Minister, even seeing political expediency.

The British press has also unleashed “fire” against Rishi Sunak, commenting negatively on the British Prime Minister’s decision to cancel the meeting with Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Cameron asked for and met Gerapetritis at NATO

At the same time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Gerapetritis had a meeting today, Tuesday, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, at the latter’s request on the sidelines of the NATO Foreign Ministers’ Summit.

According to diplomatic sources, Mr. Gerapetritis pointed out the disagreement of principle that exists regarding the issue of the return of the Parthenon sculptures. However, the two Ministers agreed that there is a need for cooperation to safeguard the bilateral relations between Greece and the United Kingdom and to address common challenges.

The background of the diplomatic crisis

The crisis in the relations between the two countries began on Monday night. As reported by SKAI in the main news bulletin, while Kyriakos Mitsotakis is meeting with the head of the British Labor Party, Keir Starmer, the phone of the prime minister’s diplomatic adviser, Anna Maria Bura, rings. On the other end of the line is the British ambassador in Athens, Matthew Lodge, where, in an unprecedented act of political indecency, he informs her that Rishi Sunak is canceling today’s scheduled four-four with his Greek counterpart.

Initially, Downing Street invokes an extraordinary change in the program of the British Prime Minister. But it is soon realized that the reason is the Greek request for the repatriation of the Parthenon Sculptures, which Kyriakos Mitsotakis had formulated a day earlier in a BBC ONE broadcast.

The Prime Minister is then informed of his unprecedented diplomatic foul by his British counterpart as soon as he bids farewell to Keir Starmer and reacts angrily. The indecency was doubled with talk of an alternative meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The British see political expediency

As his correspondent comments from London, Thanasis Gavos, not a few Britons think so This attitude from the British Prime Minister is intentional who wants to contrast himself with Labor who are leading the polls, presenting himself as a defender of the Sculptors while Keir Starmer appears more condescending on the issue.

The YouGov poll is also typical, where 66% of Britons disapprove of Sunak’s decision to cancel the meeting with Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

In particular, in a YouGov poll question on whether they consider the British Prime Minister’s refusal to meet Mr. Mitsotakis right or wrong: 11% answered that the decision was right, 22% that they do not know, while 66% consider that the decision was wrong.

“Prime Minister Rishi Sunak canceled a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister, which was scheduled to take place today in London, because the Greek Prime Minister reiterated in an interview his country’s desire for the Parthenon Sculptures to be returned to Greece. Do you think Downing Street made the right or wrong decision to cancel this meeting?’

Additionally, in the controversial question of the return of the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece, 49% believe that the masterpieces of the Parthenon should come back to our country, while only 15% support their stay in Britain. At the same time, 26% have no problem with either option, while 10% answer “I don’t know”.

Scorching comments from the British press

But the British press also comments negatively on Rishi Sunak’s attitude

“Rishi Sunak’s Greek tragedy,” wrote Politico in a commentary. Prime Minister Rishi Sounak is at the center of a diplomatic firestorm this morning after he canceled a planned meeting with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Politico reports. “We smelled the brewing conflict when the “No. 10” announced that Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden would appear at the scheduled Prime Minister’s meeting, which seemed strange given that Mitsotakis had told the television network that he was going to meet Sunak. About an hour later, the Greek prime minister announced that he was interrupting his trip and returning home.

“You say Parthenon Sculptures, I say Elginia Marble.”

Diplomatic ineptitude is also characterized by Financial Times the decision of the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to cancel the meeting with Kyriakos Mitsotakis. In fact, the publication says that such actions diminish Britain in the eyes of its European partners, but also of the world.

At the same time, the columnist characterizes as unrealistic the demand that a Greek prime minister visit London without mentioning the return of the Sculptors.