Greece to renew pressure on UK to return ancient sculptures

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece is renewing a bid to seek the return of ancient sculptures removed from the Parthenon at the Acropolis in Athens more than 200 years ago from the British Museum. Giannis Oikonomou, a government spokesman, told reporters the issue would be raised at a scheduled meeting in London Tuesday between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He said the Greek request for talks on the proposed return was backed by the United Nations’ cultural agency, UNESCO. The marbles include 17 figures and part of a frieze that decorated the 2,500-year-old Acropolis monument. They were taken by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, in the early 19th century. Britain maintains that Elgin acquired the sculptures legally.