The return by others of artefacts that were once part of the Elgin marbles (e.g. the Palermo Fragment), can only be seen as strengthening Greece’s position & adding to the pressure on the British Museum.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Italy returns Elgin Marbles fragment to Greece
Italy has given back to Greece a fragment of the Parthenon sculptures – increasing pressure on Britain to return the Elgin Marbles.
By Nick Squires In Rome
Last Updated: 6:01PM BST 24 Sep 2008

The 2,500-year-old section of marble was presented to the Greek government by Italy’s president, Giorgio Napolitano, as a gesture of goodwill between the two Mediterranean countries.

The 14-by-13-inch artifact consists of a foot and part of a dress hem from a sculpture of Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
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Further coverage of the return of the Palermo fragment from the Parthenon Sculptures. The move to repatriate the piece ties in with the opening of the Nostoi exhibition in the New Acropolis Museum, displaying looted artefacts that Italy has recovered in recent years.

It is also worth mentioning that tow more fragments (both currently in the Vatican) are also expected to return to Athens shortly.

From:
Sydney Morning Herald

Italy returns long lost Parthenon fragment to Greece
September 24, 2008 – 2:05AM

Italy has returned to Greece the ‘Palermo fragment’, a marble piece of the Athens Parthenon missing for nearly 200 years, officials said Tuesday.

The sculpted fragment of the ancient Greek hunt goddess Artemis, part of the eastern Parthenon frieze depicting the twelve gods of Olympus, had been in the collection of the Antonio Salinas Archaeological Museum of Palermo.
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Following occasional hints in the preceding weeks from the Greek press & yesterday’s meeting of Greek & Italian presidents, the Palermo fragment from the Parthenon frieze has now been returned on loan to Athens.

This is not the first piece from the Parthenon sculptures to be returned, but follows on from the reunification of another smaller piece by Heidelberg University two years previously.

The Palermo fragment return has a long history to it & efforts have been ongoing to secure its loan despite previous attempts that failed. It was originally taken from Greece by Lord Elgin & found its way to Palermo as a gift, separated from the remaining Elgin Marbles in London.

The British Museum have tried in the past to argue that the Parthenon Sculptures are spread across many different locations & that their institution should not be specifically be targeted. The number of other institutions holding on to fragments of the sculptures is rapidly falling though, making the British Museum’s argument progressively weaker.

From:
Associated Press

Italy returns piece of Parthenon Marbles to Greece
By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS – 15 hours ago

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has finally taken possession of a chunk of the Elgin Marbles, and now holds renewed hopes of regaining the rest.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Tuesday presented Greek authorities with a small piece of sculpture from the Parthenon kept in a museum in Palermo, Sicily, for the past 200 years.
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Greek president Karolos Papoulias has met with his Italian counterpart. What is relevant about this though, is that for the first time in any English language press (it has previously been covered in the Greek media) it notes that the Palermo fragment of the Parthenon frieze is going to be returned.

From:
Athens News Agency

09/23/2008
Papoulias meets Italian president

President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias on Tuesday met with his visiting Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano.

Papoulias particularly thanked Napolitano for the gesture of the return of a fragment of the Parthenon frieze from Palermo, which he said acquired particular gravity at a time when Greece was seeking the return of the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum.
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Developments such as the New Acropolis Museum mean that the Elgin Marbles may be closer to returning than they once were, but they are still a long way from Greece.

From:
Balkan Travellers

Ancient Greece’s Elgin Marbles Stand at the Centre of a 200-Year Long Great Ado
Text by Ekaterina Petrova

During his term as British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the turn of the nineteenth century, Thomas Bruce, Seventh Earl of Elgin, already knew his actions were controversial and that he might go down in history as a “vandal.” But he most likely did not anticipate that, 200 years on, the heated international dispute he caused would continue to rage with full force.

Almost two centuries after the British diplomat controversially acquired and brought to Britain precious pieces of the Acropolis in Athens, the British Museum still refused to return them to Greece. The Elgin Marbles have in the past couple of decades become emblematic for disputes over the ownership of cultural heritage objects between wealthier countries and nations that boast ancient sites on their territory.
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Despite earlier predictions that the New Acropolis Museum would open this Autumn, it appears that the opening date has now shifted to early 2009. It is unclear if there is a specific reason for this dealy.

From:
France 24

Fresh delay for Acropolis Museum
Tuesday 16 September 2008

Inauguration of Athens’ “ultra-modern” new Acropolis Museum has once again been delayed, Greek authorities announced. The brand-new facility features an empty room reserved for the Parthenon’s “Elgin marbles”, owned by the British Museum.

