Petros Alivizatos, Greece’s deputy culture minister, has met with the Finnish Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. He pointed out the importance of raising the profile of the issue again, particularly because of the focus on Greek related stories about Britain, because of the upcoming Olympics.

From:
Greek Reporter

Greek Deputy Minister of Culture Meets With Finnish Committee for Restitution of Parthenon Marbles
By Stella Tsolakidou on January 25, 2012 in news

During his formal visit to Finland, the Greek Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, Petros Alivizatos, has met with the Finnish Committee for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles.

The meeting was attended by the Vice President of the Committee and Professor of the Modern Greek language at the University of Helsinki, Mrs. Mika Kajava, the Treasurer of the Committee, Mrs. Teodora Oker-Blom, the Secretary of the Committee and lawyer, Mr. Eero Heimolinna, and the YLE journalist Jari Niemelä.

During the meeting, the members of the Committee repeated their intention to support the efforts to return the Parthenon marbles back to Greece, and promised to enhance the dynamics of the appeal by introducing initiatives both inside and outside Finland and by directly submitting intervention appeals to the British authorities.

Mr. Alivizatos pointed out that the Greek Ministry of Culture and Tourism will proceed with intensifying the efforts of the Greek government to get back the marbles of Parthenon by closely cooperating with the respective International Committees.

Moreover, the Greek Deputy Minister highlighted that it is high time the issue drew international attention again, due to the coming Olympic Games of London in 2012.