According to a report on the Spanish "Abbesa" website on January 14th, the diplomatic conflict between Greece and the United Kingdom may be coming to an end. According to the Greek newspaper "Kathimerini"(Daily News), London has for the first time expressed its willingness to return marble carvings looted from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin more than two centuries ago, provided that Greece meets a series of conditions, such as sending ancient Greek art to London for a temporary exhibition.

“This is very positive news,” said Catherine Titi, a legal scholar and author of “The Parthenon Marbles and International Law,” but she expressed some concern about the conditions under which Greece would lend the artwork to London. .

In addition, the "Kathimerini" also stated that London will not return all the antiquities looted by the British diplomat to Athens, but only the parts belonging to the Parthenon. In other words, Greece will take back the stalls, pediments and frieze sculptures, but not the "caryatids" of the Erechtheion.

Titi said: "I am not surprised by this question because the British committee (established in 1983 to promote the return of marble sculptures to Greece) has always stated that what it seeks is the return of the Parthenon sculpture group, not the Acropolis. "

Another issue that remains to be solved is finding a legal framework that would avoid the Greek or British museums crossing each other's red lines. In this regard, "Kathimerini" reports that in order to be able to bypass the obstacles of the 1963 British Museum Act (which prohibits artefacts that are part of the British Museum’s permanent collection from permanently leaving the museum), and at the same time meet the conditions imposed by Greece on the ownership of marble sculptures, the head of the British Museum is looking for a "creative" legal framework to meet the demands of both parties. For example, these marble sculptures are loaned or stored in the Acropolis Museum.

Finally, what remains to be resolved are the logistical aspects of the agreement, namely when and how the marble carvings will be shipped to Greece, and how the antiquities loaned by Greece to London will be organized. According to the Greek newspaper, these problems are "easily solvable".

In 2023, negotiations between Greece and the British Museum reached an impasse after a falling out between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. However, with Keir Starmer coming to power in 2024, tensions between the two countries have eased, opening up a new course for dialogue that could end the conflict.