President of Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos opened on Saturday the International conference “The Parthenon Marbles: 200 years since their expropriation by the British Museum”which is held at the Acropolis Museum.
Pavlopoulos underlined that the return of the Parthenon marbles is mandatory because “without them the Parthenon, wounded by a sacrilegious act of vandalism and looting that is being covered for over two centuries and wounds the World Cultural Heritage can’t symbolise or send to humanity the eternal and unique message that it deserves”.
Pavlopoulos underlined that it is a battle for a fair request to which we must continue to serve regardless of nationality. Finally, he reassured that the reason for our struggle is institutionally right and ethical on the name of the World Cultural Heritage and dedicated his speech to the memory of Melina Merkouri who, as he said, was and will be the priestess in our battle for the repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles.