London – The British government has canceled a meeting between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Greek counterpart amid a diplomatic row over which country should hold a collection of ancient Greek sculptures.
Greece and Britain have long argued over the Parthenon sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, which were once part of the Temple of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens. For years they have been part of the permanent collection of the British Museum in London.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was due to meet Sunak in London on Tuesday, but on Monday evening the Greek leader issued a statement to “express my displeasure that the British Prime Minister canceled our planned meeting hours before the scheduled date.” which must take place.”
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Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Mitsotakis said that having half of the Elgin Marbles in the UK was like “cutting the Mona Lisa in two”, describing the sculptures as having been “essentially stolen” from Greece.
According to the BBC, Sunak’s office at 10 Downing Street believed it had received assurances that the Greek leader I wouldn’t mention the Parthenon sculptures during his trip to the United Kingdom, but the The BBC cited a Greek official like denying it.
Sources close to the Greek government told the BBC that Mitsotakis was “baffled” and “annoyed” by the snub.
Britain’s opposition Labor Party, which leads Sunak’s Conservatives by a wide margin in polls heading into an election year, called the row “pathetic.” Labor leader Keir Starmer met Mitsotakis on Monday.
The British Museum is not allowed to return the sculptures to Greece under British law, but museum officials have discussed a long-term loan deal with Greek officials, to which Labor said that they would not object.
“Our position is clear,” declared the BBC quoted a senior Conservative lawmaker said: “The Elgin Marbles are part of the permanent collection of the British Museum and belong here. It is reckless for a British politician to suggest that this is subject to negotiation.
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The sculptures that once decorated the Parthenon temple were removed over 200 years ago by Lord Elgin of Scotland. They have been on display at the British Museum in London since 1817, when Elgin sold the marbles to the British government.
The year before the sale, a British parliamentary committee found his actions “completely legal“.
The Greek Ministry of Culture, however, tells a different story.
“Using methods of corruption and fraud, Elgin persuaded Turkish dignitaries (of the then Ottoman Empire) in Athens to turn a blind eye while his craftsmen removed parts of the Parthenon that they particularly valued,” may – we read in a press release. page deleted since on its website. “Elgin’s team was active on the Acropolis, hacking and causing considerable damage to the sculptures and the monument, ultimately detaching and dismembering a significant portion (more or less half) of the remaining sculptural decoration of the Parthenon.”
In 1983, Greece officially requested that all of the Parthenon sculptures be returned, and in 2009 it built the Acropolis Museum in Athens to house the temple’s originals and “plaster copies of those kept at the British Museum and other foreign museums.
On Tuesday, former Greek Culture Minister Irene Stamatoudi told the BBC the feud “makes Rishi Sunak look no better than Lord Elgin”.
The British Museum has been involved in multiple controversies regarding objects obtained during the colonial period.
Egypt, Nigeria, Iran and other countries have demanded the return of what they claim are stolen items over the years.
Since 1997, the British Museum has been investigating whether “works that were stolen by the Nazis in the period 1933-1945 had been unwittingly acquired” and whether they were part of its collections, according to its website.
