This petition calls on the historic, art and cultural community to take action to protect one of the largest collections of Thracian, Scythian and Etrurian artifacts from illegal seizure and damage from the authorities.

The "Vassil Bojkov" Collection encompasses more than 3 000 priceless pieces of cultural heritage dating from 4000 BC to the 6th century AD and stored and preserved by The Thrace Foundation in their private museum.

Currently, the Bulgarian Prosecution is attempting to illegally seize and transport the precious and very fragile objects without any legal grounds and without any of the necessary preparations for the packaging, transportation and preservation of the national treasures.

The backstory:

Following last month’s attempts of the Bulgarian authorities to nationalize the lottery business of the Bulgarian businessman and private collector Mr. Vassil Bojkov, the Prosecution blatantly violated the law by seizing priceless objects from the Vassil Bojkov Collection without any legal justification.

On January 29th the authorities storm the building of Thrace Foundation, which has the statue of a private museum, and begins the seizing of pieces of national cultural heritage in plastic bags and cardboard boxes from the laboratory of the Foundation, as seen in this video from а nearby security camera.

The stress that the academics as well as the staff of Thrace Foundation were subjected to was utterly inhumane, to say the least. Despite the threats and repressions, the academic staff of Thrace Foundation manages to alarm the media and temporary stop the unregulated transportation of antiquities in boxes and bags.

As a result, the Prosecution comes up with various unproven accusations towards Mr. Bojkov in attempt to justify seizing the Collection.

We believe that the world cultural heritage should not be an object of political and business interests and fall victim in the governmental war with one person!  

The problem:

All artifacts are stored under very specific conditions, humidity and temperature, due to their fragile nature. Any attempts for transportation without the necessary preparations and without following the strict international standards for packaging, moving and insuring such valuable objects will lead to the damage and perhaps destruction of some 5000-year-old artifacts. Because of their fragile condition, the objects must be transported in specially made packaging for each object, put in air-tight, water and fire-proof containers and insured with a specialized company. The authorities are currently refusing to abide to any of these conditions, showing complete lack of understanding of the value of such objects. Such horrific acts against the world's cultural and historical heritage cannot be tolerated in a country member of the EU.

It is absolutely barbaric to move the Collection without fair lawsuits and sentences entered into force; without legal basis for the seizure of cultural property without following any international and legal protocol for the transfer and preservation of cultural heritage for generations to come and for humanity.

The unique objects from the Vassil Bojkov Collection have been shown in many exhibitions around the world.  The Brussels exhibition “The Splendour of Bulgaria” in the European Parliament is the major event for Bulgaria’s entering the European Union. The EU Presidency of Bulgaria in 2018 was marked with the exhibition “The Golden Fleece. The Quest of the Argonauts” as part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage programme. The Collecting has traveled to Moscow, Bonn and other museums and is internationally renowned for its historical and cultural value.

       Furthermore, world renowned scholars have been and are currently studying the objects and some of them are planned as centerpieces in the upcoming Thracian Art Exhibition in the Paul Getty Museum in 2023. Restricting access to the artifacts would also mean neglecting the worldwide academic importance and scholar access to part of the world history.

The Trace Foundation has already informed UNESCO and The European Commission for the unlawful actions of the local authorities.

By signing this petition you take a stand against this unpreceded abuse of our World Cultural Heritage and the violation of:

• Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
• EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
• The UNESCO Convention
• The European Work Plan for Culture 2019-2022
• The Bulgarian Law for Cultural Heritage

by the Bulgarian Government.

We plead not to move the Collection from its current place until the European Commision, UNESCO and the Court of Justice make the necessary investigations and procedures making sure the lawfulness and preservation of the artifacts is ensured.

Our world cultural heritage is not to become a casualty in shady political practices and must be protected from being destroyed by political wars.

Let the collection stay with Thrace Foundation which is the rightful owner and has the best conditions to preserve it.