Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he was “annoyed” by the last-minute cancelation of a meeting with his British counterpart, Rishi Sunak, because of comments he made in a television interview about the status of the Parthenon Sculptures.
Mitsotakis, who arrived in the UK over the weekend, was due to meet with Sunak on Tuesday before the meeting was abruptly shelved.
The Greek prime minister said in a statement shared by his office on Monday that he was “annoyed that the British Prime Minister canceled our scheduled meeting just hours before it was due to take place,” adding that “Greece and the UK are united by traditional ties of friendship,” and that his country’s position on the Parthenon Sculptures — currently housed by the British Museum in London — is “well-known.”
“Whoever believes in the correctness and justice of their views, is never afraid of opposing arguments,” he added.
Greece has repeatedly called for the return of the sculptures, which British diplomat Lord Elgin removed from the Parthenon temple in Athens in the early 19th century, when he was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
On Sunday, Mitsotakis told the BBC in an interview that the sculptures were “essentially stolen,” and that his government would continue to lobby for a deal and push for a “partnership” with the UK.
“This is not a question of returning artifacts whose ownership we question. We feel that these sculptures belong to Greece and they were essentially stolen,” Mitsotakis said.
“This is a reunification argument, where can you best appreciate what is essentially one monument. It’s as if I told you that you would cut the Mona Lisa in half, and you would have half of it at the Louvre and half of it at the British Museum,” he added.
Sunak’s spokesman told reporters on Tuesday that the Greek government had “provided reassurances” that they would not use the visit to publicly raise the ownership of the Parthenon Sculptures and that since those assurances were broken, the meeting was canceled.
An official for the Greek government official on Tuesday denied it had promised not to publicly raise the issue.
Mitsotakis’ office said he had been hoping to discuss a variety of topics with his British counterpart, including the war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war and the climate crisis.
Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis on Tuesday said the move to scrap the meeting “showed no respect,” while leaders of Greek opposition parties Syriza and PASOK called the decision “rude” and “unacceptable,” describing the question of the sculptures as a “matter of national interest.”
Sunak’s office said Britain’s deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, was available to meet Mitsotakis, calling the relationship between the two countries “hugely important.” Mitsotakis — who is on his way back to Greece — opted not to meet Dowden, a Greek official told CNN.
