A visitor studies part of the Elgin Marbles collection at the British Museum
Credit: GRAHAM BARCLAY /Bloomberg News
Britain will not be returning the Elgin Marbles because they were “legally acquired”, Boris Johnson told a Greek newspaper this week, in his first comments on the long-running cultural row as prime minister.
Describing himself as “a keen scholar of Greek history”, Mr Johnson said he understood the feelings of many Greeks about the controversial issue but that Britain had a "firm and long-standing" position on the 2,500-year-old Parthenon sculptures.
"They were acquired legally by Lord Elgin, in line with the laws that were in force at that time," he told Ta Nea in an interview published on Friday.
“They have been legally owned by the British Museum’s trustees since their acquisition.”
The British Museum's Elgin Marbles being handled by porters after being stored in an underground tunnel for safety during the Second World War
Credit: PA
British diplomat Lord Elgin removed the sculptures from the Parthenon temple in Athens in the early 19th century while Greece was under Ottoman rule. He later sold them to the British Government for £35,000.
Greece has long called for the repatriation of the ancient treasures, which form half of a 160-meter (525-foot) frieze that adorned the 5th century BC monument.
It argues that reunification of the pieces is crucial to understanding the entire artwork in its original context and has built a state-of-the-art new Acropolis Museum in which to house them.
A crane moves a 2.3-ton marble block part of the Parthenon frieze from the old Acropolis Museum to the state-of-the-art new Acropolis Museum in 2007
Credit: THANASSIS STAVRAKIS /AP
But the British Museum has repeatedly rebuffed any attempts to relocate them, saying that they were acquired under a legal contract with the Ottoman Empire and are part of everyone’s "shared heritage".
The Greek government has stepped up pressure for their return in recent years, however, including offering to lend important artefacts to London in exchange for the marbles going on display in Athens this spring to mark the 200th anniversary of the founding of the modern Greek state.
Part of the Elgin Marbles collection at the British Museum
Credit: GRAHAM BARCLAY /Bloomberg News
Greece’s Culture Minister Lina Mendoni last year branded Elgin a "serial thief" who used illegal tactics to take the marbles.
The subject was reportedly even included in preliminary Brexit discussions, with the EU demanding that the UK “address issues relating to the return or restitution of unlawfully removed cultural objects to their countries of origin.”
The UK said the topic was not up for discussion as part of trade negotiations.
Boris Johnson pictured before an address by then-Greek minister for culture Melina Mercouri on the Elgin Marbles at the University of Oxford in 1986
Credit: Reuters
Mr Johnson’s view on the Elgin Marbles is well known.
In 2014, the former Classics student famously said, “Someone urgently needs to restore George Clooney’s marbles” after the Hollywood actor said it was “probably the right thing” to give the artworks back to Greece.
Mr Johnson, who was Mayor of London at the time, said Clooney was advocating a “Hitlerian agenda for London’s cultural treasures” because the Nazis had had plans to do the same thing.
“He should stuff the Hollywood script and stick to history,” he added.
Clooney’s wife Amal, a lawyer, was also briefly hired by the Greek government as a legal advisor to help secure the marbles’ return.
Amal Clooney during a visit to the Parthenon hall at the new Acropolis Museum in 2014
Credit: Getty Images Europe
In his first interview with a European newspaper since becoming prime minister, Mr Johnson also spoke about Brexit and Britain’s foreign policy ambitions.
He said he was proud of the UK’s trade agreement with the EU, calling it "the biggest yet", and said the goal now was to build a “global Britain”.
"We have committed to being a nation which shares burdens and solves problems, which, without receding from its position on the global stage, stands next to its friends and allies to confront common challenges.”
“This philosophy will be particularly important in our attempt to secure global recovery and build back on strong foundations after the Covid pandemic.”
Mr Johnson said he wanted to use the UK’s presidency of the G7 this year to “encourage global action on vaccines and global health, as well as to defend our democratic values in issues such as the coup in Myanmar and the breach of human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.”
He said Brexit had allowed the UK to act “quickly and decisively” in its foreign policy, pointing to the fact that it was the first European country to impose sanctions on Belarus following disputed elections last summer.
Last September, the UK imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on eight individuals from the Belarusian regime, including longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko and his son Victor.
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