Blinken wraps up visit in Athens with tour of Agora, meeting of EMAK rescuers

A Greece-United States Action Plan for culture was signed on Tuesday by Culture Minister Lina Mendoni and visiting US State Department Secretary Antony Blinken, prior to the latter’s departure from Athens.

The plan aims to protect archaeological and ethnological material of Greece, by imposing restrictions in specific categories. It was first signed in 2011 and renewed in 2016 and 2021, and the renewed plan was also signed by Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Lee Satterfield.

Blinken was in Greece on a two-day visit to meet with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and launch the 4th Greece-US Strategic Dialogue with Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias.

Also on Tuesday, Blinken met with main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras in the late morning. Later, he was given a tour of the Ancient Agora of Athens by Bonna Wescoat, director of the American School of Classical Studies and met – at the American embassy – with the Fire Brigade’s emergency management EMAK and with emergency ambulance team EKAV, both of whom helped in the rescue efforts after Türkiye’s deadly earthquakes.

The meeting at the embassy was also attende by Climate Change and Civil Defence Minister Christos Stylianidis and US Ambassador to Greece George Tsunis, and Blinken thanked the members of the teams for their work.

Source: amna.gr