Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke about the diplomatic crisis between Greece and Turkey, after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to cancel their meeting, in a short comment at the OKANA members’ graduation ceremony.

As reported by ERT, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, when asked at the event about his trip to London, answered jokingly “I did not do anything. Just my presence,” adding that he was asked if there would be a sequel to the episode that “we will not get involved in internal politics”.

“We said what we had to say”

Kyriakos Mitsotakis proceeded along the same line as what diplomatic sources reported earlier, that the government does not want to continue the Greek-British conflict.

On this basis, government sources emphasized earlier today, Wednesday that “in the spirit of the good long-term relations between the two countries, which we wish to maintain, we have nothing more to add than what we have already said.”

In this way the government indirectly but clearly responds to the British Prime Minister who earlier today repeated his claims that his Greek counterpart did not keep his commitments and wanted to draw attention to him.

After all, Kyriakos Mitsotakis during his meeting this morning with the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, characterized the cancellation of the meeting by Rishi Sunak as an “unfortunate event”. At the same time, the prime minister noted that this event “also had a positive side because it gained greater publicity not only in the United Kingdom but in the world public opinion, the fair request of Greece for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures”.

On the contrary, unrepentant of his decision to cancel the meeting with Kyriakos Mitsotakis due to his statements about reuniting the Parthenon Sculptures, Rishi Sunak appeared today in the British Parliament, who left spikes for Kyriakos Mitsotakis, claiming that it was “clear that the purpose of the meeting (of the two leaders) would not be the important issues, but to rekindle issues of the past”.

“Certainly the (British) government is always ready to discuss important issues of substance with allied countries, such as tackling illegal immigration, and strengthening our security, but when it was clear that the purpose of a meeting was not to discuss substantively issues of the future, but on the contrary, (s.s. Mitsotakis) to draw attention and reheat issues of the past, then it was not appropriate to hold the meeting” claimed the British Prime Minister according to SKAI correspondent in London Thanasis Gavos.

“Certain assurances were broken… When people make commitments they must keep them” he even stated, essentially sticking to the Downing Street narrative that the Greek side had agreed not to raise the issue of reuniting the Glyptos.