ATHENS (Reuters) – Britain is the rightful owner of the Parthenon marble, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a Greek newspaper, rejecting Greece’s permanent request for the return of 2,500-year-old sculptures.
Since independence in 1832, Greece has repeatedly called for the repatriation of treasures – known in Britain as Elgin Marbles – which the British diplomat Lord Elgin removed from the Parthenon temple in Athens in the early 19th century. Greece was under Ottoman rule.
But the British Museum in London refused to return the sculptures, about half of a 160-meter frieze that adorned the 5th-century BC monument, saying they were purchased by Elgin under a legal contract with the Ottoman Empire and are part of it. from the “common heritage” of all.
In an interview with Ta Nea newspaper on Friday, Johnson, a former student of the classics, much cited in Latin and Greek, reiterated that the British Museum was the rightful owner of the marble.
He said he understood the feelings of many Greeks on the issue, but said Britain had a “firm and long-standing” stance on sculptures. “They were legally purchased by Lord Elgin, in accordance with the laws in force at the time,” he said.
Greece’s conservative government has stepped up pressure to return to marble since taking power in 2019, a campaign it said would be stepped up by Britain’s departure from the European Union.
Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, who previously referred to Elgin as a “serial thief,” said Johnson does not appear to be aware of recent historical evidence that the former envoy did not legitimately acquire the balloons.
“For Greece, the British Museum has no legitimate ownership or possession of the Sculptures,” she said in a statement.
In 2019, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he would be willing to lend important artifacts to London in exchange for marble exhibits in Athens in 2021, when Greece marks 200 years since its independence.
Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Edited by Paul Simao and Hugh Lawson