Greek Prime Minister to “Ramp Up” Efforts Related to Parthenon Marbles Return

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has continued to speak out regarding the Parthenon Marbles, vowing to “ramp up” his country’s efforts to retrieve the marble sculptures from the British Museum, The Guardian reported.

Mitsotakis has claimed that United Kingdom Prime Minister Andy Burnham was supportive of restitution efforts before assuming his current role, adding that he would raise the issue upon meeting Burnham.

“Unfortunately [talks] have not progressed,” Mitsotakis confirmed at a conference in Athens when asked about a “hybrid” deal with the museum to repatriate the fifth-century BCE marbles in exchange for other antiquities, namely, objects from the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, which is closed for renovations. “We will very clearly ramp up the intensity of our claims, not just with the British Museum, but also with the British government. I would also like to remind the audience that the new prime minister of the UK, unequivocally, was supportive of the return of the Parthenon sculptures before he became prime minister.” (Burham served as culture secretary under a previous administration.)

He additionally suggested a connection between the artworks’ return and Burnham’s reported comments about the UK strengthening its ties with the European Union. “For those of us who were saddened to see the United Kingdom leave the European family, we took great interest in the comments made by the UK PM,” said Mitsotakis, citing the possibility of “a stronger relationship between the UK and Europe.”

The Parthenon Marbles make up a monumental frieze sculpted to adorn the Parthenon in Greece. They were forcibly removed by British ambassador Lord Elgin more than 200 years ago and have yet to return to their homeland. Today, they remain in the British Museum’s collection. “The Parthenon sculptures will be part of this debate, this is not just an issue for Greece. It’s an issue for Europe,” Mitsotakis added.

Burnham, who has long supported the antiquities’ return to Athens over the last 25 years of his career, was considered by Greek officials to be the best hope of finally ending the feud. Mitsotakis’s right-wing administration has been pushing to reunify the masterpieces within view of the Acropolis.

“[The marbles] reunification in Athens would also set a precedent for a unique cultural partnership between Greece and the UK, and in particular between Greece and the British Museum,” he said. “I will certainly make the case very forcibly to the British PM when I meet him. I think the time has come. British public opinion supports reunification of the sculptures and I do believe that now is the time to push in this direction.”

These remarks are the latest in a string of increasingly aggressive statements calling for the marbles’ return. Late last month, Mitsotakis outwardly rejected the British Museum’s comparison between the British seizure of the Parthenon Marbles and the Bayeux Tapestry loan between England and France.

“There are striking similarities between the two pieces. Both were conceived as single works, intended to be seen and understood as a whole. In the case of the Parthenon sculptures, that relationship is also architectural: they were created as inseparable elements of the monument itself,” Mitsotakis previously penned in an op-ed. Yet, “nobody would seriously contemplate cutting what survives of the tapestry in two and displaying half in London and half in Bayeux, and claiming this was an adequate way to understand it. Yet that is exactly what happened to the Parthenon sculptures.”