Speaking in Athens, British Museum Chair and former UK Chancellor George Osborne said he is encouraged about striking an agreement on the Parthenon sculptures, so long as the talks start with give-and-take. "I'm still optimistic that we can reach an agreement," he said in an interview, adding, "If everyone enters into it with the spirit of we're not going to get everything we want, as is always the case with a successful agreement, then there's a deal to be done."
On Tuesday he framed a possible outcome plainly: "I very much hope we can come to some arrangement whereby the Parthenon sculptures that are in London can be seen in Athens but they have to be shared." He noted, "I know that's not the position of everyone in Greece, and I understand that and respect that, but that is our position, and so if we want to make progress, it has to be in that spirit." Osborne also said he respects the strength of feeling in Greece.
This rift has lingered for close to 200 years. The 5th century BC works, widely known as the Elgin Marbles, were taken in the early 1800s by representatives of the 7th Earl of Elgin from Athens' Acropolis. Elgin had previously served as Britain's ambassador in Constantinople, which at the time was the Ottoman Empire's capital while Greece remained under Ottoman control. He later sold the pieces to the British government, which placed them under the care of the British Museum in London.
Since 1832, when Greece secured independence from the Ottomans, the country has consistently sought the return of the sculptures and friezes crafted by the ancient sculptor Phidias. The campaign has accelerated in recent years, helped by the construction of a purpose-built museum in anticipation of their homecoming.
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Osborne has been working on a compromise since he became British Museum chair in 2021. In early 2023, he nearly secured a deal to phase the marbles into Greece under a cultural-exchange framework, yet more than three years after taking the role there is still no agreement.
Athens and London remain apart on fundamentals. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote in a September Guardian op ed that "Greece cannot accept any arrangement that would require it to recognize the British Museum's ownership of the sculptures, or a scheme that would mean we 'borrow' parts of our own monument." Before entering office, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in 2023 the pieces should go back to Greece "no strings attached." He told the Financial Times in August that the issue rests with the British Museum.
Cultural diplomacy does not usually move markets, but it does shape tourism, national branding, and museum partnerships. If the two sides land on a sharing model, expect more long-run collaborations that pull in global audiences. Osborne's own vision is for the pieces to be viewable in both cities and interpreted in two ways - the story of ancient Greece and Athens, and in London alongside artifacts that set them within the history of many civilizations.
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