Letter of Farantouri to UNESCO for I. Sinai Monastery and Egypt's candidacy for the Directorate General of the Organization

MEP and member of the European Parliament’s Budget and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Professor Nicolas Farantourissent a letter today to its Executive Board UNESCOexpressing serious concerns about his candidacy Egypt Mr. Khaled Ahmed El-Enany Ali for the position of General Manager of the Organization, in the face of the October elections, due to the questioning of its ownership status St. Catherine Sinai by the Egyptian authorities.

The letter calls on the UNESCO Council to examine the Egyptian nomination with full awareness of the above, stressing that “the organization’s leadership must remain faithful to its universal mission: the protection of cultural heritage and the promotion of justice”.

The Greek MEP focuses on the critical situation faced by the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai – the oldest monastery in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a sacred symbol of Christianity, which was even respected by Mohammed himself.

As Nicolas Farantouris points out, “the Egyptian government’s derogatory policy and recent judicial decisions in Egypt, in conjunction with extensive tourism development plans in the Sinai region, are against the ownership rights of the monastery and, by extension, its own.”

“Without registered land and buildings, St. Catherine is in danger of being turned into a living monastic community, an empty tourist housing,” the letter characteristically emphasized.

Mr Farantouris points out that “Europe cannot remain silent when a 1,500 -year -old monument, a lighthouse of coexistence and the foundation of our common culture, is in danger. UNESCO was founded to protect the inheritance, not to watch its degradation in the name of feasibility. Egypt could reliably claim the UNESCO leadership only if it ensures the protection of the ownership regime and the centuries of acquisitions of the I. Position. “

The letter notes Egypt’s great role in the world heritage, from the pyramids to Abu Sibel, but it is also emphasized that “credibility requires consistency”. UNESCO’s mission is not limited to protecting monuments themselves (“from stone”), but also extends to the defense of living communities, religious rights and traditions.

As the MEP emphasizes, “this is a belief in the values of UNESCO that as European and active members of the international community, we must protect the for the sake of history, justice and subsequent generations.”

The whole letter (translation into Greek):

To the UNESCO Executive Board members

Most of all,

With the highest respect for your high office and the burden of responsibility assigned to you – the protection of the cultural and intellectual heritage of mankind – I address you in the capacity of a member of the European Parliament’s budget committee, one of the basic supporters and contributors to the UNESC.

In a few weeks, the Council will propose the new General Manager and the General Conference will elect him. One of the announcements is Mr Khaled Ahmed El-Enany Ali, former Minister of Culture of the Arab Republic of Egypt. This nomination, like any candidacy, cannot be examined in vacuum. It must be evaluated in the light of the treatment of the cultural and religious heritage entrusted by history and by international conventions, to the states concerned, including Egypt.

At the heart of this problematic lies the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine of Sinai, the oldest monastery in the world, founded on the reign of Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. For fifteen centuries, through empires, caliphates, invasions and conquests, the monastery remained a beacon of continuity, learning and spiritual dedication. He also receives high respect in the Jewish tradition, as the place where, during the Old Testament, Moses received the ten commandments. Its existence was also respected by the Prophet Mohammed himself, who issued a genuine covenant to secure their monks, their worship and their property.

Consequently, the Sinai Monastery is not only a place of Orthodox Christian worship but also a symbol of inter -religious respect and coexistence of global importance.

However, today this respectable institution is in danger. Since 2015, the Egyptian authorities have doubted his property rights and his property. Controversial judicial cases have been filed and decisions have been made that, if implemented, will deprive the monastery not only by certain assets but, ultimately, even by the cells of the monks and its means of living. It is not negligible that these procedures coincide with government negotiations that are supposed to find a solution; a coincidence that raises more questions than it resolves.

The concern is exacerbated by the widely published plans for great tourism development in Sinai, which in the international press were likened to the creation of a “Las Vegas” in the Egyptian desert. When financial interests and investment feasions prevail the protection of a living millennium monument, the essence of UNESCO’s mission is called into question. Because without registered land and property ownership, the monastery is in danger of being slow to wither: unable to maintain her life, she will be confined to a shell, a museum for tourists instead of a sacred prayer. But Sinai is different from any other “tourist” sights: its thousands of visitors are not “tourists”, they are pilgrims.

We cannot remain silent when guarding a World Heritage Site seems to be undermined. Nor can we overthrow the gaze from the symbolism of the juncture: while decisions that affect the monastery’s property are issued in Egypt, the same country claims the leadership of the organization that is self -sufficient as a guardian of the world heritage.

Here is the paradox: Humanity has for centuries bowed to the grandeur of Egyptian treasures – the temples of the rising sun, in the eternal pyramids, the majesty of pharaoh culture. UNESCO worked with Egypt in rescuing Abu Sibel and countless other projects. The international community has honored Egypt as the guardian of culture. Egypt can continue to claim this role, only if it respects Sinai’s legacy, an equally ancient, equally universal and equally sacred legacy.

UNESCO leadership is not just a matter of prestige; it is a moral responsibility. It assumes that a state and its representative embody the principles of protection, inclusion and justice. The UNESCO mission is not limited to the preservation of monuments; it extends to the defense of living traditions, religious rights and communities, whose existence is inextricably linked to the monuments assigned to them. Eraging such communities or leading to deterioration through legal tricks does not constitute protection but leads to elimination.

The question that arises is not only procedural but existential: a state can reliably lead UNESCO, only if its policies leave no doubt about the future of such an important cultural heritage – and, by extension, the universality of heritage protection. And a candidate, however distinguished, can keep the torch of the UNESCO mission only if he is committed to preventing the light of Sinai light, a flame maintained for fifteen centuries, in the shadow of expediency.

I submit these concerns in a spirit of friendship and solidarity, and primarily with the belief in UNESCO ideals. The credibility of the organization is based on the identification of its leadership with its mission. If UNESCO wants to remain a guardian not only of the past of mankind but also of its moral consciousness, then its leaders must be above all their dedication to justice, the inclusion and the inviolable of the inheritance, either, or the Greek, or the Greek, or the Greek, either.

In this spirit, we invite you to carefully weigh the broader consequences if the ownership rights and the monastery’s status are not restored until the election. The honor of UNESCO’s mission is to ensure that its rudder is entrusted to those whose works, as well as words, testify to an undisputed commitment to protect the light of human culture in all its forms.

With warm greetings and my deepest appreciation,

Professor Nikolas Farantouris
Member of the European Parliament »

I sent a letter today to #UNESCO For the I. Stay #Sinai In view of the October elections and the Egyptian nomination for the leadership of the Organization, expressing serious concerns about the questioning of the ownership status of the Egyptian authorities. pic.twitter.com/91gyKepxF5

– Nikolas Farantouris / Nikolas Farantouris (@nfarantouris) September 2, 2025