Elgin marbles in British Museum like cutting ‘Mona Lisa in half’. Greek PM says ahead of Sunak meeting
The Greek prime minister has stated that the continued presence of the Elgin marbles in the British Museum is like cutting the “Mona Lisa in half”.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated relocating the sculptures to Athens would permit them to be appreciated “in their original setting”, a day earlier than he is because of elevate the problem in conferences with Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer.
The Labour chief is reported to assist a mortgage deal that will see the antiquities return to the place they had been carved 2,500 years in the past.
A proposed deal is being mentioned between the Greek authorities and George Osborne, the chair of the British Museum, though Mr Mitsotakis stated not as a lot progress has been made as he would have preferred.
He did seem to counsel a approach by means of the deadlock, nevertheless, by hinting that the possession of the marbles, a key supply of controversy for many years, was not at stake.
Instead, he stated was what essential was the place they need to be considered.
Asked the place what are actually formally often called the Parthenon marbles would look higher, Mr Mitsotakis instructed BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I think the answer is very clear. They do look better in the Acropolis Museum, a state-of-the-art museum that was built for that purpose.”
He went on: “This shouldn’t be in my thoughts an possession query, this can be a reunification argument, the place are you able to finest admire what is actually one monument?
“I imply, it’s as if I instructed you that you’d minimize the Mona Lisa in half, and you should have half of it on the Louvre and half of it on the British Museum, do you suppose your viewers would admire the wonder of the portray in such a approach?
“Well, that is precisely what occurred with the Parthenon sculptures and that’s the reason we preserve lobbying for a deal that will primarily be a partnership between Greece and the British Museum however would permit us to return the sculptures to Greece and have individuals admire them in their authentic setting.”
He stated he would “persist” in discussions to return them to Athens.
“We have not made as much progress as I would like in the negotiations, but again, I’m a patient man and we’ve waited for hundreds of years and I will persist in these discussions.”
Asked if it could possibly be executed inside his time as prime minister, he stated: “I would hope so,” however added that he was “just elected”.
