Sculptures are an ulcer on Greek-British relations
Primary sources hold that had he not died prematurely in Messolongi almost 200 years ago, Lord Byron would have been offered the throne of Greece and ruled the newly established kingdom as its first monarch. It is quite possible that Lord Byron was the King George I that Greece never had. Historically, there are of course other moments when the Greeks and the British cooperated closely and forged a solid alliance, for example, the two great wars of the 20th century. These seem to have been high points in relations between the United Kingdom and Greece. At present, it seems that bilateral relations between the two governments are at their lowest ebb, as Prime Ministers Rishi Sunak and Kyriakos Mitsotakis have fallen out over the return of the Parthenon Marbles. In this way, the marbles remain an ulcer on Greek-British relations.
Running away from a meeting is never a good idea and is rarely conducive to positive results
From a strategic point of view, Sunak’s decision was not carefully considered and has largely backfired. It was a knee-jerk reaction, fueled by Mitsotakis’ unusual move to meet first with the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, and the former’s interview with the BBC, which for many was viewed as a lack of diplomatic tact. The move by Britain’s new foreign secretary, Lord David Cameron, to meet with his counterpart at the 11th hour, vindicates this. In the end, running away from a meeting is never a good idea and is rarely conducive to positive results. Be that as it may, the deeper truth might lie elsewhere. Simply put, it may be argued that Sunak tried to avoid – for the second time after December 2022 – the replay of what had transpired at 10 Downing Street when Prime Minister Mitsotakis raised the marbles issue before cameras, when he met with his then-counterpart Boris Johnson in November 2021.
In many ways, it is remarkable and perhaps incomprehensible that the bilateral relations of two nations with strong economic and military ties in NATO would be so heavily affected by a cultural agenda issue. This is exactly where the problem lies: prioritization in talks. Whatever one’s position might be on the vexed issue of the marbles, it is counterproductive for both countries for it to dominate the political agenda. To draw a parallel as a case in point, it is not probable that Greece would suffer diplomatic tensions, say with France, over the position of the Aphrodite of Melos in the Louvre.
I have written here previously (“Greece and ‘global’ Britain must meet again,” 1/12/2021) that there is much fertile ground for productive bilateral agreements and policy exchanges between the United Kingdom and Greece. To name just a few: migration, environmental challenges, investment and trade, defense cooperation, higher education and technology. There is much to be gained through cooperation, to the benefit of both countries and their people. The Greek community in London has been flourishing for many decades now, and hundreds of thousands of British tourists flock to the Greek islands for their summer holidays. It would be a pity for all this to be jeopardized over an “ancient grievance.” After all, challenges and opportunities alike always lie in the future and never in the past.
A final note and some food for thought: How prudent is it for Greece to disrupt its relations with a government that remains heavily involved, both legally and symbolically, in the Cyprus issue? Politics teaches us that what happens in one field may spill over and have negative effects on another.
Ioannes Chountis de Fabbri is political adviser to the House of Lords, UK, and PhD candidate in history at the University of Aberdeen.
