On November 29, the Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko took part in the public session of the Council of Ministers of Education, Youth, Culture and Sports of the European Union. This is the first time that Ukraine was represented at a meeting of this format in person.
Despite the difficult conditions caused by russian aggression, Ukrainian culture is actively functioning. Theaters do not cancel premieres, philharmonics continue performances even in the dark, and pop musicians – in the subway, exhibitions and performances are opened. The Ukrainian cultural front is a real struggle for identity and culture.
“Currently, the focus of the allies’ attention is countering russian information attacks and supporting Ukraine in the cultural sphere during russian full-scale aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, it is important for us, Ukrainians, as a natural historical part of Europe, to preserve our culture, which was, is and will be the basis and wealth of a stable, unified society of free, responsible, creative and happy people,” said Oleksandr Tkachenko.
The Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine thanked the European Union for the unprecedented all-round support of Ukrainians, unity in sanctions against the aggressor state, which implements the policy of genocide, as well as for solidarity and perseverance in preserving democracy, freedoms, human values and the future of humanity.
“We demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. And we are mobilized to preserve Ukrainian culture and heritage. We also continue to support Ukrainian artists and all those who work in the creative field. We sincerely thank Mr. Tkachenko for his clear and relevant presentation. We must strengthen cooperation and study needs. For me, as a Commissioner, it is very important to find the tools. Today, we have adopted the Work Plan for 2023-2026 and recorded an item on the protection of Ukrainian cultural heritage,” said Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.
Martin Baxa, Minister for Culture of the Czech Republic, during the final press conference, also assured that Europe will continue to help Ukrainian artists and support Ukrainian heritage.
“I would like to emphasize that in the 21st century, we are witnessing the barbarism demonstrated by russia for more than 9 months. putin is not only destroying lives of innocent people, but also Ukrainian culture and cultural heritage. More than 850 cultural institutions were destroyed by russian attacks, which were mostly intentional, and dozens of thousands of Ukrainian artists lost a chance to be active. According to Ukrainian authority, the overall damage exceeds 65 million euros. However, lost lives cannot be brought back. The attempt to destroy Ukraine cannot be successful,” he said.
The Ukrainian Minister sent key messages to the Council of Ministers of Education, Youth, Culture and Sports of the EU:
- we must continue to fight together on the information front against russian propaganda and manipulation;
- Ukraine once again calls for a total boycott of russian culture, which the russian federation uses as a weapon, because russian culture is a part of the russian military-totalitarian machine, and it is the carriers of “great russian culture” which kill, rape, and rob Ukrainian civilians;
- approaching winter, the large-scale energy crisis due to forced blackouts and genocide in the occupied territories must be covered by urgent protection of heritage, cyber protection and digitization of services, support for artists and institutions and cultural reintegration of de-occupied territories;
- Ukraine offers a joint solution mechanism — the redistribution of 1% of the national budgets for culture and media of the EU countries annually during 2023-2026 to support Ukrainian culture and media.
In addition to participating in the public session of the Council of Ministers of Education, Youth, Culture and Sports of the EU and Debates on issues of support and solidarity with the culture of Ukraine, in particular cultural heritage, Oleksandr Tkachenko held a number of bilateral meetings with fellow ministers of the EU countries.
