EU Statement on UNTOC COP13 resolution on cultural property, 23 October 2026

Mr. President,

The EU and its member states welcome the adoption of the draft Resolution sponsored by Egypt on ‘Strengthening international cooperation and operational responses for combating transnational organized crime against cultural property’. We thank Egypt, as well as all delegations, for their efforts throughout the negotiations to achieve this result.

We acknowledge that the fight against trafficking in cultural property and other related crimes is highly relevant to our shared efforts to combat organized crime, considering also the potential nexus of this type of crime with illicit trafficking in drugs and firearms, money-laundering, corruption, cyber-enabled crime, the financing of terrorism and other serious forms of organised crime. Furthermore, we appreciate the importance of facilitating the efforts of States to better implement and strengthen the relevant existing framework for international cooperation. 

We look forward to discussing the direction of those efforts with a broad range of stakeholders and international organisations, including UNODC but also UNESCO and INTERPOL.

Thank you, Mr. President.