ΑΤΗΕΝS — Culture Minister Lina Mendoni received on Friday the Foreign Minister of Lebanon Charbel Wehbe, who is paying a three-day official visit to Greece.

According to the Ministry, the main issue of their meeting was the two countries' cooperation in cultural issues.

"Greece is totally open to any cultural cooperation" Mendoni said.

Mendoni referred to Greece's support in the restoration of damages to cultural buildings provoked by 4th August 2020 explosion in Beirut.

According to the same announcement, Mendoni reiterated her proposal to send a Culture Ministry's experts' group to Beirut in early summer in order to make a preliminary estimation and recording of the condition and the damages to historic buildings in Beirut. The proposal was immediately accepted.

The Foreign Minister of Lebanon said that among the damaged buildings is villa Bestros which houses the Foreign Ministry of Lebanon and buildings of the Greek-Orthodox community.

The two ministers agreed on the need the drawing up of the agreement on the cultural and educational cooperation to accelerate in order to be signed at the trilateral Greece, Cyprus and Lebanon meeting initially scheduled to be held in 2020 but cancelled due to the pandemic.

On his part, Wehbe invited Mendoni to visit soon the Lebanon while Mendoni extended an invitation, via the Lebanese Foreign Minister, to her Lebanese counterpart Abbas Mortada to visit Greece.