Mitsotakis: Parthenon Sculptures' Return Belongs in UK-EU Talks
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in Athens on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, that the return of the Parthenon sculptures by the United Kingdom would be part of any future discussion on closer ties between London and the European Union. He argued the dispute is not merely a bilateral issue, but an issue for Europe.
Greece says the sculptures were taken in 1802 by Thomas Bruce, Lord Elgin, then the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. London maintains they were legally acquired. The sculptures have been held by the British Museum for more than two centuries, and years of negotiations between Athens and the museum have yielded no progress.
Athens is proposing a cultural partnership and temporary access to other Greek archaeological artefacts if the museum were to send the sculptures back. Mitsotakis said he would promote this solution in relations with the new British government. Greece will take over the rotating presidency of the EU in the second half of 2027, giving Athens an opening to place the issue on the European agenda.
The case is complicated by British legislation: a 1963 law restricts the British Museum's ability to sell or give away objects from its collection, and permanent restitution would require Parliament's intervention. With legal and political hurdles in place, the fate of the Parthenon sculptures is set to remain a long-running theme of Greek cultural diplomacy.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 帕特农神庙雕塑（馆藏）。照片：Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net).，CC BY-SA 4.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons（At the British Museum 2024 079.jpg）
