“The Government has a strategic plan to claim the Parthenon Sculptures” said the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni in response to a topical question from the Freedom of Navigation MP Alexandros Kazamias, regarding “the claim of the Sculptors and the recent revelation of the theft of thousands of objects from the British Museum”.

The minister emphasized that “the government is following very closely the issue of theft at the British Museum”, “under no circumstances can we accept that the British Museum takes care of and guards not only the Greek collections and the Sculptures but the entire collection” .

He emphasized that “it is a major issue that there is internal theft” and “it is clear that the particular theft revealed in the British Museum has demolished the last argument of the British Museum with a bang“, as it has undermined his arguments for the protection, preservation and safeguarding of the British organization.”

Mrs. Mendoni said that “the Museum officials do not take care of the protection of the collections, nor do they take the appropriate security and guarding measures. The alleged protection provided has always been flawed, incomplete and problematic regarding the masterpieces of Pheidias”. The revelation of this theft, the minister said, “strengthens our arguments”.

Regarding the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, Mrs. Mendoni stated that “we will vigorously continue their claim”, “the issue has been raised by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to his counterpart, at the highest possible level”, “we are not deviating from any position from our national lines”.

He noted that it is clear that “the Parthenon sculptures are in the British Museum as a product of theft, so this fact alone does not allow us to accept anything that is said by the British Museum. This is a red line for us.”

Our position, said the minister, “was and is unanimous, clear and irrevocable. It does not recognize any right of ownership, jurisdiction and possession of the Sculptures in the British Museum as we consider them to be the product of destructive robbery and theft. Greece is both constitutionally obliged and morally legitimized to claim and pursue by every legal and appropriate means the return of the Sculptors and their reunification in the Acropolis Museum. It is a matter of moral order and justice”

Answering the MP’s question why the claim strategy followed by the Government is not made public, the minister argued that “we are in the negotiation phase and something like this would invalidate the strategy itself” as “from the moment a plan is made public it ceases to be a strategy”. But he emphasized that “we are working quietly, with seriousness, responsibility, sensitivity and efficiency to reach our national goal. And this has been proven by a series of events.” Mrs. Mendoni said that “Greece’s stance and position have now taken on international dimensions”

The MP for Freedom of Navigation, Alexandros Kazamias, for his part, noted that gold Greek jewelry was reportedly included among the stolen items from the British Museum and asked the minister “why the Government is satisfied with what the British Museum announces and does not proceed directly to the British Government, asking for clear and complete assurances as to whether there were indeed any Greek jewels among the stolen goods, how much and what they were.” The MP said that this theft “destroys the British Museum’s argument about the safety and integrity of the antiquities” and wondered “what is the Government waiting for to loudly request the immediate return of the Parthenon Sculptures to their country and start an international campaign for the better protection of them from the dangers that exist from their stay in the British Museum”. Mr. Kazamias noticed that in many even international media, he has raised questions about the silence of the Greek Government on the theft in the British Museum, when Nigeria raised the issue much more forcefully. Also, the MP said that “this secret diplomacy of assertion that the Government is following for a long period of time is something that creates concern”.