President of the Hellenic Republic Constantine Tassoulas has delivered a fresh call for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures, declaring that they cannot remain separated from the ancient monument indefinitely.
Speaking at the British School at Athens on Friday evening, Tassoulas described reunification as a “gesture of enormous significance” and linked the issue directly to the Parthenon’s place in European civilisation and Western thought.
“If we accept that the Parthenon is a beacon of the European spirit and Western thought, we cannot accept that it should remain indefinitely without its Sculptures,” Tassoulas said.
He urged his audience to consider the significance of bringing the sculptures together again, saying such an act would be followed by the equally significant achievement of their actual reunification.
The President made the remarks while addressing the wider role of foreign archaeological schools in Greece and their contribution to the study and preservation of ancient Greek civilisation.
He said these institutions have helped reconstruct the cultural memory of Greece and Europe and establish classical heritage as a universal ideal and foundation of European identity.
