“The issue of the Parthenon Sculptures is not a dispute between the British and the Acropolis museums. It is not even a dispute between the UK and Greece,” the director of the Acropolis Museum told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA).

“The reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures to the body they belong to is an international demand for the restoration of the monument that is the universal symbol of democracy,” said Professor Nikolaos Stampolidis, commenting on a recent statement by the deputy director at the British Museum, Jonathan Williams, to the Sunday Times. 

“The issue of the sculptures is not bilateral, it is a matter of the international, western culture, not only of Europe but also of Australia, New Zealand, North and South America and of all the democracies,” Stampolidis said, after Williams indicated the possibility of a new “cultural exchange” agreement.

“Mutual loans are already being carried out between the two museums but not for the disputed Parthenon Sculptures. We claim the Parthenon Sculptures as architectural parts of the body of a monument. I do not call them marbles because marble is the material they are made from, but architectural sculptures of Parthenon that constitute integral part of the monument,” he said.

[AMNA]