Nearly twenty years after the project was launched, Normandy appears to be close to seeing its bid for UNESCO World Heritage status succeed. The UN body is expected to announce its decision from July 24 to 27 at the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan (Republic of Korea), Euronews reports.

If the bid is approved, the Normandy landing beaches will join 54 French sites already inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, including Mont-Saint-Michel, the Palace of Versailles, and Chartres Cathedral. This status is granted to sites of “outstanding universal value” and requires states to ensure their protection.

The inscription would cover the five historic Allied landing beaches of June 6, 1944 — Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword — as well as a number of iconic sites such as Pointe du Hoc, the German battery at Longues-sur-Mer, the artificial harbor at Arromanches, and numerous military cemeteries and memorials.

On June 6, 1944, more than 150,000 Allied troops, mainly Americans, British, and Canadians, landed on the Normandy coast in the largest amphibious assault operation in history. More than 4,000 of them were killed that day, which proved decisive in the liberation of Europe from Nazi occupation.