UK Backed Loan of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece in 2004

The government of Tony Blair in the UK backed loaning the Parthenon Marbles to Greece in 2004, declassified documents reveal.

In the early 2000s, progress on resolving the thorn in bilateral ties appeared imminent. Greece proposed a then-novel solution, suggesting the friezes return to Athens in the form of a long-term loan, bypassing the issue of ownership.

The country was keen for the sculptures to go on display in the Greek capital at a new museum being built on the Acropolis to coincide with the 2004 Olympic Games set to be held there.

At the same time, then-UK leader Tony Blair and his government were stepping up lobbying efforts to secure the 2012 Olympics for London.

Against that backdrop, Sarah Hunter, Blair’s lead adviser on culture, media, and sport policy issues, sent him an April 2003 memo arguing that “there are good reasons for us to change tack” on the marbles, the declassified documents reveal.

Several months earlier, Blair had discussed the loan proposal with his Greek counterpart Konstantinos Simitis but had subsequently written to him saying, “This is not an issue on which the UK govt (government) would seek to intervene.”

London had long maintained it was a matter for the British Museum and its trustees alone.

However, noting it could be a “powerful bargaining chip” in International Olympic Committee votes for the 2012 Games, Hunter now suggested the government “privately and publicly encourages” the museum “to find an accommodation over the next twelve months.”

The top aide acknowledged the Greek case had “become more sophisticated” with its loan plan, and accused the museum of “blinkered intransigence to consider any compromises.”

She goes on to suggest the support of a recent proposal from former British foreign secretary David Owen for a UK-Greece treaty governing the loan arrangement.

Tony Blair okays proposal to return the Parthenon Marbles

“It seems sensible: rational policy-making favors the Greeks,” Hunter wrote, while adding the museum’s trustees must ultimately make the decision. Blair appears amenable, replying “yes” in a handwritten note on the memo.

He suggests putting Owen “in charge of negotiating this,” adding that the veteran politician could “probably help with the BM (British Museum), whilst distancing it a little from [the government].”

However, the initiative appears to have quickly stalled, with the museum issuing a statement four months later in August 2003 saying that “the trustees cannot envisage any circumstances under which they could accede to the Greek government’s request.”

Earlier this week, Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said Athens is prepared to periodically send ancient artifacts to the British Museum in return for the Parthenon Marbles.

In an interview with The Guardian, Mendoni promised that the British Museum’s revered Greek galleries would not go empty. “Our position is clear,” she said. “Should the sculptures be reunited in Athens, Greece is prepared to organize rotating exhibitions of important antiquities that would fill the void.”

Asked if particular works had been requested by London, the minister, a classical archaeologist by training, insisted continuing discussions had not extended to “specific artifacts.”