Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg on the BBC, the Greek prime minister has said the presence of the Elgin marbles in the British Museum is like cutting the “Mona Lisa in half”.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis vowed to keep up the pressure for the ancient sculptures, which the Greeks call the Parthenon Sculptures, to be returned to Athens.
He is set to raise the issue in meetings with both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, as he suggested their presence at the British museum was artistic vandalism.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that the Labour leader is reportedly open to a loan deal that would see the antiquities return to where they were carved 2,500 years ago.
The sculptures were taken from Athens to Britain by agents of Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Eglin, in the early 19th century when Athens was under Ottoman control.
Greece accuses Britain of stealing the sculptures, sparking a bitter and long-running dispute with the UK.
The Greek PM told the BBC political programme this morning: “They do look better in the Acropolis Museum, a state-of-the-art museum that was built for that purpose.
“This is not in my mind an ownership question, this is a reunification argument.
“Where can you best appreciate what is essentially one monument?
“I mean, it’s as if I told you that you would cut the Mona Lisa in half, and you will have half of it at the Louvre and half of it at the British Museum, do you think your viewers would appreciate the beauty of the painting in such a way?
“Well, this is exactly what happened with the Parthenon sculptures and that is why we keep lobbying for a deal that would essentially be a partnership between Greece and the British Museum but would allow us to return the sculptures to Greece and have people appreciate them in their original setting.”
A proposed loan deal is currently being discussed between the Greek government and George Osborne, the chair of the British Museum.
A 1963 Act of Parliament stops the British Museum from permanently handing them back.
However, Mr Mitsotakis said the Greek people will never give up on reuniting the sculptures, saying: “We have not made as much progress as I would like in the negotiations, but again, I’m a patient man.
“We’ve waited for hundreds of years and I will persist in these discussions.”
The sculptures of Olympian gods and goddesses, centaurs and warriors are among the most popular pieces sat the British Museum.
Earlier this week, an ally close to Sir Keir told the Financial Times: “If a loan deal that is mutually acceptable to the British government and the Greek government will be agreed, we won’t stand in the way.”
