(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Keir Starmer signaled to his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis that the UK government wouldn’t block a potential deal to hand back the Parthenon sculptures, people familiar with the matter said.
The British and Greek premiers met in London on Tuesday where they discussed the issue of the so-called Elgin Marbles, which are displayed in the British Museum but have been the subject of ongoing requests by Greece for their return to Athens.
Mitsotakis responded to Starmer by welcoming the British position that it won’t stand in the way so long as a legal resolution to the 200-year old dispute can be found between Greece and the British Museum, the people added. It’s up to the British Museum to negotiate with Greece on the marbles within UK law, Starmer’s spokesman Dave Pares told reporters on Tuesday morning.
The marbles are a collection of sculptures and friezes that were created by ancient Greek sculptor Phidias in the 5th Century B.C. They were removed from the Acropolis in Athens by agents of the 7th Earl of Elgin who had been the British ambassador to Constantinople — then the capital of the Ottoman Empire — at the start of the 19th century, when Greece was controlled by the Ottomans.
The British and Greek governments have historically disagreed on the sovereignty of the marbles and whether they should stay in London. Since Greece gained independence from the Ottomans in 1832, it has repeatedly asked for them back.
The British Museum Act 1963 forbids the museum from “disposing” of any of its collection, but campaigners attempting to return them to Greece have sought to find creative ways to get around that law, such as a long-term loan arrangement or exchange deal. Pares said the government has “no plans” to change the law.
One possible solution could see a proportion of the marbles sent to the Acropolis Museum in Athens on rotation over several years, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg last year. In exchange, other objects could effectively be loaned to the museum in London, and Britain could also get plaster copies of the Parthenon sculptures.
Mitsotakis has many times made clear that the Greek side only seeks a “reunification” of the British-held parts of Parthenon and will not discuss any other option. It is unclear whether a loan-style arrangement would be acceptable to the Greek government.
Mitsotakis’ meeting with Starmer came almost a year after a similar summit with Rishi Sunak was canceled at the last minute because the then British premier wanted to avoid a discussion on the Parthenon sculptures, causing an ugly diplomatic spat.
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