British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has canceled a meeting with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis after an interview in which he called marble sculptures stored in the British Museum stolen. This was reported by Euronews, UNN.
Details
A diplomatic scandal has broken out between the UK and Greece. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak canceled a meeting with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis scheduled for Tuesday.
It is noted that the reason for this was an interview given by Kyriakos Mitsotakis the day before, in which he called the Parthenon marble sculptures stored in the British Museum stolen and demanded their return.
For the record
The sculptures were taken from Greece by the British diplomat Earl Elgin in the early 19th century. About half of the surviving marble works are in London, and the rest are in a specially built museum under the Acropolis in Athens.
Addendum
Mitsotakis compared the separation of the sculptures to cutting the Mona Lisa in half, a remark that sparked outrage from the British government.
On Monday, Sunak's spokesman took a tough stance, saying that the British government "has no plans to change its approach and believes that the (British) Museum is the right place" for the marble sculptures.
They were legally acquired at the time, and according to the law, they belong to the museum's trustees. We support this position and do not plan to change the law that regulates it,
SEE ALSO: Sunak suffers major blow over court ruling on migrants before the upcoming British elections