Greece will continue to demand the return of the Parthenon Marbles to the United Kingdom

Greece’s Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, indicated on Friday that Greece will continue to demand and pressure the UK “by all means at its disposal” to bring about the return of the Parthenon Marbles and their definitive reunification in Athens. .

And Mendoni stressed, in an interview with Sky Radio Private, that “no final restoration process has been considered,” in response to the statements made by her British counterpart Michelle Donnellan yesterday, Thursday, on the BBC, who indicated that these archaeological treasures are more than 2,500 years old. belong to the United Kingdom” and will not return to Greece.

At the beginning of this month, several British media outlets indicated that the British Museum and Greece were about to reach an agreement for the return of marble to the Greek capital through a “loan” and “exchange” of artifacts.

Although the Greek government has never denied this information, it has made it clear that Greece “does not recognize the jurisdiction, possession and property of the British Museum for the Parthenon sculptures”, which initially meant that it could not accept the “loan” of these pieces.

For his part, Conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday that the marble will return to Greece, “but this is not expected to be soon.”

UK law prevents the British Museum from handing over its treasures to other countries, a law Donnellan called “correct”.

The British minister said that returning the pieces to Athens would “open Pandora’s box” for the museum, stressing that this would spark confrontations over other pieces displayed there as well.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Parthenon Marbles traveled to Great Britain when the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Thomas Bruce, better known as Lord Elgin, who identified himself as a lover of antiquities, obtained the Sultan’s permission to participate in the Parthenon’s interior pediments and frieze.

Later he sold it to his government for £35,000, and since 1939 this jewel has been on display in the British Museum, while the Acropolis Museum displays only copies.