The Times newspaper is in favor of the “union of the heritage of Greece” with the return of the Parthenon Sculptures from the British Museum to the Acropolis Museum.
The main article of the newspaper notes that “times and conditions have changed – the sculptures belong to Athens. “They must be returned now.”
It is noted the return to Athens of the fragment from Sicily with the agreement of sending from Greece of other antiquities, an agreement that had come close to implementation and with the British Museum, “but collapsed due to a dispute over the ownership of the Sculptures”.
The Times comments that “such bureaucratic absurdity can be quickly resolved. Let the sculptures be sold back at a cost price. A law from parliament attributed Lord Elgin's purchases to the museum. “Let the parliament therefore order their return.”
The newspaper then notes that the old British argument about the unsuitability of the sculpture exhibition space in Athens is no longer valid.
As for the most “convincing” argument about the risk of pressure to return all foreign exhibits from international museums, the Times article responds that “the Parthenon sculptures are sui generis”.
He adds that they stand in the way of a warm relationship with Greece and that “separating the components of an artistic ensemble is like tearing Hamlet from the first edition of Shakespeare and saying that the two can still exist far from each other. ».
The article concludes that the return of the “Elgin Marbles” would be a “generous” gesture at a time when Britain needs to rekindle its European friendships.
In the past, other British publications have been in favor of the reunification of the Sculptures in Athens, but the Times has a special weight as a newspaper representative of the British conservative establishment.
At the end of November, following the Greek Prime Minister's visit to London and his reports on the subject, a YouGov poll showed that 59% of Britons support the return of the Sculptures to Greece, compared to 18%.
Source: KYPE
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