This article was originally published in Greek
Will the Greek-English battle for the return of the Parthenon statues to Athens finally end? According to Greek government sources, the British Prime Minister “will not stand in the way” of an agreement.
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The British prime minister has no intention of obstructing a deal on the Parthenon sculptures, Greek government sources were quoted as saying by ERT television. These comments were leaked after the meeting between Keir Starmer and Kyriakos Mitsotakis in London on Tuesday afternoon.
The Greek Prime Minister crossed the threshold of Downing Street to speak with his British counterpart for around 40 minutes.
According to leaked information, the Greek Prime Minister raised the issue of the Parthenon statues and his British counterpart indicated that he did not intend to obstruct a possible agreement between Athens and the British Museum.
Previously, Keir Starmer's office had said that the Parthenon sculptures were not on the agenda for discussions.
Diplomatic hiccup in 2023
In November 2023, the then British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, had canceled a planned meeting with his Greek counterpartaccusing him of “attempting to draw attention to the issue of the Parthenon sculptures.”
At the time, Keir Starmer, as leader of the Labor Party, himself accused Sunak of playing politics.
However, the Greek side quickly lowered its tone, describing the incident as unfortunate, with no long-term impact on relations between Athens and London.
Conservatives attack the Prime Minister
Shortly after the Mitsotakis-Starmer meeting, the Conservatives' “shadow” culture minister attacked the British Prime Minister, accusing him of being ready to return the sculptures to Athens.
“Sir Keir Starmer has already capitulated on the Chagos Islands, and now it appears he is about to give in to the radical left and return the Elgin Marbles to Greece”Saqib Bati said in a statement.
According to a YouGov poll (link in English), 53% of British voters are now in favor of returning the sculptures to Greece. 24% are opposed to it and 23% say they “don’t know”.
What the law provides
The British Museum is currently prohibited by law from returning the sculptures, but negotiations are underway for a long-term loan agreement.
Asked about this, a British government spokesperson said that the loan of the objects “remainder of responsibility of the British Museum” and clarified that the government “does not intend to change the law to permit the permanent removal of the Parthenon sculptures.”
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