Relationship dossier
Greece
United Kingdom
Relationship assessment
NATO allies with a strategic cooperation framework and a recurring dispute over the Parthenon sculptures
Greece toward United Kingdom
+20Greece participates with the United Kingdom in NATO and bilateral strategic cooperation, including defense and security. Greek governments have also pressed the United Kingdom to return the Parthenon sculptures, a persistent source of disagreement.
United Kingdom toward Greece
+20The United Kingdom cooperates with Greece through NATO and a bilateral strategic framework that includes defense and security. In November 2023, the British prime minister canceled a meeting with the Greek prime minister amid disagreement over the Parthenon sculptures.
Overall relationship
+25The relationship combines sustained cooperation through NATO and a bilateral strategic framework with a persistent dispute over the Parthenon sculptures. The 2023 diplomatic row demonstrated that the dispute can strain high-level engagement, but it has not displaced the broader cooperative relationship.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Greece and the United Kingdom cooperate through NATO and a bilateral strategic framework covering areas including defense and security. Their relationship also includes recurring disagreement over the Parthenon sculptures. The dispute became a public diplomatic row in 2023 after the British prime minister canceled a meeting with the Greek prime minister.
Areas of tension
- Greek calls for the return of the Parthenon sculptures held by the British Museum, which the United Kingdom has not agreed to return.
Key developments
Greece and the United Kingdom established a strategic bilateral framework covering cooperation in areas including defense and security.
The British prime minister canceled a meeting with the Greek prime minister amid a public disagreement over the Parthenon sculptures.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of cooperation under the bilateral strategic framework are unclear.
- The future handling of the Parthenon sculptures dispute remains uncertain.