Will Sunak's Elgin Marbles Snub to the Greek PM Affect UK-Greece Bilateral Relations?

Britain and Greece are caught in a fresh diplomatic row over the Parthenon Sculptures, popularly known as the Elgin Marbles. On Tuesday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis alleged that British Minister Rishi Sunak cancelled a state meeting last minute over the Elgin Marbles issue.

The famous Elgin Marbles are ancient Greek sculptures taken from the Parthenon temple by Thomas Bruce, the seventh Earl of Elgin. The marbles now in the British Museum have been a long-standing issue between the UK and Greece.

Greece has categorically said that the 5th century BC Elgin Marbles should be returned to them. However, London says that is completely off the table.

The UK government revealed that the meeting was arranged on the condition that Greece would not raise the Elgin Marbles issue which they broke.

However, Mitsotakis insisted Greece didn't break any promise and he was "deeply disappointed by the abrupt cancellation" of the meeting. The Greek Prime Minister had rejected the offer of meeting the Deputy Prime Minister.

The UK government has confirmed that the meeting between the two heads of state was cancelled and an alternative meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden was offered to the Greek PM.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Keir Starmer criticised the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's decision of cancelling the meeting. According to Starmer, the PM should have discussed and raised the issue in the meeting instead of cancelling.

Earlier the Greek Prime Minister told the BBC that the Elgin Marbles should be returned as having the sculptures in two different geographical locations (London and Athens) is similar to dividing the Mona Lisa into two halves.

Speaking to reporters in London, the Greek Prime Minister said: "Those who firmly believe in the correctness and justice of their positions are never hesitant to engage in constructive argumentation and debate."

"Greece and Britain share longstanding ties of friendship, and the scope of our bilateral relations is extensive," Mitsotakis added.

The Greek Prime Minister further explained Greece's stand regarding the Parthenon Sculptures by saying: "Our positions on the matter of the Parthenon Sculptures are well-known."

Mitsotakis alleged that he was hoping to discuss global challenges like the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip along with the climate crisis and migration issues in the meeting.

The Greek government sources revealed that Mitsotakis is baffled and annoyed by the snub by Rishi Sunak while the Sunak government says that the Greek PM's BBC discussion regarding the Elgin Marbles irritated the British PM.

While Labour is up against arms regarding the diplomatic row, the Tory sources said: "It became impossible for this meeting to go ahead following commentary regarding the Elgin Marbles before it."

"Our position is clear – the Elgin Marbles are part of the permanent collection of the British Museum and belong here. It is reckless for any British politician to suggest that this is subject to negotiation," said Conservative sources.

Before the cancelled meeting with the Rishi Sunak, Mitsotakis met Labour leader Keir Starmer who earlier said he was ready to discuss the Elgin Marbles issue.

While the Tories alleged that Keir Starmer's decision to meet the Greek Prime Minister was naive given his views on the issue, Labour thinks that a loan arrangement between the British Museum and Athens could be arranged.

Sunak faces the opposition and within the party

Situations got rather tense in the parliament on Wednesday when Opposition leader Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak engaged in a debate over the issue where the Prime Minister accused the Greek PM of grandstanding.

Starmer stressed Greece was a NATO member and an economic ally of Britain in tackling illegal immigration and hence the meeting was crucial.

"Instead of using a meeting with him to discuss those serious issues, the prime minister tried to humiliate him and cancelled at the last minute," said Starmer.

The labour leader questioned why Rishi Sunak is playing such small politics. To which the British PM retaliated by stating: "Of course, we're always happy to discuss important topics of substance with our allies, like tackling illegal migration or indeed strengthening our security."

"But when it was clear that the purpose of a meeting was not to discuss substantive issues for the future, but rather to grandstand and relitigate issues of the past, it was inappropriate," said Sunak.

Sunak further elaborated on how Greece made specific commitments and assurances.

