“I’m still optimistic that we can reach an agreement,” Osborne said. “If everyone enters into it with the spirit of we’re not going to get everything we want, as is always the case with a successful agreement, then there’s a deal to be done.”

Osborne, a former British finance minister who became chairman of the British Museum’s board of trustees in 2021, has sought a resolution to the dispute for several years. Negotiations appeared to be nearing an agreement in early 2023, with a possible cultural exchange allowing the sculptures to be displayed in Athens and London. No agreement has been reached.

File photo: Former Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne at the Westminster Abbey in central London, Britain, 20 June 2019. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Speaking on Tuesday, Osborne reiterated that the British Museum’s position was that the sculptures should be shared between the two countries. He acknowledged that this approach was not accepted by everyone in Greece, saying he understood and respected that opposition but believed progress depended on negotiations conducted in that spirit.

The proposal conflicts with the Greek government’s position that the sculptures should be reunited in Athens without Greece having to recognize British ownership. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated that position in a September opinion article in The Guardian, rejecting any arrangement that would require Greece to borrow parts of its own monument.

The sculptures formed part of the fifth-century BC Parthenon on the Acropolis. They were removed in the early 19th century by agents of Lord Elgin, then Britain’s ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and subsequently acquired by the British government for the British Museum. Greece has campaigned for their return for decades, arguing that they should be reunited with the surviving sculptures displayed at the Acropolis Museum.

Visitors view the Parthenon Marbles at the British Museum in London on January 9, 2023. The ancient sculptures were taken from the Parthenon temple at the Acropolis in Athens in the early 19th century by British diplomat Thomas Bruce, the earl of Elgin. (Photo by Daniel LEAL / AFP) 

The dispute has also acquired a wider diplomatic dimension. Earlier this month Mitsotakis said the sculptures would form part of discussions on future relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union, describing the issue as one of European as well as Greek concern.

Osborne made his remarks during a visit to Athens, where he was the keynote speaker at an event marking the fifth anniversary of Ideal Holdings. He said he respected the strength of feeling in Greece and maintained that an agreement should allow the sculptures to be exhibited in both capitals.