The vast majority of UN member states backed on Friday a resolution introduced by Greece to return cultural artefacts to their country of origin.

The draft resolution was introduced at the 79th Plenary Session of the UN General Assembly and was adopted by consensus and with the co-sponsorship of 146 UN Member States.

This represents the highest number achieved to date and was the first occasion on which all 27 EU Member States, co-sponsored the resolution.

“It is of the utmost importance for us all to recognise that the protection of human life will always remain our primary concern, but that respect for a people’s cultural identity is also vital. While human life is of greater importance than objects, it is nevertheless necessary to respect the rules for the protection of cultural property, as it is the collective memory of humanity and symbolises human life itself,”  explained Ambassador Evangelos C. Sekeris, the Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

The cross-regional support of the Resolution, with a wide and diverse group of co-sponsoring member states, illustrates the change in attitude on the issue of the return or restitution of cultural property and the high visibility this has gained in recent years.

The result is particularly important, given that the text of the Resolution is significantly strengthened and keeping in mind that Resolutions of the UN General Assembly tabled by only one country are rarely adopted by such a large number of co-sponsors. 

This latest success of Greece country is part of this nation's relentless efforts at international level, to protect cultural property in particular, but also cultural heritage in general, against illicit trafficking in both times of peace and war. In addition, it highlights the need to return or restitute stolen and illegally possessed cultural property to its historic environment.

Read the entire statement made by Greece's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, here.

BCRPM wishes to also extend heartfelt congratulations to the MFA of Greece for its efforts on this front and to  Dr.  Artemis Papathanassiou, head of the International Law Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece  for having being the Chair of the  negotiations who led to the adoption of the Resolution.