Culture Ministry repeals decision on Delos donation

The Culture Ministry has announced plans to repeal a decision accepting a donation from a private foundation that has recently become the subject of controversy following a high-profile rape case in the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

The decision to turn down the grant from the International Foundation for Greece (IFG) for a new museum and other work at the Archaeological Site of Delos was announced on Tuesday evening.

It comes in the wake of reactions concerning the fact that one of the chief suspects accused of the gang rape of a 24-year-old woman at a New Year’s party in a Thessaloniki hotel is a member of the IFG’s board and of the family that founded it.

The ministry’s decision also came in response to an announcement from the opposition SYRIZA party indicating that any links between the suspect and efforts to revamp Delos “will prompt significant developments that the culture minister must respond to.”

Delos, a protected island in the Aegean Sea, was the spiritual center of the ancient Greek world and is one of the country’s most important archaeological sites.

The Culture Ministry’s repeal of the December 31 decision to accept the IFG donation will be formally published in the Government Gazette, it said.