The Parthenon (“Elgin”) Marbles are displayed in the British Museum, London. Credit: Txllxt TxllxT via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

This politician, like any, wants to repatriate heritage taken away. We have no insight into his motives, but even if it were just for the bragging rights that is fine. We do not so much care who resolves it, so much as that it happens:

The Secret Meetings on the Parthenon Marbles Exposed by the FT

The Financial Times (FT) reported on Friday the secret meetings on the Parthenon Marbles between Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis and George Osborne, chair of the British Museum.

In an extensive report, the British paper says that the two meetings between the two men were held at a Knightsbridge hotel in London in 2021 and 2022.

“It’s my passion,” Mitsotakis told the Financial Times, as he reflected on that first meeting with Osborne at the hotel in November 2021.

“I wanted it very much from the first time I saw the Frieze when I was about 18 years old and visited the British Museum. What shocked and infuriated me was that the monument was broken. It’s like you’ve taken the Mona Lisa and cut it in half.”

Osborne listened intently as Mitsotakis set out his case, the paper says. He saw a chance to show he is running an enlightened institution ready to engage in the debate about the repatriation of artifacts. He also saw a man across the table with whom he could do business…

Read the whole article here.