In search of an acceptable solution for the repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles

London and athens are seeking an acceptable solution For the Repatriation of The parthenon Marbles.

Following the revelation by the British Guardian that "senior Greek officials have held 'preliminary' talks with the British Museum, which was confirmed by the Minister of State, George Gerapetritis, new information has come to light to solve the puzzle of their return to their homeland.

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A senior British government official, speaking to ANT1, revealed what the main proposal is that London and Athens are discussing, "given that no Greek government will ever accept the borrowing solution."

As a British official said, "the only way to return the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece, without changing the 1963 law, which explicitly and categorically prohibits the British Museum from removing objects from its collections, is for the British Museum to open a kind of branch in Greece."

"Thus, the Parthenon Sculptures will continue to belong to the British Museum, as the law requires, but at the same time they will be in Athens, as the Greek side wishes," he added.

In an article on Saturday (03/12), the British Guardian reveals that “senior Greek officials have held “preliminary” talks with the British Museum in what could amount to a tectonic shift in resolving the world’s longest-running cultural dispute: the repatriation of the 5th-century BC Parthenon Marbles to Athens.”

According to an article signed by journalist Elena Smith, it is reported that the revelations regarding the negotiations were first made on Saturday by the newspaper "Ta Nea", which reported that officials, including the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, had met with George Osborne, the president of the British Museum, at a five-star hotel in London as recently as Monday (28/11).

As the Guardian points out, citing sources in Athens, the report in question, which details where the talks took place, is described as "not only credible but also very fascinating."

“It is true that there is a dialogue between the Greek government and the British Museum,” Minister of State George Gerapetritis told the Guardian.

"At the moment, these are preliminary talks and, yes, I have met with the chairman of the British Museum, George Osborne [to discuss the matter]."

The news came five days after Kyriakos Mitsotakis Mitsotakis told an audience at the London School of Economics that he feels there is progress on the issue and that a solution for all is possible.

“We have seen progress,” said Mr. Mitsotakis, who has made it a cultural priority to reunite the classical statues with the sculptures that have remained in Athens. “I feel a momentum,” he added.

The dispute over the marbles - which were removed under controversial circumstances by Lord Elgin, who was then ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, of which present-day Greece was then part - has raged for more than 200 years.

The British Museum acquired the antiquities, which include 75 meters of the original 160-meter-long Parthenon frieze, in 1816, when, bankrupt, desperate and tormented by syphilis, the diplomat was forced to part with them.

Elgin, who had originally hoped to adorn his Scottish estate with the Parthenon treasures, claimed to have received a “firman” from the Ottoman authorities allowing his agents in Athens to dismantle the pieces. It has since been revealed that much of the statue was forcibly removed, with slabs now in the possession of the British Museum having been cut from the monument using saws.

The newspaper "Ta Nea" reported that the first of many backstage meetings had taken place in London between Osborne and Mitsotakis in 2021, when the Greek prime minister made the marbles the focus of talks in Downing Street with his then-counterpart Boris Johnson.

The former British Chancellor of the Exchequer then pursued further discussions, meeting with Mr. Gerapetritis and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in London.

“At least two of these meetings took place at the Greek ambassador’s residence in Mayfair. Another took place just this week at a hotel in Knightsbridge,” wrote the newspaper’s London correspondent, Yannis Andritsopoulos.

“The discussions were kept out of the public eye. The president of London’s largest museum first visited the [Greek] ambassador’s residence, at 51 Upper Brook Street, in mid-November 2021, to hold “exploratory talks” with Mitsotakis regarding the fate of the 2,500-year-old sculptures.”

The negotiations reportedly progressed further this week, when Osborne visited the Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge to meet the Greek Prime Minister “a year after their first secret meeting.”

According to the Guardian, as the rhetoric has intensified, activists, backed by growing British support for their return, have put pressure on London's leading cultural institution to change its stance.

“Smart politicians listen to their people,” said Nikos Stampolidis, the Greek academic who directs the Acropolis Museum.

"If there was a solution, Britain could be the protagonists of a moral empire, because this transcends our countries. If the marbles were reunited here in Athens, in front of the greatest symbol of democracy, it would be a great act for humanity."

Mr. Gerapetritis admitted that the talks aimed both at “establishing principles” [of the discussion] and at improving the increasingly toxic atmosphere that had been created on the issue.

“Both sides,” he said, “were aware of their ‘red lines’ and an agreement was nowhere near.”

"Although there is a common understanding, many details have not yet been settled," added the Greek Minister of State, who gave Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis the mandate to continue the talks.

Asked about his private discussions with Osborne, Mr. Gerapetritis insisted:

"The discussions are not very specific. Instead, we are trying to create a good channel of dialogue."

It is recalled that in August, the deputy director of the British Museum, Jonathan Williams, announced that the institution wished to rekindle the discussion, after UNESCO deemed it imperative to discuss the case at an intergovernmental level.

"There is room for a really dynamic and positive conversation in which new ways of working together can be found," williams Told the Sunday Times.

A statement issued by the British Museum states that "the talks are part of efforts to create a new partnership with Greece for the Parthenon."

“We will talk to anyone, including the Greek government, about how to move this forward. We operate within the law and are not going to dismantle our great collection, as it tells a unique story of our common humanity. But we are looking for new positive, long-term partnerships with countries and communities around the world, and that includes Greece of course.”

In the past, the greek government had proposed giving the United Kingdom a rotating exhibition of antiquities that has never been shown Outside greece in exchange for the parthenon Sculptures.

“There are many red lines: the 1963 law on the cession of the British Museum, the recognition of British ownership [of the marbles] for us,” said Mr. Gerapetritis, explaining that Athens would never accept the repatriation of the masterpieces as a loan.

He concluded: "There is still a long way to go, but we will continue our discussions. It is very good that we are now trying to establish a much broader collaboration with the British Museum, which concerns not only classical antiquities but also the Byzantine treasures that we would be willing to send."

With information from cnn.gr