Hitting a dead end on the diplomatic route

Does Greece have a chance of achieving the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures? Yes, it does, but only under certain conditions.

In diplomacy, public rhetoric is used as a lever to exert pressure and negotiations as a means of reaching an agreement, and there is a fine balance in how you use them to accomplish a specific end. Positive public opinion polls create a certain climate but they do not tip the balance if a government is not also coming under very strong pressure from its citizens. The British have no reason to capitulate to Greek pressure nor to be swayed by public statements. For the governments of Britain, maintaining the status quo carries no political cost. And this means that Athens needs to look elsewhere for a solution. 

The demand for the marbles’ reunification gained strong momentum in the 1980s. The charismatic Jules Dassin was instrumental in devising the strategy of Greece’s claim, with Melina Mercouri handling the matter of public promotion.

The British have no reason to capitulate to Greek pressure nor to be swayed by public statements

The return of the sculptures has come up against various obstacles. The British government claimed that it has no jurisdiction over the matter as the sculptures belong to the British Museum. The British Museum, for its part, saw any return as setting a precedent for other repatriation claims. Greece’s demand, however, also stumbled on the staunch resistance of conservative Britons with significant influence and a background in classical studies. I remember a visit to the Times editor Peter Stothard, an aficionado of ancient Greece and an erudite scholar of the period. The matter of the marbles came up in our conversation and I reminded him that the newspaper’s previous editor had been in favor of their return. “Yes, but I am editor now,” he answered.

In April 1998, Greece’s then minister of culture, Evangelos Venizelos, sent a letter to his British counterpart seeking a discussion on the return of the sculptures in the framework of a “cultural partnership.”

In June 2000, Foreign Minister George Papandreou, accompanied by Dassin and the experienced Lina Mendoni – Greece’s current culture minister – presented the government’s proposal in greater detail to the British Parliament’s cultural committee. 

In order to circumvent British concerns that agreeing to the marbles’ restitution would set a precedent for similar claims by other countries, he argued that the question of the Greek sculptures was different since it did not constitute a “return” but a “reunification” that would restore the monument’s integrity. They are part of a whole and it makes no sense for one part to be in the British Museum and another in Athens; a head here and a hand there. He said the discussion should not be about ownership, but about location since the real matter at hand was the sculptures’ integrity. He also added that the Greek Ministry of Culture was prepared to send important artifacts to the British Museum on a regular basis so they could be displayed there.

It was a comprehensive proposal, based on the desire for a deeper cultural relationship between the two countries. The sculptures would be returned to Greece and the British Museum would generate revenue from the temporary exhibition of the new Greek loans. The museum’s director at the time, Robert Anderson, thought the proposal interesting, giving it a significant boost.

An opportunity to reach an agreement at the political level presented itself in 2003, when Greece announced a procurement program for military tanks and had a choice between German Leopards and British Challengers. The Challenger factory was located close to the electoral district of then Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was eager to make a deal with Athens on the acquisition. For Greece, it was a negotiating lever. Blair pressured the Greek government to buy British and until the decision was made, the doors to Downing Street were wide open. On March 20, 2003, Greece announced its decision to buy the Leopards. Blair took the decision personally and talks on the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures froze after the 2004 elections. 

Konstantinos Bitsios is an honorary Greek ambassador.