Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday there is “no reason at all to worry” about visiting Greece due to the Middle East crisis, and voiced hope that by the key summer tourist season disruptions to long-haul flights via the Persian Gulf will have ended.
Speaking to the Neos Kosmos Greek community newspaper of Australia, Mitsotakis insisted that Greece is a safe country for tourists, on whose presence the economy largely depends.
“At this point we have no indication that there will be some negative effect on our tourism,” he added. “We may be … close to the Middle East but we also are at a safe distance.”
“I believe that in the next few months there will be a full return to normality in air transport,” Mitsotakis told Neos Kosmos. “I would certainly very comfortably plan a visit to Greece in the summer.”
Mitsotakis was forced to call off a scheduled visit to Australia, which has a large Greek community, due to the US and Israeli attacks on Iran. He said he would try to reschedule it for the summer and added: “For me, Australia is not just a country where Greeks live, it is a living piece of global Hellenism. I consider this visit to be extremely important.”
Mitsotakis added that the Greek and Australian governments “have practically agreed” on a deal to avoid double taxation, which is of key importance to Greek-Australians.
“There is one small exception on shipping matters, which we will bump on for the future, but the core of the agreement has effectively already been settled,” he said.