The Parthenon Marbles were off the agenda of the Tuesday meeting at Downing Street between Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his British counterpart Keir Starmer.
Relations between Britain and Greece have thawed since then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak canceled a meeting with Mitsotakis at the last minute in November 2023 after the Greek leader compared the removal of the sculptures from Athens to cutting Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” in half.
Sunak accused Mitsotakis of trying to “grandstand and relitigate issues of the past” and reneging on a promise not to bring up the issue in public.
Starmer welcomed Mitsotakis for talks focused on migration, the war in Ukraine and efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza. Starmer’s office said the fate of the Parthenon Marbles was not on the British leader’s agenda.
Mitsotakis-Starmer pledge stronger relationship
At the start of the meeting, Starmer said he hoped to “build on our strong bilateral relationship and to talk about our common issues.” Mitsotakis said Greece saw “the United Kingdom as integral in addressing the security challenges that we are facing, not just in Ukraine but also in southeastern Europe and the Middle East.”
During the meeting, the entire spectrum of bilateral cooperation was discussed, with an emphasis on the economy, shipping and tourism.
The two leaders also discussed the coordination of the two countries in view of Greece’s term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council during the two-year period 2025-26, as well as Euro-British relations, the revival of which Greece supports, particularly in the areas of security and defense.
The Cyprus issue was also discussed. The Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction with the informal dinner of Messrs. Christodoulides and Tatar hosted by UN Secretary-General António Guterres on October 15 in New York, and stressed that he looks forward to the resumption of talks.
Greek government officials were quick to point out that the PM raised the issue of the Parthenon Marbles but no substantive talks took place. The discussion on the sculptures is continuing with the British Museum.
The British Museum is banned by law from giving the marbles back to Greece, but extensive talks have been held on a long-term loan arrangement. The Guardian reported Tuesday that the negotiations had made progress since Starmer’s center-left Labour Party has replaced the previous Conservative government after an election in July.
The British Museum said talks on “a Parthenon partnership” were “ongoing and constructive.”
Starmer spokesman Dave Pares said loaning the artifacts “remains a matter for the British Museum.” He said the government “has no plans to change the law to permit a permanent move of the Parthenon sculptures.”
A YouGov poll indicates that over half of Britons (53 percent) support the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece. The survey, released on Monday, gathered input from 4,280 adults across the UK.
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