Amid Parthenon Dispute, Sunak Cancels Meeting With Mitsotakis / Athens accuses British PM of disrespect to Greeks as marbles row deepens /

 

Amid Parthenon Dispute, Sunak Cancels Meeting With Mitsotakis

 

After the prime minister of Greece called for the British Museum to return the Parthenon marbles, his British counterpart abruptly called off their meeting.

 

Alex Marshall Mark Landler

By Alex Marshall and Mark Landler

Reporting from London

Nov. 27, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/27/arts/parthenon-marbles-prime-minister.html

 

For the past two years, Greece’s government has conducted delicate negotiations with the British Museum over the future of the Parthenon marbles, the ancient Greek antiquities brought to Britain in the early 19th century by Lord Elgin.

 

Now, Britain’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, appears to be throwing cold water on those discussions.

 

On Monday evening, Mr. Sunak abruptly canceled a planned wide-ranging meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece, which had been scheduled for Tuesday. According to the BBC, the decision was made after Mr. Mitsotakis, appearing on British television on Sunday, called for the marbles, which include statues of Greek gods and carved frieze panels that once decorated the Parthenon, to be returned to Athens.

 

Mr. Mitsotakis said on the BBC television program that sculptures had been stolen and needed to be reunified in Athens. “Where can you best appreciate what is essentially one monument?” he said. The current situation, with the sculptures split largely between the British Museum in London and the Acropolis Museum in Athens, was unsatisfactory, he added, comparing it to cutting the Mona Lisa in half and splitting it between two museums.

 

Mr. Mitsotakis has made similar comments throughout his terms in office, and Mr. Sunak has also repeatedly stated he would not change British law to allow the sculptures, sometimes known as the Elgin Marbles, to leave the British Museum permanently.

 

In a statement, Mr. Mitsotakis said that he was dismayed that the meeting was canceled. “Greece’s positions on the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures are well known,” he said in the news release. “I was hoping to have the opportunity to discuss them with my British counterpart as well, along with the major challenges of the international moment: Gaza, Ukraine, Climate crisis, migration.”

 

Asked for the reasons the meeting was canceled, a spokeswoman for Mr. Sunak’s office sent a statement saying that the deputy prime minister was available to meet with Mr. Mitsotakis.

 

A British Museum spokeswoman said in an interview that the museum had no comment on Mr. Sunak’s decision, but that constructive talks were ongoing.

 

For Mr. Sunak, a diplomatic row with Greece is an unwelcome distraction at a time when he is dealing with a stagnant economy and a rift in his Conservative Party over immigration policy.

 

He had generally cultivated friendlier relations with other European leaders since he became prime minister last year. In February, he settled a standoff with the European Union over the post-Brexit trade status of Northern Ireland.

 

But Conservative politicians have long argued that the Parthenon sculptures are part of the permanent collection of the British Museum and cannot simply be returned to Greece, whatever their provenance.

 

On Monday evening, Giorgos Gerapetritis, Greece’s foreign minister, said during a talk at the London School of Economics that he did not think that disagreement over the sculptures’ future was a “legitimate” reason to cancel a high-level meeting.

 

Alex Marshall is a European culture reporter, based in London. More about Alex Marshall

 

Mark Landler is the London bureau chief. In three decades at The Times, he has been bureau chief in Hong Kong and Frankfurt, White House correspondent, diplomatic correspondent, European economic correspondent, and a business reporter in New York. More about Mark Landler

Athens accuses British PM of disrespect to Greeks as marbles row deepens

 

Kyriakos Mitsotakis expresses his ‘annoyance’ that Rishi Sunak called off a meeting at late notice

 

BY NEKTARIA STAMOULI

NOVEMBER 27, 2023 10:01 PM CET

https://www.politico.eu/article/greek-pm-slams-sunak-as-row-over-elgin-marbles-escalates/

 

ATHENS — A Greek government spokesman on Tuesday called British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to cancel a meeting with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis “unprecedented” and “disrespectful.”

 

“It is not something that is done,” Pavlos Marinakis told Skai TV and added that the move was “not only disrespectful to the Greek prime minister but also to the Greek people.”

 

Mitsotakis lashed out at Sunak on Monday in what would appear to be a bitter escalation of a long-running dispute over the Parthenon Marbles.

 

The two were scheduled to meet Tuesday, but Sunak called off their meeting late Monday, a move Greek government officials attribute to Mitsotakis’ recent strong insistence upon the return of the ancient sculptures from the British Museum.

 

“I express my annoyance that the British prime minister canceled our planned meeting just hours before it was due to take place,” Mitsotakis said. Spokesperson Marinakis added that, “We are assuming the obvious, that he was annoyed by comments reiterating the country’s fixed position on the return of the Parthenon Sculptures.”

 

“Anyone who believes in the rightness and justice of his positions is never afraid of confronting arguments,” Mitsotaks added on Monday, noting that Greece’s position on the issue of the so-called Elgin Marbles was well known.

 

The marble sculptures were removed from Athens by diplomat and art aficionado Lord Elgin in the 19th century and have been housed in London since then.

 

Campaigners — most famously the late singer and actress Melina Mercouri — have for years called for their return to Greece, and talks between the museum and Greek officials were held last year to discuss a potential loan arrangement. In March, however, Sunak ruled out any change to current legislation that stops the British Museum handing the marbles back to Greece permanently.

 

On Saturday, the Financial Times said Mitsotakis would discuss the issue with U.K. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer who says he wouldn’t block a potential agreement that would see parts of the sculptures loaned to Greece should he become prime minister.

