The government "botched" the handling of issues relating to the Monastery of Sinai in Egypt, main opposition PASOK-Movement for Change leader Nikos Androulakis asserted in an interview with TV Action24 on Wednesday, announcing that he will meet with the monastery's abbot, the archbishop of the autonomous Church of Sinai, on Thursday.
“ I will speak tomorrow evening with the Archbishop of Sinai and the representatives of the Monastery in Cairo, so that they can brief me in the most official way - although we have already spoken on the phone - about what is happening regarding this very important matter,” he said.
Androulakis added that his trip to Cairo and Alexandria on Friday had been planned 25 days ago, before the developments concerning the monastery. He is scheduled to meet with Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria.
PASOK's leader pointed to the government's missteps in handling the issue and asked: "What did the government do when it noticed the significant delays on Egypt’s part? What did it do when a parliamentary committee visited the Monastery of Sinai and was officially informed that this agreement had not yet been signed?"
He also criticised the government for suggesting the opposition was overreacting. "Is the Archbishop of Athens overreacting? Was there overreaction in the statement by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew? The entire Orthodox world is rising up, and the government spokesperson's response is that we were too hasty. What audacity! I am truly amazed by the extent of these people’s arrogance," Androulakis said.
"If there were no problem, gentlemen of New Democracy, an entire delegation from the Greek government wouldn’t be flying out tonight for renewed negotiations. So, there is a problem, and they should have dealt with it earlier,” he emphasised.