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Seven months after her visit to Athens, famous lawyer and Hollywood actor George Clooney’s wife Amal has sent to the Greek government her report on the actions it should take to win back the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum. According to her, Athens has to immediately initiate a lawsuit with the specific request, because the course of time is not in favour of Greek interests.

"You need to launch legal proceedings. The failure to do so in the near future may result in a lost opportunity. It is now or never. The time has come," she states in the report.

Amal Alammudin and two of her colleagues visited Athens last October at the invitation of the former government. After talks with the representatives of the Ministry of Culture, they pledged to formulate an opinion about the best way in which Greece could return the Parthenon Marbles to Athens, which are in the British Museum at present.

Current Deputy Minister of Culture of the government of SYRIZA and Independent Greeks Nikos Xidakis however did not show interest in Amal Clooney’s proposal and rejected the possibility of Athens initiating a lawsuit, saying, "The road to reclaiming the marbles is diplomatic and political."

He pointed out that the report was only part of the legal advice gradually provided to Athens by the law firm Robertson - Palmer. "One cannot go to court over any of the issues on the one hand and the outcome in international courts is unclear on the other. Things are not so easy," added Nikos Xidakis.

His words have provoked a reaction from President of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum David Hill. He has sent a letter to the Ministry of Culture, stating that Minister Xidakis has rejected the possibility of a court decision on the matter before even hearing the advice of the British lawyers. The letter also stresses that the Minister did not even wait to meet them before deciding on the actions he would take and that in a few days he would receive a written proposal on how Greece should proceed to demand the return of the marbles.

Finally, David Hill states that the position of the Greek Minister has disappointed the supporters of Greece’s cause from across the world.

It is worth noting that the former leadership of the Greek Ministry of Culture was reserved about the possibility of initiating a lawsuit for the return of the marbles, due to both practical reasons and the fact that resolving the dispute in court is not considered to be able to bring the desired outcome for Greece.