ATHENS, Greece: President of the Hellenic Republic Constantine Tassoulas will meet with British Lebanese lawyer and human rights advocate Amal Clooney and UNESCO Director General Khaled El Enany in Athens on Thursday as Greece hosts a major meeting focused on the protection and promotion of culture.
President Tassoulas is scheduled to receive Amal Clooney at the Presidential Mansion at 12:00.
The meeting comes as Clooney visits Greece to attend the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors Meeting, with discussions expected to focus on culture, heritage and the challenges facing the protection of cultural property.
Clooney has previously worked on issues relating to Greece’s campaign for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures. In 2014, Tassoulas, then serving as Minister of Culture, commissioned the London based law firm where Clooney worked to prepare a legal study examining Greece’s claim for the repatriation of the sculptures.
Clooney will also participate on Thursday in a closed door discussion titled “Artificial Intelligence and Culture” at the Temple of Olympian Zeus. President Tassoulas will attend the event.
Her visit to Athens follows an invitation from Constanza Sbokou Constantakopoulou, UNESCO’s new Goodwill Ambassador for the Protection and Promotion of Culture.
The programme will continue with an official dinner at the Acropolis Museum at 20:30. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the UNESCO Fund for Culture, supporting efforts to combat the illicit trafficking of cultural property.
At 14:00, President Tassoulas will also meet with UNESCO Director General Khaled El Enany at the Presidential Mansion.
The meetings bring together senior Greek and UNESCO officials with prominent figures in international law and cultural heritage at a time when the protection of cultural property and the use of emerging technologies in the cultural sector remain major international issues.
