Greece will not accept any agreement about the disputed Parthenon sculptures that entails recognizing the British Museum’s ownership of the pieces, according to the country’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
“Greece cannot accept any agreement that would force it to acknowledge the British Museum’s ownership of the sculptures, nor an arrangement that would mean we ‘lend’ parts of our own monument,” the premier wrote in an opinion piece published by The Guardian on Thursday.
Mitsotakis cited a statement made in 2023 by the new British prime minister, Andy Burnham, about resolving the two-century-old dispute by returning the sculptures “without conditions”, saying that “couldn’t agree more”.
The pieces were removed from the Acropolis of Athens in the early 19th century by agents of the 7th Earl of Elgin, who had been the British ambassador in Constantinople — then the capital of the Ottoman Empire — when Greece was under Ottoman rule.
The British and Greek governments have long disagreed about the ownership of the sculptures and about whether they should remain in London. Since Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, in 1832, the country has repeatedly demanded their return. The dispute has gained momentum in recent years, in part because Greece built a museum dedicated to the pieces, anticipating their return.
The marbles have been a source of tension between Mitsotakis and the last Conservative prime minister, Rishi Sunak. His successor, Keir Starmer, signaled that the British government would not block a possible agreement to return them, according to Bloomberg at the end of 2024.
Bayeux
The Bayeux Tapestry is currently on display at the British Museum.
The piece, which depicts the Norman conquest of England about a thousand years ago, has been in France since at least 1476. Its display at the British Museum has aroused great interest among the British public and provoked negative reactions in France.
Commenting on the deal involving the Bayeux Tapestry, Mitsotakis rejected the possibility of using it as a precedent. He said he was “surprised” by a recent suggestion from the British Museum that the loan could serve as a model for an agreement on the Parthenon sculptures.
“I don’t think that’s the case,” he said.
“What is needed now is political will and the courage to take the decisive step, reunite the sculptures and transform a historical dispute into a single act of cultural friendship,” he added.
