Greece Heightens Drive to Retrieve Stolen Items Including Parthenon Marbles

Photo Source: @Return Parthenon Marbles Protest (Petros Papadopoulos).

Greece is heightening its drive to retrieve cultural assets that have been illegally removed from the country key among these the Parthenon Marbles,  said Culture Minister Lina Mendoni.

In response to a question in Greek parliament this week concerning the progress made with the British Museum for the return of the ancient Greek sculptures, Mendoni said Greece would not abandon its efforts to reclaim looted Greek cultural assets.

The Greek government and culture ministry have worked “in a quiet and systematic way, to achieve the national goal, that is, the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures in Athens and [their return to the] Acropolis Museum”, she said.

The minister went on to add that the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures is a “constant pursuit of Greece” and that “the national position has not changed, nor is it changing, nor will the government give up its claim to ancient cultural heritage, in addition to the Parthenon Marbles which are illegally in museums abroad”.

Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni

Speaking earlier this month from the fully restored palace of King Phillip II in Aigai, Macedonia, Mendoni said the repatriation of the ancient Greek sculptures was a national goal of foremost importance.

“The reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures [with those] in the Acropolis Museum in Athens, which is rightfully demanded by the monument itself – the symbol of Western civilization – is for the government and for all Greeks, a major national goal and at the same time a necessary action of global justice,” she said.

Among others, the minister referred to the successful return of illegally removed cultural assets in the 2019-2023 period, including 29 stolen Greek antiquities, which were part of a collection owned by New York philanthropist and Metropolitan Museum of Art trustee Shelby White; three sculpture fragments from the Parthenon returned from the Vatican Museums Collection; and 30 looted antiquities valued at 3.7 million dollars, which were found in the hands of New York gallery owner Michael Ward, British art dealer Robin Symes and others.