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England-Greece diplomatic crisis over the Parthenon marbles, Sunak cancels the meeting with Mitsotakis at the last minute

2023-11-28 19:20:20Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
England-Greece diplomatic crisis over the Parthenon marbles, Sunak cancels the
The artworks, held at the British Museum, are "essentially stolen", Mitsotakis told BBC television. An irritated Prime Minister Rishi Sunak canceled the summit at the last minute

It is a complete diplomatic crisis that broke out on Monday evening (November 27) between Great Britain and Greece.

At the center is the centuries-old dispute over the Parthenon marbles, held in London by the British Museum and claimed by Athens.

The British Prime Minister canceled at the last minute a meeting with his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who was in London for a three-day visit.

Rishi Sunak was apparently "irritated" by an interview given to the BBC by the Prime Minister of Athens, who claimed that the Parthenon marbles are "basically stolen" and that having them in London is like, "if the Mona Lisa were to be cut into two parts and one half of it would be in the Louvre, while the other half would be in the British Museum".

British government sources claim that the Greeks had undertaken not to raise the issue during the visit to London.

From here it was decided as a result to cancel the summit between the prime ministers and the offer instead of the meeting with the deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden.

But Mitsotakis was "surprised and upset" and decided to quickly return to Athens in the next few hours: "Those who firmly believe in the justice and correctness of their positions, - he answered annoyed, - never hesitate to get involved in arguments and constructive debates". The split came at a time when there appeared to be some progress in resolving the dispute.

The statues that adorned the Parthenon were brought to London at the beginning of the 19th century by Lord Elgin: the British claim that they were regularly bought by the Turkish authorities who controlled Greece at the time, while for Athens it was an illegal removal.

The Greek government has been demanding their return for decades, but in 1963 the London Parliament passed a law banning the removal of the art objects from the British Museum, where the marbles are on display.

Recently, however, the idea of ​​a long-term loan of the objects has made its way: the sculptures will remain the property of the London museum, but will be loaned to Athens in exchange for other ancient works of art in Greece's possession.

It is a hypothesis that was also considered viable by the current president of the British Museum, George Osborne, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer in David Cameron's government and who remained a great friend of the former prime minister, who has just been appointed Foreign Secretary by Sunak.

Significantly, Labor leader Keir Starmer, who is most likely to be the next head of government and who met Mitsotakis yesterday, also said he was open to the borrowing hypothesis.

Sunak, however, has taken a hard line: an attempt, perhaps, to mark the difference with Labor and open a new front in the so-called "culture wars".

The issue of the Parthenon marbles is actually part of the wider debate, which has been going on for some time in Anglo-Saxon countries, about the return of works of art stolen during the colonial period to their countries of origin.

But it is interesting that recently the orientation of public opinion has changed and now, according to polls, the majority of Britons are in favor of returning the statues to Athens.

It is no coincidence that this Tuesday morning, the prestigious "Times", a moderate newspaper, has published an editorial in which it defends the return of the marbles to Greece.


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