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George Osborne, British Museum chair, believes that a historic cultural swap deal with Greece involving the Parthenon Sculptures can still be pulled off, in spite of the crisis over thefts at the London institution, according to people briefed on his thinking.
Osborne and Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis have held talks about an innovative plan in which some of the sculptures would be loaned to Athens, with Greek treasures coming to London as “collateral”.
Although Mitsotakis insists he wants all of the so-called Elgin Marbles returned — not dispatched to Athens in sections on long loans — both sides say discussions are “ongoing and constructive”.
Revelations this month of a series of thefts at the British Museum — with some artefacts turning up for sale on eBay — attracted criticism from Greek ministers and officials.
But Osborne has told colleagues that he is reassured that Mitsotakis, who is personally handling negotiations over the 2,500-year-old sculptures, has not attacked the British Museum over the thefts.
“You can read a lot into the silence,” said one person at the British Museum. “There has been considerable restraint at the heart of the Greek state.” One museum insider said it was a sign Athens thought a deal was close.
Osborne has proposed a series of loan deals involving the marbles removed from the Acropolis by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century, which would gradually build up trust.
Under Osborne’s plan, which is still under discussion, Greece would not renounce its claim to the sculptures, but the British Museum would ship to Athens potentially one-third or more of the marbles for a set period.
Under the so-called “Parthenon Partnership”, Greece would send treasures to London that had not previously been seen at the British Museum, forming the centrepiece of blockbuster exhibitions.
In late 2022, the Greek prime minister told Osborne that he wanted the frieze back permanently, not on loan and not handed over in portions, but both sides still believe a deal is possible.
Mitsotakis said in January — before his re-election as prime minister in June — that he hoped to repatriate the marbles soon: “If the Greek people trust us again, I believe we could achieve this target after the elections.”
A Greek government official said: “We have been following events at the British Museum closely, and like others in the cultural community are shocked by the scale of the theft.
“These issues have no direct bearing on our campaign for our legal right for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece, which continues unabated.”
A British Museum spokeswoman said: “We believe that this kind of long term partnership would strike the right balance between sharing our greatest objects with audiences around the world and maintaining the integrity of the incredible collection we hold at the museum.”
Lord Ed Vaizey, former UK culture minister who is leading a campaign to return the marbles to the Acropolis, claims that the climate for a deal on the Parthenon sculptures was better than it had been for 200 years.
“The British Museum has a far-sighted chair; the Greek PM has a majority and a full term; and the future shape of the UK government will be clearer in 18 months,” he said.
Osborne has promised to speed up the completion of a record of all the objects in the institution’s collection, as the crisis over thefts of treasures escalated.
The former Conservative chancellor admitted on Saturday that as many as 2,000 items had been stolen or gone missing and that the museum failed to act on warnings in 2021 that items were turning up for sale online.
He said that “groupthink” at the British Museum may have persuaded bosses at the time that it was inconceivable a colleague was stealing items, but added: “I don’t believe there was a cover up.”
Osborne confirmed that the British Museum did not have a complete register of all the items in its collection, and promised to speed up the finalising of that process.
Hartwig Fischer, director of the British Museum, quit on Friday over his response to the theft of artefacts from its collection, admitting the institution was facing a situation “of the utmost seriousness”.
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