SUZBIJANjE NEZAKONITE TRGOVINE KULTURNIM DOBRIMA U PRAVU EVROPSKE UNIJE

Abstract

Cultural assets in every country represent assets of great social, cultural, historical and scientific importance. Precisely because of their value and the great interest of both cultural institutions and private collectors in cultural goods, they have become the object of illegal trade throughout the world, and especially in the European Union. Trafficking in cultural goods can take many forms, such as theft from cultural heritage institutions or private collections, looting of archaeological sites, displacement of artefacts due to war, etc. It is especially pronounced during armed conflicts, when it takes on drastic proportions. Due to the high value of cultural goods, a connection between trade in these goods and organized crime has been observed. For these reasons, increased legislative activity aimed at suppressing illegal trade in cultural goods is visible at the level of the European Union.