The international press caught fire after the new Greek Culture, Education and Religious Affairs Minister Aristidis Baltas was quoted by The Times as saying, “Our campaign will continue, but the strategy and how we go about that may be tweaked, if required. We’ll be looking over these details in the coming weeks and if we see a need to alter them, we will.” The Times story, titled “Greece Balks at Cost of hiring Clooney’s wife to save Marbles”, states that the new Greek Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) wants to cancel Greece’s contract with Amal Clooney and Greece’s dealings with the legal team from Dought Street Chambers.
The Times rumor that the cash-strapped government won’t sign the contract with Alamuddin was picked up on by a number of other reports. The article – much like the one that stated that the Acropolis is crumbling – does not directly quote an official source and also assumes that Greece is dealing directly with George Clooney’s wife when in actual fact the lawyers assigned to the case are the Doughty Street Chambers. It should be noted that Alamuddin was the junior of the three lawyers who traveled to Greece for discussions on the Parthenon Marbles.
Another assumption that is made by the Times is that the team of lawyers were in fact working for the government when in actual fact that had arrived to “advise” the government of legal options available. There was no talk of an exchange of money or any binding agreements. In such cases it is usually the case that contracts are reviewed by legal departments before signed by government.
The actual cost of the lawyers is unlikely to be a major consideration bearing in mind the high cultural stakes. The new government has already made clear its interest in continuing efforts to reclaim the Parthenon Marbles legally. Even if funding were a problem, there are wealthy Greek foundations that have already stated that they would be happy to assist in funding the initiative.
Alternate Culture Minister Nikos Xydakis said that the publicity that Clooney has brought to the Parthenon Marbles has only helped champion the Greek cause.
The story was fuelled by the fact that the new government is examining all contracts and renewing these. There is no evidence that it will rip up contracts to do with the Parthenon Marbles to save money as suggested by various factions of the international press.
