The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Washington D.C. by the Minister of Culture Elva Margariti and the U.S. acting Assistant Secretary Matthew Lussenhop.

“Today we took another important step towards further strengthening the relations with the United States of America, this time on our shared fight against trafficking of the cultural heritage objects from Albania,” Culture Minister said, adding “once again Albania aligns itself with the United States for a major goal, that of preserving cultural heritage.”

The U.S. Embassy in Tirana said that “today marks another milestone in the cultural exchanges between the United States and Albania.”

“This MOU will strengthen and expand the U.S. and Albanian collaboration to counter looting and trafficking of cultural objects from Albania,” the Embassy noted.

“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,” U.S. Embassy said in its statement.

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