Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the country’s Ministry of Culture and met with Culture Minister Lina Mendoni and Deputy Minister of Sports Lefteris Avgenakis.

During the visit, Mr Mitsotakis said that the “culture minister is not just a trustee of our heritage but a development ministry as well”, and added that the “connection of culture with sports and tourism is a major initiative of this government.”

The premier said that “our vision for culture is nothing short of revolutionary”, adding that the use of the word ‘revolutionary’ was to mark exactly how ambitious plans were to promote the country’s classical heritage in a unique way while using “modern culture to promote Greece’s new image abroad.”

A series of iconic projects are being discussed, starting from the National Archaeological Museum project, which will become a reference point in the Greek capital. He also spoke of exploiting to the utmost degree what Greek museums and the Archaeological Resources Fund have to offer, in order to increase revenues from archaeological sites. “Unfortunately, revenues from archaeological sites are extremely low,” he noted.

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Ms Mendoni, who had recently called for the unification of the National Archaeological Museum with the National Technical University of Athens on Patission Street, said that she and Mr Avgenakis briefed the prime minister on all the high-priority issues in the sector of culture and sports. “We want culture to convey a message of a different Greece, a future Greece, the way we envision it: a dynamic Greece with investments, and an image which Greek citizens really deserve,” she said. “Our goal is to show that Greece can have museums of high international standards, and that archaeological sites provide recreation in the ancient Greek sense of educating the public.”

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