Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakishas shown his opinion about Parthenon statue which is currently in the British Museum: “We feel that these statues They belonged to Greece and were stolen. “As I told you, cut the Mona Lisa in half, and keep half in the Louvre and the other half in the British Museum.” This statement was not welcomed by the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, Which has canceled, as a result of these words, his meeting with the Greek leader this Tuesday.

The Greek-English dispute is not new, but has been going on for a long time. Specifically, from XIX centurywhen England removed from the Parthenon, the statues that were on that monument. Since then, Greece began asking, at least, for England to lend the statues, since one year ago English law This prevents them from returning it, but not from lending it.

Greece insisted that Britain return it The statue is 2,500 years old Lord Elgin is removed from the Parthenon at the beginning of the 19th century, when it was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. “I expressed my annoyance at the fact that The British Prime Minister canceled our planned meeting just hours before it was due“, said Mitsotakis in a statement.

Possible return to Athens

The Greek executive has held talks with the president of the British Museum, George Osborneto make a possible loan agreement for the statues. Mitsotakis lamented during an interview with the BBC on Sunday that talked about the possible return of the statue to Athens They weren’t moving fast enough. He assured that the longevity of the statues in the British Museum was like that cutting the “Mona Lisa in half” and it is not about ownership, but about “reunification.”