Baghdad Iraq and Serbia discussed the issue of smuggled Iraqi antiquities and cooperation in recovering stolen and smuggled antiquities and deposited at the Serbian National Museum.
A statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today that the Chargé d’Affairs at the Iraqi Embassy in Belgrade, Haidar Rashid Sawadi, met the Serbian Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture and Informatics, Stanko Blakowij, at the Ministry of Culture building.
According to the statement, the Chargé d’Affairs expressed his thanks for the importance of holding bilateral meetings because they are the basis for building strong and continuous relations that serve the interests of the two friendly countries. He presented an overview of the depth of relations between Iraq and Serbia, and referred to the executive protocol for cultural cooperation to be signed between the two countries.
The Chargé d’Affairs presented the proposal to hold cultural seminars via video conference, and to repeat the Embassy’s experience with the Arab Culture Center in Serbia. He also discussed the issue of tourism in Serbia and the possibility of facilitating the granting of entry visas to Iraqis wishing to visit Serbia for the purposes of tourism, investment and trade, and the importance of signing a cooperation protocol between Iraqi Airways and its Serbian counterpart.
They also discussed the issue of smuggled Iraqi antiquities, as it is an international issue on which several resolutions were issued by the UN Security Council, and cooperation in recovering stolen and smuggled antiquities and deposited with the Serbian National Museum, as they represent a large and important part of the history of the Mesopotamian civilization.
For his part, the Serbian official spoke about the relations between the two countries and the need to seek to strengthen the bonds of friendship between them, expressing his keenness and support to follow up on the issue of smuggled Iraqi antiquities in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, stressing that the issue was resolved by investing in bilateral and historical relations between the two countries.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency