"This is not just an issue for Greece, it is an issue for Europe," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday.
Last week, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham opened up various options for future relations with the EU, including rejoining the bloc.
But Mitsotakis points out that years of negotiations with the British Museum, which has housed the ancient sculptures for more than two centuries, “have not led to any progress.”
Greece claims that the sculptures were looted in 1802 by Lord Elgin, but the British government maintains that they were “acquired legally” and then sold to the museum.
They include 17 statues and 15 panels that Greece wants back.
