Brexit and the Parthenon: negotiating the exit of the marbles
The Parthenon Sculptures, comprising the sculptured pediments, metopes and frieze removed by Lord Elgin and his men from the Parthenon in Athens in the early part of the nineteenth century and placed in the British Museum in 1816, embody traces “of a great past to be recalled.”[1]
The Parthenon and the magnificent
sculptures that once adorned it represent the “longevity of human creation” and
stand as a testament to humanity’s “defiance against the sands of the
hourglass.”[2]
For that reason they also constitute
an integral part of our shared European and world cultural heritage.
Despite Greece’s long-standing
request and repeated calls for their return and the reunification of all the
known surviving sculptural elements in the Acropolis Museum, the United Kingdom
has proven to be intransigent. Its position
has consistently been that the sculptures were legally acquired and are vested
in the British Museum and nothing has changed.
The latest attempt at negotiations through a UNESCO-facilitated mediation
fell over in 2015. There has been no real
movement since then.
But now we have Brexit.
The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union and somewhat
tense and fraught negotiations have recently begun to attempt to finalise the
divorce between the UK and continental Europe.
Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on European Union (TEU) provides
that where a Member State decides to withdraw, in light of the guidelines
provided by the European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an
agreement with that state, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal,
taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the
Union.
In her letter of 29 March 2017 to the president of the
European Union, the British Prime Minister Theresa May claimed that the vote to
leave the European Union did not represent a “rejection of the values we share
as fellow Europeans” and that the United Kingdom remained committed partners
and allies. May stressed that the
engagement should be one that is constructive and respectful and conducted in a
spirit of “sincere cooperation” given that the UK wishes to continue to work
together to advance and protect our shared European values. The Prime Minister reiterated that the world
needs the “liberal, democratic values of Europe” to prosper.
In turn, the European Union published its draft guidelines
following the United Kingdom’s notification under Article 50 of the Treaty of
the European Union. In that document, it
specified that during the negotiations the Union will act as one, it will be
constructive throughout and will strive to find an agreement. It will abide by the principle that nothing
is agreed until everything is agreed. In
certain unique circumstances the European Union acknowledged that “flexible and
imaginative solutions” will be required.
Greece, among others, is called upon to form a position
concerning the post-Brexit EU-UK relationship. Brexit may therefore offer Greece a unique
opportunity to impress upon its European partners that as part of a structured
Brexit negotiation one particular “imaginative solution” that should be placed
on the diplomatic table would relate to the eventual return of the Parthenon
Sculptures to European soil.
This idea is not new.
In early 2017, at the 5th annual Greek Press Association dinner held in
London, the guest speaker, Geoffrey Robertson QC, raised the proposal that
Brexit could well bring the issue of the Parthenon sculptures to the fore. According to Robertson, who was also one of
the learned authors of a definitive legal advice delivered to the Greek
Government about the prospects of Greece’s successfully litigating the return
of the sculptures, one of the consequences of Brexit will be that the UK will
no longer be bound by Article 3 of the TEU which provides that each member
country must ensure that Europe’s cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced. Accordingly, it is argued that Greece would
have good reason to try to persuade its fellow member states to include the
restitution of the Parthenon sculptures in their list of negotiation demands in
exchange for satisfying one of the UK’s likely counter demands.
Such a strategy will require a combination of political will
and diplomatic flair on the part of the Greeks, particularly as the Greek
Foreign Ministry officially promotes the use of soft power as a persuasive
approach to international relations through the nuanced use of cultural diplomacy
and influence.
The Treaty of Lisbon places great importance on culture. The
preamble to the TEU expressly refers to “drawing inspiration from the cultural,
religious and humanist inheritance of Europe” and, as we have seen, Article 3 specifically
mandates that Europe’s cultural heritage be safeguarded.
Article 167 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union - the so-called ‘article on culture’ - requires the EU to encourage
co-operation between Member States and, if necessary, support and supplement
their actions in the improvement of the knowledge and dissemination of the
culture and history of the European peoples and conservation and safeguarding
of cultural heritage of European significance.
This was reinforced by the Council of the European Union in
its memorandum issued on 21 May 2014 in which it acknowledged that cultural
heritage is a major asset for Europe and an important component of the European
project. It also emphasised that
cultural heritage can help promote diversity and intercultural dialogue while
contributing to a stronger sense of ‘belonging’ to a wider community. [3]
In April 2016 Federica Mogherini, the current High
Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,
and Vice President of the European Commission, declared that the European Union
is committed to developing a new strategy in international relations based on
culture:
“Probably no other
place in the world has the same cultural ‘density’ as Europe. So much history, so many stories and
cultures. We preserve millennial traditions and we are among the engines of
global innovation. We should not be afraid to say we are a cultural superpower (for)
our culture inspired the world because it was itself inspired by the world.” [4]
In March 2017 at the first G7 ministerial meeting on culture
the joint declaration of the ministers of culture of the G7, amongst other
things, reaffirmed their belief that cultural heritage, in all its forms,
tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, being an extraordinary link
between past, present and future of mankind, contributes to the preservation of
identity and memory of mankind and encourages dialogue and cultural exchanges
among nations, thereby fostering tolerance, mutual understanding recognition
and respect for diversity. [5]
And finally, 2018 has been officially designated as the European
Year of Cultural Heritage. It offers an
excellent opportunity to highlight the role of Europe's cultural heritage in
fostering a shared sense of history and identity.
