“After all he was indignant … Look, Greece is a proud nation. It has a protracted historical past. Mitsotakis represents that nation,” Tsiodras instructed non-public community Mega tv.
Greek left-wing opposition chief Stefanos Kasselakis additionally mentioned Sunak’s motion was unacceptable.
“The case of the Parthenon Sculptures is a matter that goes past the Greek Prime Minister as a person and past celebration variations,” he wrote on X, previously often known as Twitter. “It’s a nationwide subject that considerations the historical past of a whole folks. And it’s a ethical subject in regards to the shameless theft of cultural wealth from its pure setting.”
Athens has lengthy demanded the return of sculptures that had been faraway from Greece by British diplomat Lord Elgin within the early nineteenth century. A part of friezes that adorned the two,500-year-old Parthenon temple on the Acropolis, the Elgin Marbles – as they’re identified in Britain – have been displayed on the British Museum in London for greater than two centuries. The rest of the friezes are in a purpose-built museum in Athens.
The British Museum is banned by regulation from giving the sculptures again to Greece, however its leaders have held talks with Greek officers a few compromise, comparable to a long-term mortgage.
Earlier this 12 months, museum chairman George Osborne – Treasury chief in a earlier Conservative UK authorities – mentioned the discussions had been “constructive.”
Tsiodras mentioned Tuesday that discussions “are ongoing with the British Museum for the return – I ought to say the reunification – of the marbles to Athens.”
“I don’t suppose the hassle stops there,” he mentioned. “Clearly, there are home causes and 2024 is an election 12 months and (Sunak) is sort of behind within the polls … However the dialogue with the British Museum is ongoing.”
Sunak’s authorities seems to have hardened its place, nonetheless.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper mentioned that “the federal government set out its place in regards to the Elgin Marbles very clearly, which is they need to keep as a part of the everlasting assortment of the British Museum”.