The opening of a new, ultra-modern Acropolis museum located below the ancient Athens landmark has been pushed back until February or March next year, Culture Minister Michalis Liapis said Tuesday.
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The Nostoi exhibition that has been on display in Italy is moving to the New Acropolis Museum. This exhibition shows looted artefacts that have been recovered by Italy in recent years. Greece & Italy have now agreed to work together in their attempts to retrieve looted artefacts from abroad.

From:
Athens News Agency

09/16/2008
Exhibition at Acropolis museum

The Culture ministry will be organising the “Nostoi” exhibition at the New Acropolis Museum in the framework of the Italian President’s visit to Athens.

The exhibition includes the “Nostoi Capolavori Ritrovati” exhibition which was organised by the Presidency of the Italian Republic and was initially presented in Rome (Palazzo del Quirinale, December 2, 2007-March 30, 2008) and then at the Palazzo Poli a Fontana di Trevi and focused on 74 repatriated antiquities from various Museums in the United States.
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More details on the Hungarian offer to return a number of looted antiquities to Greece.

From:
Artinfo

Hungary Offers to Return Looted Antiquities to Greece
By ARTINFO
Published: September 12, 2008

ATHENS—Hungary has offered to return a number of artifacts that were illegally exported from Greece, the Associated Press reports. The 22 pieces are currently on view at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.

Hungary’s foreign minister, Kinga Goncz, made the announcement yesterday after concluding talks in Athens with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis. She said that Greek and Hungarian experts would convene to study the pieces and discuss which would be returned.
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Dr. Eugene N. Borza will be lecturing in Nashville about the history of the Parthenon & the restoration process currently underway on the monument.

From:
Tennessean

Parthenon expert to lecture on Greece’s ‘noble ruin’
BY BILL FRISKICS-WARREN • STAFF WRITER • September 14, 2008

Built on the rocky Athenian Acropolis, the Parthenon has inspired lovers of art, architecture and Greek mythology for 24 centuries. Widely regarded as the finest monument of its type ever built, the Parthenon and its metopes, pediments and famous frieze have come to personify Greece just as the Eiffel Tower has come to symbolize Paris and the Pyramids have come to represent Egypt.

On Tuesday, Dr. Eugene N. Borza, professor emeritus of ancient history at Pennsylvania State University, will be at Nashville’s reproduction of the great temple to lecture on recent efforts to restore and preserve the original. In the following conversation with The Tennessean, he talks about the origins and history of the Parthenon, as well as about the human and natural forces that have contributed to its deterioration.
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Another success story, a few days after Greece secured the return of illegally acquired artefacts from a prominent US collector.

From:
Associated Press

Hungary to return looted antiquities to Greece
By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS – Sep 11, 2008

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Hungary has offered to return a collection of antiquities on display in a leading Budapest museum that were illegally exported from Greece, the Hungarian foreign minister said Thursday.

Kinga Goncz said Greek and Hungarian experts would meet to study the 22 pieces and discuss which would be repatriated.
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Greece has secured the return of two artefacts from a US collector after lobbying for their return based on the fact that they had been removed illegally from Greece. Following the successes of Italian efforts, Greece has in recent years stepped up their campaign for the return of any artefacts looted from the country.

From:
Reuters

Greece gets antiquities back from U.S. collector
Wed Sep 3, 2008 3:10pm BST

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece celebrated on Wednesday the return of two rare smuggled antiquities from a prominent U.S. collector and expressed hope other ancient Greek treasures housed overseas would one day be sent home.

A fourth century B.C. bronze vase and the upper part of a marble tombstone were returned by U.S. collector Shelby White in August, a year after the Culture Ministry started lobbying to get them back on evidence they had been smuggled out of Greece.
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I might be more convinced by the protests by the followers of Ellinais about removal of sculptures from the Parthenon if there was some more obvious connection linking them directly to those who built the Parthenon.

From:
CNN

September 1, 2008 — Updated 1327 GMT (2127 HKT)
Greek Acropolis plan draws religious backlash
By Anthee Carassava

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) — Defying police presence and a thunderous downpour, dozens of Greek pagans huddled near the Parthenon in Athens on Sunday, holding a protest prayer for a museum being built at the foot of the sacred site.

The ceremony, attended by scores of curious onlookers, was performed amid the ruins of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon. The ancient Greek religion was outlawed by the Roman empire in the fourth century.
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