While Greek government through Culture Minister Aristidis Baltas says that it no longer mulling legal action to get back Parthenon marbles antiquities claiming that it has slim chances winning, the UN General Assembly adopts the Resolution on “Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin with express reference to the return of the Parthenon Marbles.
The Resolution enjoyed wide acceptance, as it was co-sponsored by a total of 74 states, including many member states of the European Union, a significant number of Latin American states, as well as a number of Arab and African states.
The Resolution is submitted by Greece every three years, and the final text was formulated through systematic consultation under the mediation of Greece, pursuant to relevant instructions from Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias.
This initiative bolsters the return of cultural property to countries of origin, as well as the effort to protect cultural heritage. These two dimensions of the Resolution are seen as particularly timely, given that the Middle East daily suffers destruction of works and monuments of world cultural heritage, while the link between trafficking in cultural property and funding of terrorism is well known.
Moreover, special mention is made in the Resolution to the “Ancient Olympia Recommendation,” which calls on member states to mobilize for the return of stolen cultural treasures, with express reference to the return of the Parthenon Marbles. Another, equally important, dimension of the Resolution is the condemnation of the destruction of monuments of world cultural heritage in areas of armed conflict, including in occupied territories, and of illegal trafficking of cultural property by armed terrorist groups, such as ISIS.
However, many questions arose by the fact that, while Greek government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urges an international organization such as the United Nations to adopt a decision on the return of the Parthenon Marbles, the Ministry of Culture claims that Greece should avoid court action, because it “risks losing the case”.
