Parliament approved the Culture Ministry's bill on cultural heritage management, protection of artworks and reorganisation of the Hellenic Organisation of Cultural Resources Development after a debate lasting more than twelve hours.
Only New Democracy supported the bill in principle. All opposition parties voted against it.
“Nowhere, under any circumstances, does the bill touch questions of ownership. Ownership of monuments remains entirely with the Greek state, exactly as the Constitution provides, and our cultural heritage is fully and absolutely protected by archaeological law. Full stop,” Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said.
She was responding to opposition accusations that the Government was making another attempt to hand the country's archaeological sites and monuments to private interests.
“I cannot avoid pointing out that basic honesty and the quality of public debate about cultural heritage are being tested today,” she said.
“Some have chosen, and continue to choose, to invent fantasies to mislead public opinion, either because they have not studied the bill sufficiently or deliberately and dishonestly for their own sterile opposition purposes.”
She continued:
“Nowhere does the bill say that the company owns monuments or archaeological sites. The company acquires no ownership, so it cannot sell them.
“It is a management company governed by the public-sector institutional framework. Its owners are the Finance Ministry and the Cultural Resources Development Organisation, ODAP.
“The company collects revenue in ODAP's name and on its behalf. It does not manage that revenue: it transfers it in full to ODAP, from where it passes to the Culture Ministry.
“That is what the bill says. The company can only operate for the good.”
Ms Mendoni argued that some opposition figures could not tolerate success.
More than €1.5 billion was being directed towards 900 projects under way, she said. Most were being delivered directly by public services, employing people from local communities and benefiting society.
During the debate, MPs from both Government and opposition expressed concern about the promotion and future of their local cultural heritage.
“Do not worry. Your archaeological sites will suffer no harm, for a simple reason: archaeological sites and monuments are protected by archaeological law,” the Minister said.
She also said the Museum of Underwater Antiquities had not been rejected by the EU. It was being co-financed by European and national resources, would be completed by the end of 2026 and would open to the public in early 2027.
