Skopje, 15 December 2023 (MIA) - The icons that have been returned from Albania to North Macedonia after they had been stolen more than a decade ago have been displayed at the Museum of North Macedonia late on Friday.

Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, Minister of Culture Bisera Kostadinovska Stojchevska, Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archdiocese Pontiff, HH Stefan, and Sasho Cvetkovski, who had identified the icons, attended the event.

Albania returned the 20 icons stolen from Macedonian churches, mainly in the Struga region, within the cooperation agreement that the two countries signed last year.

The procedure of returning the stolen icons started back in 2013, whereas activities have intensified over the past couple of years.

Hundreds of icons were stolen from churches in the country's west and southwest between 2009 and 2013. A new process of returning another contingent of identified icons from Albania will follow in the coming period

Photo: MIA