Parthenon friezes: Greece would conduct "secret talks" with the British Museum

The fate of the most coveted marbles in the world would be decided for several months, in a sibylline discretion.

According to the Greek national daily

about

a

of the Parthenon friezes have been taking place for a year between the president of the British Museum, George Osborne, and the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“

,” the newspaper revealed, adding that George Osborne would also have met two Greek ministers.

The last of these meetings would have taken place this week in a hotel in the Knightsbridge district, in the center of the British capital.

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“The former Chancellor of the Exchequer is said to have met the Greek Prime Minister, a year after their first secret meeting, while Mr Mitsotakis was in London promoting Greek industry and economic interests in Britain” ,

says the newspaper.

London for a “new partnership”

On Monday, Kyriakos Mitsotakis took part in an event at the London School of Economics (LSE) and expressed optimism about a solution leading to a

of the Parthenon marbles, in Athens, one of the sites of the 5th century BC the most visited in the world.

It is possible that a mutually beneficial solution will be found, the sculptures of the Parthenon can be reunified taking into account at the same time the concerns of the British Museum.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greek Prime Minister

On this occasion, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, during a discussion with Kevin Featherstone, professor of modern Greek studies and director of the Hellenic Observatory at LSE, that a return of the marbles was possible and that he expected to progress on this issue, while not wishing to take a public position.

“It is possible that a mutually advantageous solution will be found, the sculptures of the Parthenon can be reunified taking into account at the same time the concerns of the British Museum

, had added Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

”.

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According to the daily

, "

".

The newspaper stresses, however, that an agreement remains to be finalized and that Greek officials have warned

In a press release published on Saturday, the British Museum claims to want

and to be willing to talk about it with Athens, without providing details.

nevertheless underlined the institution.

An exile of more than two centuries

George Osborne had declared himself open, in mid-June, to the principle of an agreement with Athens to share the marbles of the Parthenon.

he said on LBC radio.

Asked if an agreement could be reached to see the marbles exhibited for a time in Greece and then return to London, he felt that

would be possible, “

”.

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Since the beginning of the 20th century, Greece has officially requested the restitution, without success, of a 75-meter frieze detached from the Parthenon as well as one of the famous caryatids from the Erechtheion, a small ancient temple also on the rock of the Acropolis. , both masterpieces of the British Museum.

London claims the sculptures were

in 1802 by British diplomat Lord Elgin who sold them to the British Museum.

But Greece maintains that they were the object of

while the country was under Ottoman occupation.

The influential British daily

, which has always been a strong supporter of the British Museum, spoke out in January in favor of a return.