Marbles’ return must remain at the forefront, minister says

Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni says the British Museum must be kept under constant pressure to return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.

“At an international level, all the parties involved in the issue of the Parthenon Marbles’ return believe that it needs to have a constant presence in the news so as to put pressure on the British Museum. I agree on that point,” she told Kathimerini’s Sunday edition. “They also say that we need to make it a moral issue,” she added.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently told The Observer that Greece would be willing to lend ancient artifacts that have never been shown in the UK before in exchange for the Marbles’ temporary return.

“These things are a matter of momentum. You need to assess the moment. That moment came with the positive outcome of the prime minister’s recent talks with Macron,” Mendoni said, referring to an exchange on the issue by Mitsotakis and French President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to Paris last month.