Britain agrees to discuss Elgin Marbles in UN talks with Greece

‘It’s very good news. It is going to take the issue forward. It’s definitely a step in the right direction’

THE return of Elgin Marbles to Greece could be edging closer, as the Government agrees to Unesco-backed talks on the future of the artefacts.

Unesco, the UN’S cultural agency, has insisted Britain “reconsider its stand” on the ancient Athenian sculptures, which have been the subject of renewed calls for repatriation, and engage in “a bona fide dialogue” with Greece.

The Government has agreed to formal talks with Greek ministers, backed by an influential Unesco committee, which has urged them to reach a “satisfactory settlement of this long-standing issue”, and campaigners for repatriation have hailed the planned summit as a “step in the right direction”.

The talks, first suggested by British officials, will be held by Lord Parkinson, the arts minister, and Lina Mendoni, his Greek counterpart, and could cover the proposal that the 2,500-year sculptures might be loaned by the British Museum in return for other ancient artworks.

This suggestion was put to Boris Johnson by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister, in November, and the planned talks will be the first formal discussions since this proposal, giving campaigners hope that dialogue may soon result in the Marbles returning to Athens.

Marlen Taffarello Godwin, of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM), said: “It’s very good news. It is going to take the issue forward. It’s definitely a step in the right direction.”

Prof Paul Cartledge, BCRPM vicechairman and renowned Cambridge classicist, has said that “pressure has been building” on the Government and the British Museum, adding: “That’s why the UK Government has agreed to government-to-government talks.”

Prof Cartledge said the agreement was an improvement from the “flat refusal” Greek authorities have often faced in their prolonged campaign for the return of the 5th-century BC statues, which once adorned sacred buildings on the Athenian Acropolis.

Athens has claimed that the sculptures were stolen by Lord Elgin in the 19th century, but the UK Government – and the British Museum where the statues are held – have maintained they were legally acquired and refused calls for their return.

The Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport which will be leading talks with Greece, has said that “the UK has a long-standing position on this issue that has not changed”, adding that it is for the British Museum to decide what to do with the Marbles.

The museum has contended that – because its treasures are technically publicly owned – it would take an act of Parliament to allow the repatriation of the statues. Both the Government and the museum have indicated that this stalemate is likely to continue.

However, trustees could sign off a loan deal without giving up possession of the Marbles, a plan Greece has been pushing for amid demands for repatriation of artefacts from formerly colonised and occupied nations.

A spokesman for the museum said it would not be taking part in the government talks: “The British Museum can confirm that no new talks with the Greek government have taken place or are planned regarding the repatriation of the Parthenon Sculptures.”