1. According to Greek law, which incorporates international law principles and European Union legislation, the Greek State cares for the protection of cultural objects originating from Greek territory, whenever they may have been removed from it; it also cares for the protection of cultural objects historically connected with Greece, wherever they may be located.

2. The repatriation of cultural objects to Greece concerns those objects, which were illegally excavated, illegally exported or stolen from Greece against Greek law, European Union law and international conventions.

3. Besides products of clandestine excavation, illicit export or theft -as defined in international conventions on the protection of cultural heritage- there are also antiquities of particular importance to humanity that were removed from the territory of a State in a questionable manner in terms of legality as well as in an onerous way which was detrimental to the monument and to the archaeological context in which they belonged. These antiquities need to be returned on the basis of fundamental principles enshrined in international conventions irrespective of time limits or other constraints. They also need to be returned on the basis of legal principles, customary rules, and ethics deriving from cultural heritage law. This need is also dictated by increased ecumenical interest as well as public interest in order for the integrity of the monument to be restored in its historic, cultural and natural environment. The repatriation of such antiquities is, moreover, dictated by the need of the completeness of the information they carry as part of a whole from which they have been detached and isolated. No researcher or visitor may fully appreciate these antiquities outside their context, fragmented and exhibited solely as individual works of art. A characteristic example in this respect are the Parthenon Marbles.​