UNESCO Blue Shield awarded to Lithuanian cultural monuments
Lithuanian cultural monuments will be marked with the distinctive symbol, the emblem of Blue Shield specified in the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which is also known as the Hague Convention.
This ruling was made by the Government, which approved the lists of objects of immovable cultural heritage that have exceptional cultural value: cultural heritage buildings and locations marked with the distinctive emblem of the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The list of buildings and premises dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of movable cultural property that are marked with this UNESCO distinctive emblem was also approved.
The Second Protocol to the Hague Convention determines that the creation of such lists and the marking of objects with the Blue Shield ensures that, in case these objects were to be destroyed or damaged in the event of armed conflict, such actions would be treated as equivalent to a war crime and could result in actual international criminal liability and international prosecution. The list that was previously in effect consisted of 19 cultural heritage buildings that did not encompass all exceptionally significant cultural monuments as well as locations included in the World Heritage List whose protection is to be ensured in accordance with the Hague Convention. The list of premises where movable cultural property is preserved also did not encompass the country’s most significant national and state museums. This list was composed by including 77 objects in it: museums, libraries, archives, and other buildings.
The list of objects of immovable cultural heritage that have exceptional cultural value— cultural heritage buildings marked with the distinctive emblem of the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict—includes 141 cultural monuments: complexes of castles, churches, and monastery manors, as well as historical palaces, buildings and other structures that have the highest national level of significance and the highest state security status of cultural monument.
The list of objects of immovable cultural heritage that have exceptional cultural value— cultural heritage locations marked with the distinctive emblem of the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict—includes 52 cultural monuments (hillforts, castle mounds, settlements) and locations recorded in the UNESCO World Heritage List: Vilnius Historic Centre (Vilnius Old Town), the Curonian Spit (the Curonian Spit National Park), Modernist Kaunas: Architecture of Optimism, 1919-1939, Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve’s Geodetic Arc, Kernavė Archaeological Site (Cultural Reserve of Kernavė).
It is planned that the cultural monuments or buildings included in these lists will be marked with the Blue Shield this year by the initiative of the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Hague Convention.
Illustration by Blue Shield International
Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania information