Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin

Bruce Clark, a contributor to The Economist and the author of the recent book "Athens, City of Wisdom", which dives into the story of Lord Elgin and the Parthenon Sculptures, joins Thanos Davelis to discuss British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's "unprecedented" decision to snub Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis over the issue of the return of the Parthenon Sculptures. 

Greece's prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Sunday he would push for the return of the Parthenon Marbles when he meets U.K. leader Rishi Sunak in Britain this week.

The sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, were taken from the Parthenon temple at the Acropolis in Athens in the early 19th century by British diplomat Thomas Bruce, the earl of Elgin.

Against the backdrop of the scandal of the theft of hundreds of valuable objects from the British Museum, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni has told MPs that "the government has a strategic plan regarding the claim for the Parthenon Sculptures."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called on the British government and the British Museum to reach a "win-win arrangement" over the Parthenon Sculptures, facilitating both Greece and the UK to "share" the 2,500-year-old sculptures. 

Politics is, as they say, the art of the possible. Nevertheless, sometimes politicians turn their backs on the attainable, especially if it does not help them politically and gives points to their opponents.

For a few months now, the issue of the return of the Parthenon Sculptures has acquired a special dynamic. In recent months, the density of reports in the British media is perhaps the highest ever. UNESCO's proposal for direct bilateral talks between the British and Greek Ministries of Culture was accepted by the British government for the first time in the history of the Sculpture claim.

Now that times have changed and Britain is leaving the European Union, it's time to reconsider Greece's claim for the return of the Parthenon sculptures, according to an opinion piece in the Washington Post published this weekend.

Despite the differing opinions today, the author notes, the case is stronger than ever that they should return to Athens, the cradle of Western culture.