 

On Sunday, Mitsotakis then bewailed the lack of progress on the issue in an interview with the BBC.

 

The Greek PM was uninvited to his meeting with Sunak around the time he met Starmer Monday evening — with the Tories eager to suggest the Labour leader was soft on the marbles.

 

A senior Conservative told POLITICO’s London Playbook that, “Starmer sold out to secure a meeting. It’s naive on his part and shows how little regard he has for British taxpayers who have looked after these for generations. Starmer is up to his old tricks of just telling the person in front of him what they want to hear.”

 

An insider close to the Starmer-Mitsotakis talks told Playbook the issue was “discussed, but wasn’t the focal point of the meeting.” They added that Labour sees the matter as one for the British Museum and the Greeks, not the U.K. government.

 

Downing Street confirmed Sunak didn’t have any public-facing meetings on Tuesday and that Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden was due to meet Mitsotakis. But rather than accept the switcheroo, Mitsotakis declined to meet Dowden and left with a stinging rebuke of the British government.

 

This article has been updated.

 

Rosa Prince contributed reporting.

Rishi Sunak’s Greek tragedy

BY ROSA PRINCE

NOVEMBER 28, 2023 8:00 AM CET

By ROSA PRINCE

https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/london-playbook/rishi-sunaks-greek-tragedy/

 

RISHI LOSES HIS MARBLES: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is at the center of a diplomatic storm this morning after canceling a planned meeting with Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a spat over some cold, dead artworks. Playbook got a sniff of the brewing row when No. 10 reached out to say the planned prime ministerial tête-à-tête would instead feature Deputy PM Oliver Dowden, which seemed … odd, given Mitsotakis had said on telly he was due to meet Sunak. An hour or so later, the Greek PM announced he was cutting short his trip and heading home.

 

You say Parthenon Sculptures, I say Elgin Marbles: The row was triggered after Mitsotakis appeared on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, where he was outspoken about his distress at many of the sculptures still present in the British Museum. “It’s as if I told you that you would cut the Mona Lisa in half and you would have half of it at the Louvre and half of it at the British Museum,” he lamented, adding “this is exactly what happened with the Parthenon Sculptures.”

 

All Greek to me: Sunak is said to have been “irritated” by Mitsotakis’ words, so much so that he took the extraordinary step of calling off their talks, due at 12.45 p.m. today, while the Greek leader was halfway through a three-day trip to London. The Beeb’s Chris Mason quoted a “senior Conservative source” saying: “It became impossible for this meeting to go ahead following commentary regarding the Elgin Marbles prior to it.”

 

Undiplomatic: Rather than accept the switcheroo, Mitsotakis declined to meet Dowden and delivered a stinging rebuke: “I express my annoyance that the British prime minister cancelled our planned meeting just hours before it was due to take place. Anyone who believes in the rightness and justice of his positions is never afraid of confronting arguments.” My colleague Nektaria Stamouli has a write-up.

 

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(Ancient) culture wars: The Greek PM was uninvited to tea with Rishi round about the time he was meeting Keir Starmer Monday evening — with the Tories eager to suggest the Labour leader was soft on the marbles. An insider close to the talks told Playbook the issue was “discussed, but wasn’t the focal point of the meeting.” They added that Labour sees the matter as one for the British Museum and the Greeks, not the U.K. government.

 

Ouch: A Labour spokesperson said of Sunak’s decision not to meet Mitsotakis: “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.”

 

But but but: A senior Conservative highlighted recent reports, briefed out over the weekend, that Starmer is “open” to the return of the marbles if an arrangement can be agreed between the museum and the Greeks. They added: “Starmer sold out to secure a meeting. It’s naive on his part and shows how little regard he has for British taxpayers who have looked after these for generations. Starmer is up to his old tricks of just telling the person in front of him what they want to hear.”

 

Hitting back: Labour said by pulling out of the meeting Sunak had missed an opportunity to discuss illegal immigration with a key European ally. The insider added: “Keir and the Greek PM discussed immigration in their meeting so you’ve got the leader of the opposition as the U.K. voice on all these important issues.”

 

Hot takes: Political X was divided, with some saying the government had massively messed up with the mega snub to the Greeks, and others arguing Labour had walked into a trap by appearing shaky over the marbles. A third and vocal group asked whether all of the above is the grandaddy of dead cats designed to distract from stuff the government really doesn’t want to talk about: we’re looking at you, James Cleverly.

 

Playbook won’t be falling for that one: The full story of the home secretary’s travails follow.

 

But first more on the marbles: The Parthenon Project, which is working with both sides to try to find a joint solution that sees the sculpture reunified in Athens, said it was disappointed by the sudden collapse in talks. A spokesperson said: “It’s a shame the British prime minister feels he can’t discuss the subject of the Elgin Marbles with the Greek prime minister, especially given how much both countries stand to gain from a sensible resolution on this matter and the level public support for reunification.”

 

Look away now, Rishi Sunak: The Times leader column calls for the sculptures to be reunited and displayed “in their natural habitat.”

 

Want to know more about Mitsotakis? My POLITICO Colleague Anne McElvoy interviewed him for her Power Play podcast last month.

 

And now read this: Another top colleague, Graham Lanktree, wrote this fabulous POLITICO feature back in May on the knotty geo-diplomacy of countries returning (or not returning) stolen artefacts to their rightful place — focused on the famously cursed Koh-i-Noor diamond which is part of the Crown Jewels.

 

What else is in Sunak’s diary today? Not much, except the usual 9.30 a.m. Cabinet meeting.