Speaking at a high-brow affair in Athens, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni noted the historic ties between Greece and Britain, which celebrate, this year, their 175th anniversary of diplomatic relations, and stressed their modern-day "mature and precious" bilateral cooperation, as well as their cooperation as EU partners and NATO allies "in a turbulent and uncertain world.”

But, just as the upper-crust audience, made up of representatives of the British intellectual elite at a conference titled "The Study of the Modern History of Greece: An Oxford Perspective,” were politely but stiffly applauding her remarks, she threw in the familiar refrain: give us our marbles!  

"I am fully aware that I am touching on a sensitive chord for everyone,” she said. “The return of the Marbles is a just demand for the culture of the City of Athens.

Today, as Greece has the modern Acropolis Museum, their place must be in the environs of the Sacred Rock (Acropolis)."

Turning to the modern-day challenges, Mrs. Bakoyanni described Greek-British relations as "excellent and precious", a relationship "that has neared maturity with the multiple aspects of cooperation".

She said: “We are allies and partners," recalling that "we were on the same side in the major wars of the century,” making it obvious by her omission that she considers the War in Iraq a minor conflict.