Media raise possible GB-Greece agreement on Parthenon marbles

(ANSA) - LONDON, 29 LUG - 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. (ANSA).