Presidents of all Bar Associations in Greece have formed a National Committee to Reclaim the Parthenon Sculptures, the Athens Bar Association said on Friday.
In their statement, the group said that in recognition of the national nature of the effort and the need for the greatest possible contribution to the cause.
They had issued a call to 58 agencies in Greece – including universities, unions and scientists – for representatives to the committee.
Because of the large number of committee members, they said, an executive council will be established to coordinate the committee actions and implement them.
A group of specialist lawyers will also be formed to supply necessary legal support.
Will be interesting to see how they might set about trying to prise Parthenon Sculptures away from the possession of President Macron, and Pope Francis (to name but two); or is it as usual the British Museum only?
Steve: you fail to understand the political motivation for the Elgin Marbles dispute. There is no intention of bringing anything back to Greece, although they would be quite happy for that to happen. The real intention is to engage in a political game — about Greek nationalism — such that politicians and political parties are seen to be doing a patriotic thing. No matter that it achieves nothing: they win either way, because the public are easily duped. It’s also a cheap and easy political gesture.
Moreover, I recall a long private discussion I had with the Director of the British Museum in the mid-1990s. He opined that the Greek politicians had made it impossible for the Marbles to be returned to Greece, by making it an open political confrontation. If they had not done so, he informed me, the BM would have offered to give them on “permanent loan”. This formulation is needed, apparently, otherwise more than half of the BM artefacts could be subject to ownership claims from across the globe. You can hardly expect a leading and powerful institution to commit suicide!