CAIRO, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Egypt has recovered 21 illegally smuggled ancient artifacts from Australia, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday.
Working with Australian authorities, Egypt's diplomatic missions in Canberra and Sydney managed to retrieve the 21 items displayed at an auction house, the ministry said in a statement.
The return of the artifacts coincided with the 75th anniversary of Egyptian-Australian diplomatic relations, highlighting the two sides' cooperation in protecting cultural heritage and combating antiquities trafficking, according to the statement.
The ministry noted that Egypt has exerted great efforts in preserving its heritage, with the Foreign Ministry playing a key role in retrieving smuggled artifacts in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Egypt has intensified its global campaign in recent years to recover stolen and smuggled antiquities. On Monday, it announced the recovery of 25 historically and artistically significant artifacts, spanning multiple periods of ancient Egyptian civilization, from the United States.
