“We have come a long way, progress has been made and efforts continue; negotiations are not easy.” This was stated by Greek government spokesman Yiannis Oikonomou during the daily meeting with the press, when answering questions about the negotiations between Athens and the British Museum on the possible return of the famous Parthenon friezes.
Negotiations are “ongoing,” according to the government spokesman, aimed at the “permanent return” of the marbles as Greece “does not recognize ownership of the British Museum,” as Oikonomou clarified. For Athens, the sculptures that adorned the facade of the temple on the Acropolis were stolen when the country was under Ottoman occupation, while for London, the marbles were “legally acquired” by the British diplomat Lord Elgin in 1802, who then sold them to the British Museum.
In recent days the British press, and in particular the Daily Telegraph, have written of an imminent agreement to return the statues in the form of a “cultural exchange” and “long-term loan” which would allow the London museum to circumvent what was being imposed by British law Ban on dismantling one’s own collection.
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