Mitsotakis says will raise issue of Parthenon Marbles return with British PM

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said that he plans to raise the issue of the return of the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum in a meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson next week.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mitsotakis said that the 2,500-year-old sculptures had been “stolen” from Athens “and we need to discuss this issue in earnest.” 

“I am sure that if there was a willingness on the part of the government to move we could find an arrangement with the British Museum in terms of us sending abroad cultural treasures on loan, which have never left the country,” Mitsotakis told the newspaper.

“It would be a fantastic statement by what Boris calls Global Britain if they were to move on this and look at it through a completely different lens,” he added, describing unwillingness to discuss the issue as “anachronistic.”

The obligation that the UK return the Parthenon Marbles to Athens was raised by the Greek premier Friday as he spoke at an event in Paris celebrating UNESCO’s 75th anniversary.