Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said his long-planned visit to Australia has been postponed due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and pressing government responsibilities at home, but stressed the trip will go ahead.
“My decision to postpone this visit was not easy at all,” he said in an interview with the Greek community newspaper Neos Kosmos. “We had planned it for many months. Both my wife and I faced it personally with great anticipation.”
Mitsotakis said the deteriorating situation in the region required his presence in Athens, citing ongoing high-level decisions and coordination with European partners.
Despite the delay, he sought to reassure the Greek Australian community. “For me, Australia is not just a country where Greeks live,” he said. “It is a living part of global Hellenism.”
He added that the visit would be rescheduled in coordination with Australian authorities and diaspora groups.
Mitsotakis also emphasized recent reforms allowing Greeks abroad to vote by post, saying, “We want the Hellenism of Australia… to participate and co-shape the developments in the motherland.”
On travel, he reassured those planning trips to Greece, stating: “Greece is a safe country,” while acknowledging temporary disruptions to air travel in the region.
The prime minister also said Greece and Australia are close to finalizing a long-awaited agreement to avoid double taxation. “We have practically reached an agreement on the double taxation avoidance treaty,” he said.
While no new date for the visit has been set, Mitsotakis said he hopes to travel as early as this summer, depending on developments in the Middle East.