Rishi Sunak snubs Greek Prime Minister at the last minute in Elgin Marbles row

Elgin Marbles: Osborne on ‘deal to be done’ with Greece

Rishi Sunak has made it clear that there is one deal with the EU he will not consider after he dramatically snubbed the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis just shortly before the two were supposed to have a summit.

The British Prime Minister has put his foot down over demands that the Elgin Marbles should be returned to Greece from the British Museum.

The meeting was supposed to be talking about security, trade and mutual interests, but Mitsotakis let slip over the weekend that he intended to ambush Mr Sunak about the disputed ancient treasures, which were rescued from Athens by Lord Elgin in the 19th century.

A spokesman for the Greek prime minister told the BBC that he was “disappointed” the meeting had been cancelled “at the 11th hour”.

Downing Street confirmed Mr Sunak had cancelled the meeting.

READ MORE: Greek PM urges return of Elgin Marbles collection

Earlier, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer met Mitsotakis amid growing fears that he would send them back from the British Museum to the Parthenon as part of a deal.

Mr Mitsotakis revealed his true agenda on the Laura Kuenssberg show on Sunday when he discussed the marbles with her.

He said: “If I told you that you would cut the Mona Lisa in half, and have half at the Louvre and half at the British Museum, do you think your viewers would appreciate the beauty of the painting in such a way?”

A spokesman for the Office of the Greek Prime Minister told the BBC: “The prime minister is disappointed that Prime Minister Sunak cancelled their bilateral meeting at the 11th hour today.”

“Greece and Britain have a very deep history of friendship and cooperation, and the Greek government is extremely surprised by this decision.”

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He added: “The prime minister was looking forward to discussing a range of topics of mutual interest including the Israel-Gaza conflict, Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, climate change, as well as common challenges such as migration, and of course the Parthenon Sculptures.” 

But while the Greek Prime Minister was said to be “annoyed”, sources close to Mr Sunak made it clear Mitsotakis’ posturing over the marbles had made the meeting impossible.

A senior Conservative source said: “It became impossible for this meeting to go ahead following commentary regarding the Elgin marbles prior to 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.”

History of the Elgin Marbles

The marbles are known as the Parthenon Sculptures in Greece and are ancient Greek treasures in the British Museum brought to the UK by the British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 19th Century.

The Scottish peer oversaw their removal from Athens between 1801 and 1812 with the permission of the Ottoman governors of Athens at the time.

It was claimed he did it to protect them from being destroyed and damaged.

Once they arrived in England, Elgin sold them to the British government after which they passed into the trusteeship of the British Museum.

In 1816, by an Act of Parliament, the collection was transferred to the British Museum on the condition that it be kept together and named “the Elgin Marbles”.

The Greeks have disputed whether Elgin had permission to remove the marbles and first asked for them to be returned in 1983.

The UK government and the British Museum have already declined UNESCO’s offer of mediation.

In 2021, UNESCO called upon the UK government to resolve the issue at the intergovernmental level.

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