Prior to the video conference of the EU Ministers of Culture, held on 19 May 2020, Europa Nostra send a letter to Nina Obuljen Koržinek, Croatian Minister of Culture and Acting Chair of the EU Council of Ministers. In the letter, Europa Nostra “strongly condemns” the “brutal demolition” of the National Theatre of Albania in Tirana on 17 May 2020.
For several years, the Alliance for the Protection of the Theatre campaigned for the preservation of the theatre. In 2018, during the European Year of Cultural Heritage, Europa Nostra expressed its support to the alliance. On 24 March 2020, Europa Nostra included the theatre on the list of Europe’s 7 most endangered heritage sites in 2020.
Europa Nostra believes that 17 May 2020 “was a sad day for cultural heritage in Albania and in Europa as a whole. And it was also a sad day for democracy and respect of the rule of law and human rights in Albania and in Europe as a whole.”
Europa Nostra urges the EU Ministers of Culture to reiterate that the protection of cultural heritage represents one of the fundamental EU values.
See below for, interview with Europa Nostra’s Sneska Quaedvlieg Mihailovic on Euronews Albania in May 2020.
Read the full article on Europa Nostra’s website and download Europa Nostra’s letter here.
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