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Mr Schinas, who is Greek, Tweeted: “The marbles belong in the Parthenon. In these difficult times, universal cultural heritage should uplift humanity, not divide it.” It followed Boris Johnson pledging that the famous marbles which were saved from destruction by Lord Elgin between 1801 and 1812, would remain in the British Museum in London. “I understand the strong feelings of the Greek people – and indeed prime minister [Kyriakos] Mitsotakis – on the issue,” he told the Greek newspaper Ta Nea.<\/p>\n
“But the UK government has a firm longstanding position on the sculptures, which is that they were legally acquired by Lord Elgin under the appropriate laws of the time and have been legally owned by the British Museum’s trustees since their acquisition.”<\/span><\/p>\n Since Britain finally completed Brexit on January 1, the EU has been waging a war of attrition in an apparent attempt to punish the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n Among the aggressive policies pursued by Ursula von der Leyen’s commission have been a bid to blockade the UK and stop vaccines coming in which the British government had bought to save lives.<\/span><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/139\/590x\/elgin-marbles-1409510.jpg?r=1615651897537\")
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