LONDON: In a diplomatic spat over the fate of the Parthenon sculptures, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis accused his British counterpart Rishi Sunak of calling off a planned meeting in London on Tuesday.
Greece has repeatedly requested that the 2,500-year-old statues that British diplomat Lord Elgin took from the Parthenon temple during his time as envoy to the Ottoman Empire be returned to the museum permanently.
“I express my annoyance that the British Prime Minister cancelled our planned meeting just hours before it was due to take place,” Mitsotakis stated in a statement.
Greece is well-known for her places on the Parthenon sculptures. I had thought that my British counterpart would allow me to talk about them. Anyone with faith in the rightness and justice of his positions is never afraid of confronting arguments,” he said.
The Greek government has been in discussions with British Museum chair George Osborne on a possible loan deal for the sculptures, which have been a source of dispute between the two countries for centuries.
Mitsotakis complained in an interview with the BBC on Sunday that talks over a possible return of the sculptures to Athens were not advancing quickly enough.
He said that the continued presence of the sculptures in the British Museum was like cutting the “Mona Lisa in half” and it was not a question of ownership but “reunification”.
A British government official, who asked not to be named, said the row over the marbles meant it was not suitable for the meeting to go ahead.
Earlier, a spokesperson for Sunak said there were no plans to return the sculptures.
Asked about Mitsotakis’ statement, Sunak’s office said Britain’s relationship with Greece was “hugely important” and the two countries needed to work together on global challenges like tackling illegal migration.
Deputy British Prime Minister Oliver Dowden was available to meet Mitsotakis to discuss these issues instead, Sunak’s office said.
The British government has always ruled out giving up ownership of the marbles, which include about half of the 160-metre (525-ft) frieze that adorned the Parthenon, and says they were legally acquired.
A law prevents the British museum from removing objects from the collection apart from in certain circumstances, but the legislation does not prohibit a loan.
A meeting between Mitsotakis and British opposition leader Keir Starmer went ahead on Monday as planned. The Financial Times last week reported that Starmer would not block a “mutually acceptable” loan deal for the sculptures.
