Parthenon Marbles row: Sunak under fire over
handling of fallout
UK Labour and Greek politicians weigh in on battle
over Parthenon Sculptures.
BY JOHN
JOHNSTON AND NEKTARIA STAMOULI
NOVEMBER
29, 2023 3:05 PM CET
LONDON —
Rishi Sunak was accused of “losing his marbles” over his handling of a major
diplomatic spat with Greece.
Opposition
Labour leader Keir Starmer launched a pun-filled barrage against Sunak at this
week’s session of prime minister’s questions as the row between the U.K. and
Greece over custody of the ancient Parthenon Marbles — known as the Elgin
Marbles in the U.K. — deepens.
Greek Prime
Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reacted separately, saying Sunak’s decision to
abruptly cancel their meeting late on Monday evening was “unfortunate,” but
gave Greece’s demand for the return of the Parthenon Marbles even more
international publicity.
“It was an
unfortunate event,” Mitsotakis said Wednesday during a meeting with Greek
President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, but expressed confidence that it would not
have any impact on bilateral ties.
Back in the
Commons, Starmer accused Sunak of engaging in “small politics” for canceling
the meeting with Mitsotakis over his decision to raise the issue of the
historic artefacts, adding: “Never mind the British Museum — it’s the prime
minister who has obviously lost his marbles.”
The marble
sculptures were removed from Athens by diplomat and art aficionado Lord Elgin
in the 19th century and have been housed in the British Museum since then,
despite high-profile campaigning for their return.
London and
Athens have been locked in a briefing war over the canceled visit all week,
with Sunak’s No. 10 Downing Street claiming the Greek prime minister went back
on a promise not to raise the issue of the sculptures’ return at a bilateral
this week — and Mitsotakis’ team hotly disputing that.
Tory MPs —
some of whom are already concerned with their leader’s handling of the
diplomatic spat — sat glum-faced as Starmer quipped that, in an effort to
distract from his failures, the PM had spent the week “arguing about an ancient
relic that only a tiny minority of the British public have any interest in.”
“But that’s
enough about the Tory party,” he added.
Sunak
defended his actions and accused his Greek counterpart of “grandstanding” over
the issue, before going on to claim it was no surprise that Starmer was
“backing an EU country over Britain.”
Greek tragedy
The dispute
led to No. 10 Downing Street accusing Mitsotakis of using his planned trip “as
a public platform to re-litigate long-settled matters.”
Greek
officials say there was never an “agreement” between the two sides not to
discuss the issue and believe Sunak’s move was driven by political expediency.
“If Hamas
can converse with Israel then Sunak can converse with Mitsotakis too,” Greek
Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said at an event at the London School of
Economics (LSE) on Monday.
Gerapetritis
met the U.K.’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron, at the latter’s request, on the
sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.
“The demand
for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures is a demand that arises from
law, from history and from universal cultural values,” Gerapetritis said on
Wednesday.
“Regardless
of this, it is our belief that bilateral relations between Greece and the UK
should be good and we will work with my counterpart in this direction.”
Sunak and
Mitsotakis will both attend the COP28 climate summit in Dubai later this week.
Nektaria
Stamouli contributed reporting from Athens.
This story
has been updated.
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