ATHENS — The government has encouraged the first victims of sexual harassment to come forth, and "the prime minister stood by the victims of molestation from the very start," a statement from PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis' office said on Friday.

The statement responded to allegations by main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras that the former director of the National Theater Dimitris Lignadis was "a personal friend of the prime minister" and other allegations by the party on how the government responded to the issue.

"It's truly obscene that Mr. Tsipras tries to take advantage of all these shocking revelations, giving them a party-related hue," the statement said, adding that the PM knew Lignadis "only from his theatrical performances, which he had attended."

"It's sad that a case which should unite the political world Syriza tries to turn into main opposition poison," it said.