London’s Mayor says stolen Parthenon Marbles should be shared with Greece

He called them The Elgin Marbles after the Scottish diplomat who stole them but London Mayor Sadiq Khan has resurrected an idea already rejected by Greece to agree to share the Parthenon Marbles with the British Museum.

He called it a “win-win arrangement,” a term previously used to try to convince Greece not to claim ownership of the marble created in Greece but kept in the British Museum for some 200 years, all attempts at getting them back failing.

“I’d really encourage the British Museum, the British government, the government of Greece, and the Acropolis Museum in Athens to talk about how we can make more progress on this very issue,” Khan told the Greek newspaper Ta Nea.

“I obviously want Londoners to be able to see the Elgin Marbles, but I don’t see why the British Museum, the British government, the government of Greece, and the museum in Athens can’t come to an accommodation to share these wonderful, wonderful Elgin Marbles,” he said.

“It is important for us to recognize that actually, not all the exhibits that are in the British Museum are ones that should just stay in London,” he said, although that’s just what museum officials want, dismissing all calls to return the marbles and other treasures stolen from countries during British Colonial rule.

Khan told the newspaper that there should be room for an agreement that benefits everyone involved, aiming for “a win for both Greece and the UK,” without explaining what that would be since Greece said it won’t accept sharing.

He stuck to the line of his predecessors as mayors, Liz Truss and Boris Johnson, that the stolen marbles belong to the British although he’s willing to share them.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in March said Greece would never get the marbles back because they are a “huge asset” to the British who have little beyond treasures plundered from other countries to display in the museum.