A battle between Britain and the European Union will hardly subside until another breaks out, because the post-Brexit period ignited many files that were silent about it, or are being managed by diplomatic means within the corridors of the European Union, and the last file that the British and European successors have ever faced is the Greek antiquities found in The British Museum.

For years, the "Parthenon Marble" or "Elgin Marble" has been the subject of a dispute between Greece and the United Kingdom, each of which presents a contradictory narrative to the other;

While London insists that these pieces were obtained by legal means during the nineteenth century, Athena says that what happened was a "theft" of these important monuments in Greek history.

The group includes marble statues depicting mythological and religious forms, and what intensified the dispute this time was the tone that the Greek government started to speak, showing an unprecedented determination to restore these pieces, driven by European support this time, and by a global campaign led by some famous artists, to demand the return Elgin Marble to Greece.

What's the story

Parthenon marble according to the Greek name or Elgin marbles, according to the British definition, which is a group of Greek marble sculptures that were made by the architect and sculptor Phidias, who lived in the fifth century BC, and these sculptures were part of the Parthenon temple in the Acropolis in Athens.

The "Parthenon Marble" or "Elgin Marble" is currently displayed in the British Museum, where visitors from all over the world see it (the island).

The point of disagreement between the Greeks and the British is about the method of transporting these marbles from Greece to the United Kingdom, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, through Lord Elgin, who is the hero of all this conflict, and he is a diplomat and British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in 1799 when Greece was under the authority of The Ottomans, according to the British version, Elgin obtained a "firman" permit from the Ottoman Empire, allowing him to excavate antiquities.

On the other hand, Greece confirms that what the British lord did was merely a fraud and claim that he had the approval of the Ottoman authorities, and that after going through a financial crisis he was forced to hand over these statues to the British government, in exchange for paying off the debts he owed, and after that the government transferred these relics to the British Museum for display After the issuance of a law from the British Parliament, which is Law "1816", known as the "Elgin Archaeological Group" law.

Greece is calling on Britain to show the document according to which Elgin obtained the right to excavate antiquities in Greece, a document that has not yet appeared, and Athens is based on international law, which says that the right of ownership of statues remains for more than 2,500 years, that is, it should belong to the Greeks.

Pieces from the "Parthenon Marble" or "Elgin Marble" group on display in Britain (the island)

British discount

In a special statement to Al-Jazeera Net, the British Museum tried to approach the dispute with Greece in a diplomatic way, but it shows the museum’s attachment to these artifacts, and the museum affirms that this collection “is a unique source to explore the richness, diversity and complexity of all human history and our common humanity. It allows millions of visitors to understand world cultures and how they are interconnected, whether through trade, migration, conquest, conflict or peaceful exchange. "

The museum considers that the Parthenon sculptures "an integral part and a vital component of the global interconnected group" owned by the museum, which confirms its keenness to "share this collection with the largest possible number of the public, and we try to make it available to everyone around the world."

The museum stresses its commitment "wholeheartedly to respectful cooperation in all parts of the world, to the participation and lending of the collection, and to work in partnership for the benefit of the largest possible number of the public in recent years" as a message to the Greeks that the museum does not have a monopoly on these artifacts and opens the door to lending them, but while preserving their ownership To Britain, the museum states that it had previously loaned artifacts to the Acropolis Museum, the National Archaeological Museum and the Cycladic Art Museum in Athens.

The diplomacy of the British Museum differs from the strict tone that the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke with the Greek newspaper "Ta Nia", as he confirmed that he understood the feelings of the Greek people, as well as the position of the Greek Prime Minister, "Britain has a long and strict position on these marbles that we obtained in ways These sculptures were handed over to the British Museum legally according to the laws in force, which means that the British Prime Minister closes the door completely on this matter.

Pieces from the "Parthenon Marble" or "Elgin Marble" collection in the British Museum (the island)

Greek anger

But the legal methods that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson talked about are in the knowledge of the Greek Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni "theft", accusing Lord Elgin of being "a serial thief who used illegal techniques to obtain these antiquities."

In a defiant language, the Greek Minister of Culture says that she is ready to present all documents and evidence that these artifacts are in the ownership of Greece, and that the methods of transporting them were not correct.

The context of Britain’s exit from the European Union imposes itself and forcefully, as this file has been open for nearly 20 years, but it has never reached this sharpness, and the new thing this time is the entry of the European Union, in favor of Greece, as the Vice President of the European Commission confirmed in a tweet to him on Twitter: These marbles must return to their original place, "adding that" the cultural heritage should be a unifying factor, not a division. "

The marbles belong in the Parthenon.

In these difficult times, universal cultural heritage should uplift humanity, not divide it.

#ParthenonMarbles https://t.co/ELjbYTcYa9

- Margaritis Schinas (@MargSchinas) March 13, 2021

And the world famous actor, George Clooney, joined the campaign to demand the return of the marbles to Greece, as he confirmed that their natural place is Athens.

Unofficially, the European Union is waving to restrict cultural cooperation with Britain in the event that the latter tightens in this file, but expectations in London indicate that the Johnson government will never compromise in favor of Greece or the European Union, so any retreat in the situation will cause Johnson to anger the conservatives in His party.