The President of major opposition party New Democracy, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is on an official visit to Imvros. During his visit, Mr Mitsotakis met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who was born on the island and took Mr Mitsotakis on a quick guide during their stroll, showing the leader of ND the house where he was born and raised and a small museum the islanders had established dedicated to his life and work.

Mr Mitsotakis praised the work of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the efforts of which had allowed the Greeks of Imvros to return to their island over recent years. This trend is clearly indicative by the fact that the number of permanent residents on the island of Imvros had risen from 168 in 2000 to 550 in 2017, 39 of which are students, with 13 newborns.
The President of the ND departed for the capital of Imvros (Panagia), where he met with the Metropolitan of Imvros and Tenedos Cyrillos, with Prefect Muhittin Gurel and Mayor Unal Cetin. The Mayor of Imvros pointed out the peaceful cohabitation with the local Greek community of Imvros and called for efforts to be made for the coastal connection of Imvros to the islands of the northern Aegean. Mr. Mitsotakis stated the following (on camera):

“I want to thank you, Mayor, for your warm welcome, to tell you how glad I am in Imvros, a trip that I and my wife wanted to do for a long time, as we have many Imvrian friends who have talked about the beauties of the island. I had also promised the Patriarch to be with him in the place where he was born and loves so much”.