After the change of government
following the Labour Party's victory in the elections on July 4,
the United Kingdom is reportedly ready to consider an agreement
to resolve the long-standing dispute with Greece over the famous
Parthenon Marbles exhibited in the British Museum. Athens claims
these artifacts, while London maintains they were purchased
"legally," protected by an ad hoc law introduced in 1963 to
prohibit their return. According to British media reports, the
new Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as part of possible initiatives
to improve relations with the EU after Brexit, has been
examining the possibility of a long-term loan of the sculptures.
In response to a written parliamentary question, Deputy Minister
Chris Bryant praised the "constructive partnership" between the
president of the London museum, George Osborne—who has long
supported an agreement with Athens—and the Greek government. He
clarified that the loan of works and exhibits remains the
responsibility of the highest cultural institution in the
Kingdom. The marbles were brought to London by Lord Elgin, who
obtained them from the Ottoman rulers of Greece in the early
1800s. The collection includes 15 metopes, 56 marble
bas-reliefs, 12 statues (almost the entire West pediment of the
temple), and one of the six caryatids of the Erechtheion temple.
There has also been talk on the Greek side of a restitution
during the recent scandal involving the theft of precious
artifacts from the London museum. This dispute led to a
diplomatic clash last November between the then Conservative
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Greek counterpart Kyriakos
Mitsotakis. Sunak canceled a face-to-face meeting with the Greek
Prime Minister during his visit to the British capital after the
latter definitively requested the return of the marbles in an
interview with the BBC.
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