Ministry of Culture: "Bloomberg's article about the Parthenon Sculptures is not valid"
According to the publication, the agreement will provide for a part of the Sculptures to be sent from the British Museum to Athens on a rotating basis in stages. In return, the Acropolis Museum could lend other objects to the British Museum while Britain could also get plaster casts of the Parthenon Sculptures.
Bloomberg: Greece and Britain close to an agreement
Earlier, the whole issue of an agreement regarding the Parthenon Sculptures between the British Museum and the Acropolis Museum had been shaken by the Bloomberg report.
British media reported that the 2 Museums were close to an agreement that would see the Parthenon Marbles returned to Greece as part of a cultural exchange, ending a dispute over the historic objects dating back to the 1800s.
It is recalled that on December 3rd, 2022, the British Guardian revealed that Athens and London were in preliminary talks about the Parthenon Sculptures.
Read about: Guardian: Greece in preliminary talks with British Museum over Parthenon Marbles
The latest Bloomberg report, citing sources familiar with the matter who declined to be named because the deal has not been formalized, said the deal would see a portion of the marbles sent to Athens on a rotating basis over a number of years.
In return, other objects would be effectively loaned to the London museum, while Britain could also receive plaster casts of the Parthenon Sculptures.
According to the same sources, intensive discussions continue and the agreement has not yet been finalized, while it is noted that the logistical infrastructure for moving the projects is also extremely complicated.
An Athens-London deal on the Parthenon Sculptures, the report notes, would resolve a dispute that has plagued Anglo-Greek relations since the founding of modern Greece in 1832 and which has even threatened to add tension to the UK's already complicated Brexit negotiations. with the European Union.
The Parthenon Sculptures - the publication states - are a collection of ancient objects that were transferred from the Acropolis to Athens at the beginning of the 19th Century by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
Elgin "removed" - as noted in the publication - the sculptures from the ruins of the Parthenon under controversial circumstances and transported them to Britain. Greek governments have stepped up calls for their return in recent decades, in a long-running political and diplomatic dispute.
