US-Albania sign agreement protecting cultural objects from trafficking on black market

Matthew Lussenhop and Elva Margaritiri while signing agreement on the Protection of Cultural Objects

 Albania and the US have signed today a memorandum of understanding, which aims to prevent theft and trafficking of cultural objects.

The news is announced by the US Embassy in Tirana with a note on its official Facebook page.

The agreement was signed by Culture Minister Elva Margariti and Acting Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Lussenhop in Washington D.C.

The Embassy says that the US in two decades has been active in protecting the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Albania through the Ambassadors Fund for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage.

According to the US, this step aims to protect the values and wealth of cultural objects.

Full declaration:

Today marks another milestone in the cultural exchanges between the United States and Albania. Acting Assistant Secretary Matthew Lussenhop and Minister of Culture Elva Margariti came together in Washington D.C. to sign a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the imposition of import restrictions on categories of archaeological and ethnological material of Albania. This MOU will strengthen and expand the U.S. and Albanian collaboration to counter looting and trafficking of cultural objects from Albania. Over the past 20 the United States, through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, has demonstrated its support to preserve Albania’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage.  This bilateral cultural property agreement is a commitment of the U.S. Government to protect its irreversible loss.  We look forward to working with the Albanian institutions for a successful implementation of this MOU. 

We remind that there have been many cases in Albania when various persons have violated cultural objects and objects of historical value, in order to traffic these objects.