Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent a clear and firm message to Britain regarding Greece’s position on the Parthenon Sculptures during a ceremony held in Thessaloniki for the signing of protocols on the mutual exchange of historical relics and anthropological material between Greece and Bulgaria. Mitsotakis made clear that Greece has no intention of recognizing foreign ownership of its national treasures — nor of “borrowing” them back.
The ceremony took place at the Byzantine Museum of Thessaloniki, in the presence of Mitsotakis and his Bulgarian counterpart, President Rumen Radev. At the heart of the event was the return to Greece of 48 sacred religious relics that were removed in 1917, during World War I, and had remained in Bulgaria ever since.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: “We will not accept recognition of foreign sovereignty over our own treasures”
“Monuments cannot be treated as war spoils, nor as casualties of circumstances that arose long after their creation. It is this very principle — the principle of the integrity of a monument — that underpins our effort to reunite the Parthenon Sculptures. These are not lifeless objects from the past. They are testimonies bound in a living and unbreakable connection to the natural and cultural landscape that gave birth to them,” Mitsotakis stated, delivering what amounted to a sharp message to Britain against the backdrop of ongoing negotiations over the Parthenon Sculptures.
He continued: “When you sever them from that landscape, you mutilate their very essence, brutally distorting historical truth. We all have an obligation to reassess long-held historical beliefs and certainties. I want to be clear: Greece’s position is not driven by some vague national claim, nor does it call into question the mission of museums around the world.”
“The Parthenon represents a unique and singular case, and for that reason it cannot be confined within the boundaries of legal or technical debates. This is about restoring the aesthetic and conceptual integrity of a truly universal monument that remains violently fragmented. The Parthenon Sculptures must coexist and be displayed together. We will not accept arrangements that imply recognition of foreign sovereignty over them, or that treat Greece as though it must borrow back its own treasures. The time for truth and reason has come,” he concluded.
