On the occasion of the new statement of the mayor of Athens Haris Doukas, government officials emphasized that within a few hours, Mr. Doukas retracted himself.

“Yesterday, after the meeting he had with the Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias, the mayor of Athens stated that, based on the amendment passed in the parliament, the responsibility of taking care of the monument of the Unknown Soldier and the surrounding area belongs exclusively to the government. In fact, he ironically expressed the wish for “good luck”, which, as the government representative Pavlos Marinakis pointed out, he should address to the citizens of the capital and to those who move around the city from the day of his election onwards. Today Mr. Doukas announced that he will appeal to the courts on the issue of competence, saying the exact opposite of what he said yesterday,” they noted.

They underlined that in record time, Mr. Doukas supported one position and its opposite.

“What remains is to untangle his thoughts, which may matter to him but are of no concern to society. In any case and given the mayor’s reluctance, as the Ministry of National Defense announced today, it will not allow the monument to be degraded in any way, doing whatever is required for this,” government officials said.