> Mitsotakis' plan for the sculptures is extremely self-serving and overall sucks for Greece.

What is the plan?

The plan is* to return them for display in the Acropolis museum as a loan from the BM. In exchange, Greece will loan to the BM equally important artifacts (rumors include Agamemnon's death mask) to replace the sculptures. See [1], [2]. This, of course, legitimizes the ownership of the sculptures by the BM, and precludes further restitution claims by Greece.

Mitsotakis administration has already made a similar arrangement for the Stern collection of cycladic artifacts [3]. The archaeologists in Greece are in arms for the case, because the collection includes smuggled artifacts. Displaying it in a public Greek museum effectively legitimizes smuggling of antiquities, as long as you are cozy with the Greek government.

Fun fact: Mitsotakis family used to have a private antiquities collection that turned out to be illegitimate and they were forced to relinquish it [4].

So, Mitsotakis pretending to be the protector of the ancient Greek heritage is nothing less than a bad joke.

*or at least was, in which case Sunak was smart to dodge the meeting.

[1] https://www.returningheritage.com/returning-the-parthenon-ma...

[2] https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/greece-to-offer-artefact-...

[3] https://www.returningheritage.com/an-inventive-collaboration...

[4] https://www.theartnewspaper.com/1994/02/01/former-greek-prem...

That plan does sound like the worst of both worlds.

I wouldn't mind seeing the marbles returned, solely from the perspective that I like the Classics and I think it would be cool to have them near the Acropolis.