UK Rules Out Return of Parthenon Marbles to Greece

UK’s PM Rishi Sunak is unwilling to consider returning the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum to Greece, Downing Street said on Monday.

The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is set to meet with the PM and opposition leader Keir Starmer this week and is expected to bring up the Parthenon Marbles.

Sunak’s spokesman told reporters: “We have a long-standing position, I think the Prime Minister’s on the record that the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum were legally acquired under the laws at the time. They’re legally owned by the trustees of the British Museum.

Rishi Sunak is unwilling to consider returning the Elgin Marbles from the British Museum to Greece, Downing Street has indicated.

The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is set to meet with the PM and Keir Starmer this week, and is expected to bring up the sculptures.

Sunak’s spokesman told reporters: “We have a long-standing position, I think the Prime Minister’s on the record that the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum were legally acquired under the laws at the time. They’re legally owned by the trustees of the British Museum.

“We fully support this position, indeed the British Museum Act prohibits the removal of objects from the museum’s collection. We have no plans to change the law.”

The official said the PM has been “robust” in his view that the marbles are a “significant asset” to the UK, who Sunak says has “safeguarded” the treasures.

“We have cared for the marbles for generations and our position is we want that to continue. The world comes to the UK regularly to see the marbles and there are no plans to change that or to change the law.”

Mitsotakis made the case for the “reunification” of the Parthenon sculptures in a BBC interview on Sunday morning by comparing the issue to hypothetically cutting Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in two halves and exhibiting each in different museums.

"If I told you [to] cut the Mona Lisa in half… do you think your viewers would appreciate the beauty of the painting?"

Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis says returning the Elgin Marbles to Greece is about "reunification" not "ownership"
#BBCLauraK https://t.co/DYK0KHQRgx pic.twitter.com/hOJbK84VcR

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 26, 2023

The British official on Monday rejected Mitsotakis’s likening of the British Museum’s possession of the Parthenon Marbles to the Mona Lisa painting being cut in half.

Asked if Sunak recognizes that characterization, his spokesman said: “Obviously it’s not something we would agree with.

“These were legally acquired at the time, they’re legally owned by the trustees of the museum. We support that position and there’s no plan to change the law which governs it”.

Talks on Parthenon Marbles “constructive”

The Parthenon sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, have been at the heart of a dispute between Greece and the United Kingdom since the largest part of the historically significant artifacts were taken from Athens to London by a British diplomat in the early 19th century.

The British Museum has entered talks with Greece to discuss the fate of the antiquities.  Talks have been “constructive”, according to the British Museum.

British Museum chair George Osborne has proposed a loan deal where the works of art would be sent to the Acropolis Museum in Athens and in return, Greek treasures would be sent over.

Over time, different sections of the sculpture would be put on display in Greece, though they would not be displayed all together.

“I hope we’ll find a way to partner with Greece so that a portion of the Marbles spend part of their time in Athens . . . and we see more of their treasures in return,” Osborne wrote in the Spectator last week.

“We may well not succeed but it’s surely worth the effort.”