British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak refuses to return the Parthenon marbles, which are housed in the British Museum in London, to Greece.
According to a spokesman for the British Prime Minister’s Office quoted by EFE, Rishi Sunak considers the London museum “an appropriate place” to display the archaeological remains that the Athens government wants to recover.
In an interview with the BBC, the Greek prime minister argued that “these sculptures belong to Greece and are basically stolen,” adding that it was “not a question of ownership but an argument for their reunification” in Athens.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to meet Rishi Sunak and opposition leader Labor Keir Starmer on Tuesday, as he looks to win next year’s British election.
A spokesman for the British Prime Minister said in statements to the press today that Rishi Sunak did not intend to change the 1963 Act prohibiting the alienation of museum objects and was not in favor of an agreement on their loan.
Similarly, Kyriakos Mitsotakis dismissed the argument in a BBC interview that keeping archaeological remains in London would be “like cutting the Mona Lisa in half and leaving one piece in the Louvre”. [em Paris] and another in the British Museum”.
Speculation regarding a new deal on the marbles has increased recently after British Museum president George Osborne said in a speech that he was “exploring” ways to display the remains in Greece.
On the other hand, the British Labor Party has indicated that it is willing to discuss an agreement that would allow the loan of marble to Greece.
