The Parthenon Marbles have again become a flashpoint in UK-Greece relations, after former British Prime Minister Liz Truss and lobbying group Great British PAC threatened legal action over alleged “covert” plans to return the sculptures to Athens.
In a letter to Labour leader Keir Starmer, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, and British Museum trustees, the group demanded a halt to negotiations.
Campaigners claimed an “accelerating campaign” is underway to remove the Marbles, acquired by the British Museum in 1816 after they were ripped off the Acropolis by Lord Elgin.
The intervention drew criticism from archaeologists and experts, including Oxford professor Dan Hicks, who called the claims a “desperate culture-warrior exercise” and questioned the PAC’s transparency.
Illicit antiquities expert Christos Tsirogiannis said most Britons support the Marbles’ return and warned the letter harms UK-Greece relations.
Negotiations between Greece and the British Museum have been ongoing since 2021.
A cultural partnership involving loans of major artworks has reportedly been discussed as a possible framework for resolution. The British Museum says talks remain “ongoing and constructive.”
Source: The Guardian.
