Greek PM was 'grandstanding' in sculpture row: U.K.'s Sunak
The Hindu
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended his decision to snub Kyriakos Mitsotakis, accusing his Greek counterpart of playing to the gallery in a row over ancient sculptures.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday defended his decision to snub Kyriakos Mitsotakis, accusing his Greek counterpart of playing to the gallery in a row over ancient sculptures.
London and Athens have disputed claims about why the talks at Downing Street were shelved at the last minute, prompting an angry Mitsotakis to cut short a three-day visit to the British capital.
Mr. Mitsotakis on Wednesday appeared keen to defuse the row, which the U.K. blamed on his comments in a weekend BBC interview about Greek claims to the Parthenon Marbles on display in the British Museum.
"This unfortunate event will not affect historically deep ties between Greece and the U.K.," Mr. Mitsotakis said after meeting Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou in Athens.
But Mr. Sunak was in no mood to back down, even when accused by opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer of playing "small politics" and of having "lost his marbles".
"We're always happy to discuss important topics of substance with our allies, like tackling illegal immigration or indeed strengthening our security," he told lawmakers in parliament.
"But when it was clear that the purpose of a meeting was not to discuss substantive issues for the future, but rather to grandstand and relitigate issues of the past, it was inappropriate."