"Specific commitments and assurances were made to this country and then were broken, it may seem alien to him, but my view is when people make commitments they should keep them," said Sunak.

The UK Prime Minister accused Keir Starmer of cooperating with the EU more than Britain. According to Sunak Starmer seems to be backing "Brussels over Britain every single time".

This comes at a time when Sunak gave the go-ahead to the Rwanda deportation plan.

The Labour leader alleged that the PM is equating meeting with the Greek PM as supporting the EU instead of discussing critical issues.

"Instead of dealing with the facts, he is prosecuting his one-man war on reality," said Starmer.

Sunak is also facing criticism within the party as many Tory MPs are baffled by the Prime Minister's public spat over the Elgin Marbles.

A former cabinet minister described Sunak's foreign affairs handling as "lousy", saying, "Mr Sunak is lousy at foreign affairs and would not have known the impact of such a snub".

MPs within the party wondered why the Prime Minister is still "banging on" about the 200-year-old Elgin Marbles agreement when it needs to focus on Labour's spending plans.

"Every meeting we have with the Greeks involves us taking the same lines. And they also have theirs," the MP added, emphasising how long the UK and Greece have disagreed about the sculptures.

Meanwhile, the Greek Prime Minister assured on Wednesday that the cancellation of the meeting with Rishi Sunak won't affect the UK-Greece bilateral relations in the long run.

The Greek PM said both the countries have significant historical depth in their relationship which would not be negatively affected by this snub.

Mitsotakis chose to look on the bright side of it by saying it was beneficial for the Greek people as "the fair request of Greece for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures gained even more publicity, not only in the UK but also to the global public opinion".

Greek foreign minister Giorgos Gerapetritis hoped that the two countries would work together to find a solution to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece.

Gerapetritis held a meeting with Lord Cameron on Tuesday where he said: "The reunification of the Parthenon sculpture is a claim based not only on history and justice but also on ecumenical cultural value."

Loan arrangement for the Elgin Marbles

The UK government maintains that there are no plans to change the 1963 British Museum Act which prevents removing objects from the institution.

However, a loan arrangement between the British and Athens wouldn't require any change of law and could be arranged irrespective of the UK government's view of the matter.

Most Tory MPs believe the loan arrangement to be a slippery slope for the country.

The Tories are of the opinion that Keir Starmer is ignoring the contributions of generations of UK taxpayers who paid for the safety of the Elgin Marbles, ensuring they are visible to the world.

Labour made it clear that their position regarding the Elgin Marbles was long-standing. Terming Rishi Sunak's behaviour 'pathetic' labour sources said they wouldn't change the law to permanently move the sculptures from the British Museum.

Some labour MPs called the UK government's handling of the issue a "bizarre piece of culture war theatre".

"If the prime minister isn't able to meet with a European ally with whom Britain has important economic ties, this is further proof he isn't able to provide the serious economic leadership our country requires. Keir Starmer's Labour Party stands ready," said a Labour source.

The Parthenon Marbles stand

with the Kohinoor Diamond in the global debate of returning artefacts to their country of origin from museums around the world. However, Britain has always maintained such high-profile artefacts can't be returned.

The sculptures were removed from the Parthenon temple in Athens by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century. In 1816, the then-British government bought them and put them in the British Museum. The marble figures decorated the 2500-year-old temple created by Greek sculptor Phidias.

Over a decade ago, the Greek government built the Parthenon Gallery at the Acropolis Museum to showcase sculptures from the temple. It combines original marble sculptures along with plaster copies of the sculptures held in the British Museum.

Now, the British Museum trustees are exploring the possibilities of a loan arrangement with the Acropolis Museum.

George Osborne, the Chair of Trustees said that the museum is looking for a loan arrangement so that the Elgin Marbles can be housed at the Acropolis Museum for some time.

Earlier in October, Osborne told the Culture Committee that any loan arrangement would see objects from Greece coming to Britain for the first time.

It is believed that we are months away from such a loan arrangement.