British Museum refuses to lose its marbles

Published on 12 June 2009 at 15:11

"English get a slap". Just days before the inauguration of the New Acropolis Museum in Athens on the June 20th, the long-running Anglo-Greek dispute about the return of the Elgin marbles to the Parthenon has made the front page of To Ethnos' cultural supplement. Greek minister of Culture, Antonis Samaras has refused the loan offer made by the English which goes on the condition that Greece recognises the British Museum's right to ownership of this cultural treasure. "To accept this offer would be tantamount to legalising the theft of these marbles and the dismantling of the Parthenon 207 years ago," explains the Minister, quoted by the daily. But the door is still open because Greece has proposed to "keep negociating" so that "this void left by the marbles remaining at the British Museum be properly filled."

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