European Headlines丨Who is it that the British Prime Minister avoided visiting the Greek Prime Minister and received the cold reception? – International – China Engineering Network

Original title: European headlines丨Who is it that the British Prime Minister avoided visiting the Greek Prime Minister and received a cold reception?

On November 27, local time, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who was visiting the United Kingdom, said that the meeting between him and British Prime Minister Sunak originally scheduled for the 28th was temporarily canceled by the British side.

According to the Greek Athens News Agency, Mitsotakis said in a statement, “I am angry that the British Prime Minister canceled our planned meeting just hours before the scheduled meeting.” He emphasized that “Greece is in The position on the Parthenon sculptures is well known. I would have liked the opportunity to discuss it with the British Prime Minister. Anyone who believes that his position is correct and just will never be afraid of objections.”

△Screenshot of British Reuters report

Although it was Greece that was shut out this time, public opinion believed that it was the United Kingdom that was given the cold shoulder. What the hell is going on?

I was speechless, so I had to close the door and thank the guests.

On the 26th local time, Mitsotakis said in an exclusive interview with the BBC that he would discuss the issue of returning the Parthenon sculptures in Greece to the British Museum during his meeting with Sunak. He specifically pointed out that “putting these sculptures in London is like splitting the Mona Lisa in two.”

It was such remarks that aroused dissatisfaction in the British side, and the British government canceled the scheduled meeting between Sunak and Mitsotakis at the last minute.

The Parthenon Marbles are arguably one of the most closely watched artworks in the world when it comes to whether museums should return their collections to their countries of origin.

△ The Parthenon sculpture in the British Museum (picture from the Internet)

In the early 19th century, the British soldier and diplomat Thomas Bruce, “Earl of Elgin” cut and smuggled a large number of sculptures back to the UK from the Parthenon and the Acropolis. Subsequently, the British government purchased these stone sculptures at extremely low prices and collected them in the British Museum. They became national treasures of other countries and became their own collection.

In the following centuries, Greece never gave up its pursuit of the Parthenon stone sculptures, but was repeatedly rejected by the British. In 1963, the British Parliament also amended the British Museum Act to prohibit the return of cultural relics in the form of legislation. According to the British “Financial Times” report, the Sunak government stated that it will not amend the legislation, and even the leader of the largest opposition Labor Party, Starmer, also stated that even if elected, he would not consider changing the law.

The reason why Mitsotakis was rejected was because he once again made a very legitimate request to the British side: the return of Greek stone carvings with a history of more than 2,500 years. The UK’s move to refuse guests behind closed doors once again allowed the world to see its pattern.

“Disrespect for the Greek Prime Minister is also disrespect for the Greek people.”

On the 28th local time, Greek government spokesman Marinakis said in an interview with Greek media that it was “unprecedented” that British Prime Minister Sunak canceled his meeting with Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis a few hours before the scheduled time. This move is disrespectful not only to the Greek Prime Minister, but also to the Greek people.

“We think it is clear that he (Sunak) is offended by our country’s consistent position on the return of the Parthenon sculptures,” the spokesman said.

Katsellakis, leader of Greece’s main opposition party Syriza, said on social media that Sunak’s behavior was unacceptable. He pointed out, “The Parthenon sculpture transcends the personal differences of the Greek Prime Minister and (Greek) party differences. It is a national event that concerns the entire (Greek) nation. It is also a moral event that shamelessly steals cultural property from the natural environment.” “

△Screenshot of a social media post by Katselakis, leader of Greece’s main opposition party Syriza

The people in Greece are even more excited.

Greek people: mixed feelings, I can kind of relate to this, it shows that the British government doesn’t want to return our artifacts. This is nothing new and is to be expected.

Reporter: Do you think they are disrespecting your country?

Greek people: They are British, always have been. They still have an imperial mindset, and unless other European countries do something, I don’t think we’re going to get anything back. Ever since Ms. Mercuri (the former Minister of Culture of Greece) began her efforts to recover cultural relics in the 1980s, recovering the Parthenon sculptures has become the dream of every Greek child. I was only 5 years old at the time, and it was still a dream. It was time to make the dream a reality.

Greek people: I think it is immoral for the British Prime Minister to refuse to meet the Greek Prime Minister. They should respond in a more diplomatic way. Both parties are discussing very important matters, so I think this is wrong and I think it is very disrespectful. Greek civilization is known for its long history, and cultural relics are part of it, so it is very important for these cultural relics to return to their homeland. What’s sad is that so far, there hasn’t been much progress on this matter.

Artifacts need to go home!

The British Museum claims to have a collection of 8 million items. Most of its collections come from other countries or regions. They may all be able to tell the same or similar stories to the Parthenon stone sculptures. Among the so-called “Top Ten Treasures of the Museum”, three are from China, including the Tang Dynasty copy of “The Picture of Women’s History”, Chinese Dunhuang murals and one of the representative blue and white porcelains of the Yuan Dynasty – David Vase.

△ “Picture of Admonitions of Women’s History” (picture from the Internet)

In order to return cultural relics to their place of origin as soon as possible, many countries represented by China have made unremitting efforts. However, the United Kingdom has always refused to return the cultural relics on the grounds that “the cultural relics are safer in museums than in their place of origin.”

Just over three months ago, it was revealed that about 2,000 cultural relics from the British Museum were missing inexplicably, and some were even put up for sale online. This was called “the most serious theft in modern history” by relevant experts from UNESCO, and it also disgraced the British Museum, which prides itself on “protecting cultural relics well”. At the same time, it has once again triggered an upsurge in many countries around the world calling on the UK to return cultural relics.

Even the veteran British media “The Guardian” published a commentary titled “Politicians, not curators, should be blamed for the British Museum scandal”, saying that the museum may be institutionally rife with theft, if most of its collections are Acquired by mistake under colonial conditions, would anyone be surprised that its modern keepers turned out to be thieves?

On November 26, Greek Minister of Culture Menzoni responded to a question in Parliament by Constantepoulou, the leader of the Freedom Road Party, and emphasized that the theft of more than 2,000 cultural relics completely shattered what the British Museum called “cultural relics in London.” better protected than in Athens” view. The Greek government is systematically working towards the return of the Parthenon sculptures.

Worried about being speechless in the face of retribution, Sunak refused to meet with Mitsotakis. Mitsotakis, who received a cold reception from the UK, instead received global support. On the contrary, it was Sunak who received a cold reception around the world. . The British government and its museums that tell the story of colonial history are once again thrust into the global spotlight. Artifacts need to go home!