Parthenon sculptures: Blair considers long-term loan in exchange for support for 'London 2012'

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has revealed that he considered the possibility of a “long-term loan” of the Parthenon sculptures to Greece in the hope that our country will support London's bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, the Guardian continues.

“Twenty years before Rishi Sunak canceled a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis over the sculptors' rights issue, Greece lobbied Blair for a long-term loan, bypassing the rights issue,” the British newspaper reported.

As noted in the article, the Greek plan for “reunification” would include the then-planned Acropolis Museum — “overlooking the sacred rock from which they came” — in preparation for the 2004 Athens Olympics. During a meeting in October 2002, then Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simidis presented the proposal to Tony Blair.

Then, step Guardian, the British government's position was that the matter was up to the trustees of the British Museum, while Tessa Jewell, the then culture secretary, had advised Blair that any loan would be on a “long-term – indeed permanent” basis. “However, with London considering a bid for the 2012 Olympics and Greece taking over the EU presidency in 2003 and hosting the Olympics, Blair's cultural adviser, Sarah HunterIn April 2003 he wrote that he had “good reasons to change his position” and to “encourage” both private and public “simplification” of the British Museum, his essay continues. Guardian.

“The Greek case has become more nuanced – arguing for borrowing rather than restitution – and contradicts the British Museum's deliberate lack of consideration for any compromise,” Blair's counsel wrote, based on declassified files on Friday.

“The sculptures could be a strong bargaining chip in the 2012 Olympic Committee's bid for the International Olympic Committee. The publicity associated with this move could protect the Greek bid and help secure more votes from the ILO, although there should be some protection from others who would request similar measures,” he added in his letter. said the hunter.

“It seems logical: rational policy-making favors the Greeks. But it's not a choice that falls within our own sphere: only the trustees of the British Museum have the legal authority to continue borrowing as the British Museum celebrates its 250th anniversary.” She continued. His lawyer's argument Tony Blair.

For his part, the then British Prime Minister appeared positive in his handwritten reply, “Yes, not to believe. David Owen (S.S. then British Foreign Secretary) responsible for negotiations? It strengthens it, it has influence, and it may help the British Museum by giving it distance from the government.”

Owen was replaced, according to the release British Cabinet “The host country consults the IOC extensively on the suitability of future candidates, and it should not be difficult to convince the Greeks to support the London 2012 bid instead…”.

However, writes the Guardian, the Blair government's head of political planning, Andrew Antonis, indicated in a handwritten note, “This has to be handled carefully: let's talk. I don't think we should move at all until we are clear about what we are doing about our offer.”

“The museum was not finally completed until 2007, and Lord Owen was not approached to negotiate a possible loan of the Parthenon sculptures to Greece,” his release concludes. Guardian.

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