LONDON (AP) — Greece’s prime minister is in London Tuesday for his first highest-level meeting in Britain since last year’s row over the controversial Parthenon Marbles.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed Kyriakos Mitsotakis to 10 Downing St. for talks focused on migration, the war in Ukraine and efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza. Starmer’s office said the fate of the marbles was not on the British leader’s agenda.
At the start of the meeting, Starmer said he hoped to “build on our strong bilateral relationship and talk about our common issues.” Mitsotakis said Greece “sees the United Kingdom as an integral part of addressing the security challenges we face, not only in Ukraine but also in Southeastern Europe and the Middle East.”
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The disputed marbles are part of a 2,500-year-old frieze that was brought from Athens by British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 19th century and displayed in the British Museum. Athens says they were illegally removed and wants them returned so they can be displayed alongside the rest of the Parthenon sculptures in a purpose-built museum in Athens.
Relations between Britain and Greece have thawed since then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak canceled a meeting with Mitsotakis at the last minute in November 2023, after the Greek leader compared the removal of the sculptures from Athens to cutting Leonardo da Vinci’s in half Mona Lisa’.
Sunak accused Mitsotakis of trying to “foreground and re-highlight issues from the past” and reneging on a promise not to raise the issue publicly.
The chairman of the British Museum, George Osborne, a former Conservative politician, later suggested that Sunak had had a ‘hissy fit’.
The British Museum is prohibited by law from returning the marbles to Greece, but extensive discussions have been held about a long-term loan agreement. The Guardian reported on Tuesday that negotiations had made progress since Starmer’s centre-left Labor Party replaced the previous Conservative government after elections in July.
Starmer has pledged to restore Britain’s relations with its European neighbors after years of acrimony over Britain’s departure from the European Union.
The British Museum said discussions about “a Parthenon partnership” were “ongoing and constructive”.
Starmer spokesman Dave Pares said the lending of the artefacts “remains a matter for the British Museum.” He said the government has “no plans to change the law to allow permanent relocation of the Parthenon sculptures.”
