BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer is meeting his Greek counterpart in London today in the shadow of the long-running row over the Parthenon Marbles, which reports say could be moving towards resolution.

Starmer welcomed Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Downing Street this morning, the Greek leader’s first official visit to Britain since a diplomatic row with the previous UK government over the ancient marbles, also known as the Parthenon Sculptures, last year.

While the Labour leader’s spokesman said the issue was “not going to be on the prime minister’s agenda” for the Downing Street talks, Mitsotakis’ spokesman has said the issue would “obviously” come up.

Speaking to Greek television network ANT1 TV on Saturday, Mitsotakis said he is “firmly convinced” that the priceless sculptures will return to Athens more than two centuries after their departure for London.

“Discussions with the British Museum are continuing,” he said.

The Ancient Greek sculptures, which once adorned the Parthenon atop the Acropolis in Athens, were removed at the direction of British diplomat Thomas Bruce, also known as Lord Elgin, in 1801. They have been on display in the British Museum in London since 1817.

Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, welcomes Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece, to 10 Downing Street for meetings. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The sculptures have been a source of diplomatic tension between the UK and Greece for decades, with Greece claiming they were stole and the British Museum maintaining that they were legally obtained.

Mitsotakis has stressed that the talks in search of a solution to a historical dispute “do not concern the British government, but the British Museum”.

UK officials say that the government’s position on the sculptures, known in Britain as the Elgin Marbles, has not changed and that they remain a matter for the British Museum.

Starmer’s spokesman said the prime minister looked forward to welcoming Mitsotakis to Downing Street, “where he’ll underline the importance of a strong UK-Greece bilateral relationship”.

“He will discuss recent joint work on tackling the shared challenge of illegal migration and other priorities, including support for Ukraine, (and) a ceasefire in Gaza for regional stability in the Middle East,” the spokesman told reporters

‘Private meetings’

Meanwhile, British media has reported that talks on returning the ancient sculptures to Athens have been progressing.

A former adviser to the Greek government has told the BBC that a repatriation deal is “close”. 

On Monday, Sky News reported that Mitsotakis and his foreign minister George Gerapetritis had held “private meetings” with British Museum officials, including museum chairman George Osborne, on “two or three occasions” this year.

According to British media, Starmer is much more open to the return of the ancient masterpieces to Athens than his predecessor, Rishi Sunak.

The Parthenon Marbles have been on display in the British Museum since 1817. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The Guardian newspaper on Monday reported that talks between Greek officials and Osborne were moving towards “an agreement in principle”.

Sunak had dealt a diplomatic slap in the face to Mitsotakis a year ago by cancelling a planned meeting between them at the last minute.

It came after Mitsotakis, an ardent campaigner for the return of the Marbles, told the BBC ahead of the meeting with Sunak that keeping part of the sculptures outside Greece was akin to “cut(ting) the Mona Lisa in half”.

Starmer, then head of the opposition, later told the House of Commons that Sunak had “obviously lost his marbles” in cancelling the meeting with Mitsotakis.

The 1963 British Museum Act prohibits the removal of objects from the institution’s collection.

A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Parthenon atop the Acropolis in Athens is a temple built in the fifth century BCE in homage to the goddess Athena.

The new Acropolis Museum, inaugurated in 2009, has reserved a space for the Parthenon Marbles on the first floor of the building, where the four sides of the temple have been faithfully recreated to scale.

The missing friezes have been replaced by casts.

With reporting by © AFP 2024