Call for Parthenon Marbles to be returned as part of Brexit

A Guardian newspaper columnist has suggested Britain should return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece as part of the Brexit deal.

“Putting the return of Lord Elgin’s stolen marbles on the Brexit negotiating table would lead both to a boon for Britain and a triumph for European enhancement of its heritage,” Geoffrey Robertson wrote in a column Tuesday, saying that the European Union treaty itself places a duty on both sides of the Brexit negotiations to “to ensure that Europe’s cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced.”

The British Museum has repeatedly rejected calls to return the sculptures, saying that they were acquired by Scottish diplomat Lord Elgin through a legitimate contract with the Ottoman Empire.