UK Under-Secretary of State Wendy Morton met with Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis on Tuesday 06 April 2021. Minister Varvitsiotis tweeted:
‘Standing together, we continue to deepen our strategic partnership & to strengthen our historic ties in order to jointly address the common challenges of the future.’

“Greece and the United Kingdom are working together to create very strong relations following Brexit and to shape the future strategic partnership between the two states,” Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis stressed following his meeting with the UK Under-Secretary of State, Minister for European Neighbourhood and the Americas, Wendy Morton. The talks focused on the reopening of tourism, the Cyprus issue, cooperation on the migration issue, and security issues in the Eastern Mediterranean. Mr. Varvitsiotis also raised the issue of the Parthenon Marbles.

Mr. Varvitsiotis also raised an issue that, as he said, every Greek politician has a duty to raise: the Parthenon Marbles. More specifically, he stressed  that the Parthenon Marbles must be repatriated and reunited with the Global Heritage Monument of the Parthenon, especially following the opening of the Acropolis Museum, which is ready to welcome the Marbles “back to their home.”

To read the full press release of this meeting, follow the link here.

Greece continues to place the issue of the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles as a permanent request to the UK. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias met with his counter part Dominic Raab, in London earlier on this year, on 02 February 2021 and also broached the subject of the sculptures from the Parthenon in the British Museum. During this meeting, both Ministers reaffirmed the strength of the UK-Greece relationship, noting 2021 marks 200 years since the beginning of the struggle that led to the foundation of the modern Greek state, in which the UK played a key role. The Ministers also discussed proposals for new initiatives to deepen UK-Greece co-operation, including in the fields of education, cultural exchange and defence.

Greece strongly supports the return and restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin and highly appreciates the work and achievements of the UNESCO ICPRCP Intergovernmental Committee, where the issue of the Parthenon Marbles is constantly examined since 1984.

In this context, Greece was disappointed that the United Kingdom refused to accept its request to initiate a mediation process on the Sculptures from the Parthenon through the relevant UNESCO Rules , despite the respective Recommendation of ICPRCP.

Despite the fact that, between 1984 and 2018, the ICPRCP adopted at least 16 Recommendations calling for the return of the Parthenon Marbles, the British side appears, to Greece’s regret, not to have seriously considered as yet the possibility of resolving the dispute over the sculptures of the Parthenon that are in the British Museum.

Aside from the British arguments, Greece's long-standing request to re-house the surviving sculptures of a unique world heritage monument, a 'wonder of the world', will continue to be made at every opportunity possible. Greece remains convinced that fairness will prevail. With that in mind, Greece continues to invite the British Government to reconsider its stand.

Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marble, Janet Suzman, continues to also look for a deeper, more meaningful exchange of discourse between Greece and the UK. "When we consider that Lord Elgin referred to the sculptures as 'stones of no value', it begs the question as to why, after 200 plus years, we cannot find our generosity of spirit and see the huge merit of reuniting these peerless sculptures in the Acropolis Museum. A donation to Greece of what is in Room 18 would support the long history shared by the UK with Greece. There is so much more to be gained in finding a way to facilitate such a donation than to be using arguments that are out of step with the times and global opinion."