The dispute between London and Athens over the Elgin Marbles reopens

Athens (Euractiv/EuroEFE).- The main European news from the capitals of the partners that make up the EURACTIV network of multilingual portals, including EuroEFE.

In this Tuesday’s news from The Capitals:

ATHENS

The dispute between London and Athens over the Elgin marbles reopens:

Athens and London are facing a diplomatic crisis after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak canceled a last-minute meeting with his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, over the latter’s comments about the need to return the Greek marbles to Greece. Elgin, currently in the British Museum.

Greek political parties united this Monday to condemn Sunak’s decision, calling it an insult and serious diplomatic faux paswhile local press reported on Monday that the move could be related to an ongoing negotiation over a Turkish request to purchase Eurofighter fighter jets.

The Greek-British dispute over the “Elgin Marbles” is an old open wound in the relations between both countries.

In 1801-1804, when Greece was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador in Istanbul, ordered his agents to remove several sculptures from the Parthenon, causing considerable damage.

In 1806, the sculptures were transferred to Great Britain and, ten years later, the English government purchased them from Elgin. Since then, they have been in the British Museum.

The Greeks say it was a “theft” and that they should be returned to where they belong, in Athens. For their part, the British claim that the transfer of Elgin had the permission of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled Athens at the time. READ MORE

(Sarantis Michalopoulos | Euractiv.com)

BERLIN

Berlin approves emergency budget for 2023:

The tripartite coalition that governs Germany (SPD, Greens and Liberals of the FDP) approved this Monday a supplementary budget for 2023 that includes the proposal to be able to declare an “emergency situation” that suspends the “debt brake” established in the German Constitution .

The decision follows a ruling by the German Constitutional Court, according to which additional debt justified by an “emergency” situation in one year cannot be transferred to funds that will be spent in subsequent years.

The ruling declared unconstitutional the plan to transfer €60 billion of unused debt related to the 2021 COVID-19 pandemic to a climate fund and has also called into question €45 billion justified by the 2022 energy crisis, which is spent in 2023 to stabilize energy prices. READ MORE

(Jonathan Packroff | Euractiv.com)

PARIS

France wants 10% of its territory to protect biodiversity:

France will put 10% of its territory under “protection” to stop the progressive destruction of plant and animal life.

The French Prime Minister, Elisabth Borne, offered this Monday details of the country’s new biodiversity strategy for 2030.

The new “national biodiversity strategy” proposes a series of measures to protect and restore natural terrestrial and marine spaces.

«The collapse of living beings is an existential threat to our societies. To stop it and reverse the trend, we adopted a national biodiversity strategy for 2030. Our ambition is clear: anchor the ecological transition in everyday life,” Borne stressed in the presentation of the measure. READ MORE

(Hugo Struna | Euractiv.fr)

HAGUE

Wilders appoints a former socialist minister as the new “facilitator” of the coalition:

The winner of the Dutch elections and leader of the Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, wants former socialist minister Ronald Plasterk to lead the coalition-building effort after the resignation, due to a fraud case, of whom he until now was in charge of. the negotiations.

This Monday, Gom van Strien resigned as a coalition negotiator for the Freedom Party (PVV) over fraud allegations related to his time as a student at Utrecht University, according to NRC.

Although Wilders claimed he was not his preferred candidate and was unaware of the allegations against van Strien, he announced his decision to appoint Plasterk on Monday afternoon, NOS reported.

Once formally appointed, Plasterk will hold talks with all parties to reach a coalition agreement, after which Parliament will appoint the new Prime Minister of the Netherlands. READ MORE

(Max Griera | Euractiv.com)

HELSINKI | STOCKHOLM

Sweden supports Finland in closing borders due to the migration crisis:

Sweden supports Finland’s decision to close several border crossings in response to the recent wave of migrants and asylum seekers from Russia, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stressed this Monday during an official visit to Helsinki.

In recent weeks, hundreds of asylum seekers have arrived at the border crossings between Russia and Finland.

“The situation on the Finnish border is orchestrated by Russia and aims to divide the West,” Kristersson commented in a joint press conference with his Finnish counterpart, Petteri Orpo.

“Sweden strongly supports Finland’s measures to protect not only the Finnish border, but also the external border of the EU,” added the Swedish Prime Minister. READ MORE

(Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)

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Edited by F.Heller