The Minister of Culture, Elva Margariti said that, “one of the most priority issues of the government is the creation of a sound legal framework against the trafficking of cultural heritage objects”.

During her speech at the plenary session of the Assembly, Margariti noted that this is not just a memorandum, but a series of bylaws that strengthen the uncompromising fight against trafficking in our cultural assets.

According to her, since 2018 the Ministry of Culture and the Embassy of the United States of America in Tirana have started work on drafting a Cooperation Agreement in respect of the UNESCO Convention, 1970, which was finalized with the signing of the memorandum in August in Washington, with the Assistant Secretary of State for Culture and Education, Matthew Lussenhop, thus formalizing our commitment to be side by side in a war that does not belong to us alone.

The Minister also continued, another important step in creating this framework was the decision of the Council of Ministers “On determining the procedures and ways of administering the database of stolen cultural assets”, a process initiated by the adoption of the law “On cultural heritage and museums”, which is directly related to the manner of administration of the database of cultural assets stolen, entered or left illegally from the territory of the Republic of Albania “.