Kyriakos Mitsotakis: At Downing street for meeting with Keir Starmer

Kyriakos Mitsotakis walked through the door of No. 10 Downing Street, the residence of British prime ministers, on Tuesday afternoon for his first official meeting with Sir Keir Starmer. The two leaders had previously met briefly last year in London, at COP28 in Dubai, NATO, and the European Political Community.

Greek-British relations, during this critical period, are seen as pivotal and must be put back on track following last year’s diplomatic “misstep” by Mr. Starmer’s predecessor, Conservative Rishi Sunak. Sunak had effectively canceled a scheduled meeting with Mitsotakis to avoid discussing the sensitive issue of the Parthenon Sculptures.

Today, Mitsotakis is expected to raise the matter again, although he doesn’t want the revival of bilateral ties to be dominated by this single issue. As a senior government source puts it, “this issue is being handled behind the scenes to allow progress in the coming period; it doesn’t need to take center stage.” Moreover, Starmer isn’t seen as an obstacle, provided the Greek government and the British Museum agree on a framework—initially involving a long-term loan of the sculptures without Greece relinquishing ownership.

According to converging reports, Athens’ discussions with the British Museum are quite advanced. Meetings have been held by both Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, who is tasked with finalizing the legal framework. Any significant developments, however, are expected in the new year. Meanwhile, UK public opinion polls show broad support for the sculptures’ return to Athens.

Nevertheless, Mitsotakis does not wish his discussion with the British Prime Minister, one of the world’s key leaders, to revolve solely around this issue. There are pressing geopolitical developments to address, including the situations in Ukraine and the Middle East, along with other topics such as migration and bilateral matters like energy, tourism, and shipping, all of which require attention.

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