British Museum ‘in talks with Greece’ about Elgin marbles

Greek officials have been in “preliminary” talks with the British Museum about the Elgin Marbles.

The Guardian reports that news of the negotiations were first reported on Saturday by Ta Nea, a daily newspaper published in Athens, which said that officials including the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, had met George Osborne, the Chair of the British Museum, at a London hotel.

The row over the marbles, removed by Lord Elgin, who was ambassador at the time to the Ottoman empire of which present-day Greece was then a part, has raged for more than 200 years.

The British Museum acquired them from Elgin in 1816.

Ta Nea reported that the first of several behind-the-scenes meetings had taken place in London between Osborne and Mitsotakis in 2021.

Osborne then followed up with further discussions, meeting Greece's Minister of State Giorgos Gerapetritis and the Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in London.