Greece not to take legal action for reunification of Parthenon marbles: official

Greece will not follow the legal path for the return of Parthenon marbles from the British museum, Deputy Minister of Culture Nikos Xydakis said on Wednesday.

Instead, the Greek government will set its strategy through political action and diplomacy, as he highlighted at an interview to a private Greek television channel.

"You cannot go to court for every matter and the outcome at international courts is uncertain, things are never so easy," Xydakis said.

Greece has turned to a distinguished British legal team specialized in cases of cultural restitution, which includes Amal Clooney, the wife of Hollywood star George Clooney, to provide advice on the matter.

Amal Clooney urged the Greek government to take British Museum to international courts to win back the Marbles, according to local media reports.

Clooney with her colleagues Geoffrey Robertson and Norman Palmer, who all visited Athens last October to discuss the matter with the Greek government, sent a confidential legal report to the minister of culture with their proposals over the weekend, according to Greek media.

The issue of the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, removed from the Parthenon in 1806 by Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire when it ruled Greece, has troubled Greece for decades. Endit