Optimism Grows as Mitsotakis First Greek PM to directly request Parthenon sculptures from a British Prime Minister

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' request to the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to consider the return of the Parthenon sculptures to Greece, was the first ever high level request by a Greek Prime Minister, said Culture Minister Lina Mendoni on Wednesday.

 "It is the first time that a Greek Prime Minister took upon himself the initiative, in other words at the highest level, to seek the return of the Parthenon sculptures.

"What Mitsotakis expressed was "the national request of our country for the re-unification of the Parthenon Sculptures," she added.

The Minister expressed  her optimism that "the moment when the Parthenon Sculptures will return to their native soil will come".

Mendoni also said that currently the Parthenon is a "gaping" monument, which has been plundered, and that Mitsotakis expressed the fact that "ethically and morally, the specific sculptures at the British Museum, a product of theft on the part of Lord Elgin, should be returned to Athens and reunited", adding that this was Greece's standing demand.