Albania returns 20 stolen icons to neighboring North Macedonia

Albania has returned 20 icons to neighboring North Macedonia, which were stolen a decade ago

TIRANA, Albania -- Albania on Friday returned 20 icons to neighboring North Macedonia that were stolen a decade ago, Albania's Culture Ministry said.

The return marked the final stretch on a long, 10-year road with "much inter-institutional and international cooperation,” said Albania's Culture Minister Elva Margariti. It also showed Albania’s commitment to “the fight against trafficking of the cultural inheritance objects,” she said.

A handover ceremony was held at the National Historic Museum in the Albanian capital of Tirana. No further details were provided about the icons.

In 2013, Albanian authorities in Tirana seized more than 1,000 stolen religious and secular pieces of art dating from the 15th to the mid-20th century and arrested two men suspected of planning to sell them abroad.

The icons, frescoes and other pieces were taken from churches and cultural centers in southeastern Albania and in the neighboring North Macedonia, a police statement had said.