Greek lawmakers have elected a former parliament speaker and leading advocate for the return of the Parthenon sculptures from the British Museum as the country’s new president.
Constantine Tassoulas, 65, was elected to the largely ceremonial post by the 300-member parliament on Wednesday, winning with 160 votes in the fourth round of voting. He takes over from Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the first woman to serve as Greece’s head of state, who was not nominated for a second five-year term.
Speaking after the result was declared, Tassoulas called the presidency “a supreme honour for me, but above all a precious responsibility”.
Tassoulas belongs to the governing centre-right New Democracy party, and served as culture minister a decade ago. During his tenure, he helped reinvigorate the campaign to repatriate the 2,500-year-old Parthenon sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, from the British Museum.
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During his tenure as culture minister, he collaborated with lawyer Amal Clooney, who lent her support to the country’s bid for the sculptures’ return, helping raise international awareness of the campaign in the process.
The sculptures were removed from the Acropolis in Athens by British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 1800s and have since been kept in the British Museum in central London.
The Greek government insists their removal was illegal, and has long demanded their return, seeking to reunite them with other Parthenon artefacts displayed in a museum in Athens.
Greek officials are more optimistic about the future of the sculptures since the advent of a Labour government in the UK, with its perceived openness to loan agreements.
A potential arrangement to facilitate rotating exhibitions of ancient Greek artefacts at the museum is among the various proposals circulating.