And Greece and the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures
should be at the centre of that conversation.
As culture is clearly a significant element in the European Union
narrative and the Parthenon Sculptures - conceived and created during the Age
of Classical Greece at the birthplace of democracy - are the par excellence of Europe’s cultural and
architectural heritage, Greece should be seriously considering pursuing a
Brexit-nuanced strategy of cultural diplomacy across Europe to arrive at a just
solution to this long-running cultural property dispute.
Greece’s standing in matters of culture cannot be over-stated. On 24 April 2017 Greece, under the auspices
of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hosted in Athens the first
Ministerial Conference of the ten countries participating in the Ancient
Civilizations Forum (also known as the GC10), namely, Greece, China, Egypt,
Bolivia, India, Iraq, Iran, Italy, Mexico and Peru. According to Greece’s Foreign Minister, Nikos
Kotzias, the Forum was an opportunity to build a “positive agenda” for the
multifunctional role that Greece can play internationally, noting that the
participating countries are all considered cradles of ancient cultures and were
coming together to discuss issues such as the role of culture as a source of
soft power and the key tool of a modern and multidimensional foreign policy.[6]
Already both Mr Kotzias and the Deputy Minister for Foreign
Affairs, Terens Quick, have had discussions with their British counterparts.
Obviously, there are many issues that may potentially impact Greece, including
the future of Greek students pursuing further studies in the UK, shipping and
other aspects of Anglo-Hellenic trade and commerce, and the vexed and ongoing issue
of the future of Cyprus.
Greece and the UK have long-standing and close historical
ties, forged during the Greek Revolution of 1821 and rekindled on the
battlefields of Europe during the Second World War when Greece joined Britain
to fight the Nazi onslaught when the rest of Western Europe had succumbed. Of course, there is also a notorious
historical link, namely, the actions of Lord Elgin, Britain’s then Ambassador
to Constantinople, who abused his diplomatic position to oversee the stripping
and removal of approximately one half of the exquisite statuary from the
Parthenon and their eventual transfer to the British Museum where they
presently remain on display.
In his discussions with the British Secretary of State for
UN and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Deputy Minister Quick
noted the Secretary of State’s positive comments:
“Beyond what Europe is
doing, I should remind you that with Greece Great Britain has always had
traditional political, diplomatic and friendly relations before the formation
of the European Union. We are old allies, we have common interests, so we
cannot remove them from our consideration when the time comes to look at issues
in the post- Brexit era and in relation to Hellenism.” [7]
The Greek Deputy Minister added that without jumping to conclusions,
he felt that the British are approaching the issue at a bilateral level as
well, and that may have positive aspects.
The Greek President of the British-Hellenic Chamber of
Commerce has correctly observed that the issue of whether Britain’s exit from
the EU will offer more opportunities or threats to all sides involved will
depend on the “political maturity, historical memory and thoroughness that we
will show as a government, as productive entities, as a people, as Europeans.” [8]
Greece has unsuccessfully sought the return of the Parthenon
Sculptures for many decades with no movement or compromise ever shown by the
British Museum or the UK Government.
Diplomatic conversations at meetings of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural
Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit
Appropriation over thirty years have simply gone nowhere. The British are clearly not interested in
mediation and, regrettably, Greece has formally eschewed the idea of litigation
before the courts (notably the International Court of Justice), instead opting
for the well-worn diplomatic path.
But now the UK Government is
forced to negotiate a Brexit deal amidst growing tension within its ranks and
widespread concern as to how the country will emerge on “exit day”. There is a lot at stake.
The Parthenon Sculptures are the embodiment of the cultural
heritage of Europe and a means to understand our past. Their return to Greece, combined with a
reciprocal and recurring loan arrangement of other rare artefacts from Greece
back to Britain, will not only bear testimony to the enduring character of the
European Union and the social conscience of the United Kingdom to do the right
thing, but will generate countless social and economic benefits for Greece in
terms of growth and jobs, when after more than 200 years the sculptures of the
Parthenon are finally and famously reunited in Athens.
It is time that Greece seized the initiative of constructive
negotiations that Brexit potentially offers.
Co-Vice Presidents
Australians for the Return of the Parthenon Sculptures
[1] Shanks, M. Classical Archaeology of
Greece: Experiences of the Discipline (Routledge, London and New York,
1996) page 72
[2] Jusdanis, G. “Farewell to the Classical:
Excavations in Modernism” Modernism/modernity Vol. 11 No. 1 (2004) page
37
[6] http://greece.greekreporter.com/2017/04/06/athens-hosts-first-ministerial-conference-of-ancient-civilizations-forum/#sthash.jY5HJvXv.dpuf
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