As the prime ministers of Britain and Greece met in London yesterday for an agenda expected to include the Parthenon marbles, talks with the British Museum are said to be closer than ever to an agreement for their return to Athens.
On his first visit to Britain since Keir Starmer’s Labour government came to power in July, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that he is “firmly convinced” that the priceless sculptures would be returned to Athens more than two centuries after their departure for London.
“I am firmly convinced that the friezes will be returned. Discussions with the British Museum are continuing,” Mitsotakis told ANT1 TV on Saturday.
Photo: AP
However, he stressed that the talks in search of a solution to a historical dispute that has poisoned bilateral relations for more than 50 years “do not concern the British government, but the British Museum.”
British officials say that the government’s position on the marbles has not changed and that they remain a matter for the British Museum.
A spokesman for Starmer said the prime minister “looks forward to welcoming Mitsotakis to Downing Street,” where he would underline the importance of a strong UK-Greece bilateral relationship.
“He will discuss ... joint work on tackling the shared challenge of illegal migration and other priorities, including support for Ukraine [and] a ceasefire in Gaza for regional stability in the Middle East,” the spokesman said.
Britain’s Sky News on Monday reported that Mitsotakis and Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs George Gerapetritis had held “private meetings” with British Museum officials, including chairman George Osborne, on “two or three occasions” this year.
Mitsotakis’ spokesman later in the day denied that the Greek leader had taken part in private meetings, but said the issue would “obviously” come up in the meeting with Starmer.
British media have reported that Starmer is much more open to the return of the ancient masterpieces to Athens than his predecessor, former British prime minister Rishi Sunak. The latter had dealt a diplomatic slap in the face to Mitsotakis a year ago by canceling a planned meeting between them at the last minute. The move came after Mitsotakis made comments that apparently upset Downing Street.
The Greek leader, an ardent campaigner for the return of the marbles, had told the BBC ahead the Sunak meeting that keeping part of the Parthenon friezes outside Greece was tantamount to “cut[ting] the Mona Lisa in half.”
Starmer, then head of the opposition, later told parliament that Sunak had “obviously lost his marbles” in canceling the meeting.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
US president-elect Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China he sits in divine contemplation. Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of the divisive US leader-in-waiting is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi (洪金世). The Zen-like figures — which Hong sells for between 999 and 20,000 yuan (US$136 to US$2,728) depending on their size — first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting national headlines. Ahead of the real-estate magnate’s inauguration for a second term on Monday next week,
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS