“The British government has a strong and consistent position on these sculptures – they were legally acquired by Lord Elgin under the laws in force at the time,” Johnson said in a conversation with the Greek newspaper Ta Nea.
He added that the 2,500-year-old sculptures, also popularly known as Elgin marbles, have “legally belonged to the British Museum’s Board of Trustees” since their acquisition.
For thirty years, Greece has been involved in a protracted dispute with Britain over sculptures and friezes, which once adorned the temple dedicated to the goddess Athens, or the Parthenon, on the Acropolis of Athens.
In the early 19th century, the then British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, the Scottish nobleman Thomas Bruce, known as Sir Elgin, dismantled the sculptures and moved them to Britain.
Although Sir Elgin insisted at the time that he had been allowed to appropriate the works of art by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who at the time ruled the territory of modern Greece, Athens believes that antiques were stolen.
Already during the transfer of the sculptures, Elgin’s actions were questioned, and in 1817 the works of art were repurchased by the British government, which transferred them to the British Museum, where they are still one of the most popular exhibits.
Greece is set to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the 1821 revolution on March 25, and Prime Minister Kirka Micotakis has asked London to temporarily repatriate the sculptures in exchange for promising artifacts that “have never left Greece before.”
Johnson, who regularly spends his holidays in Greece at his father’s house, said that despite his understanding of the Greek people and Micotaka’s feelings for the sculptures, they would not be returned to Athens.
Ta Nea points out that this is the first time Johnson has spoken on the issue as prime minister.
However, he made his position clear several years ago when he was still mayor of London.
Athens has asked the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to mediate on the issue, but the British Museum has rejected the offer.
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