Culture should be part of each of blocks at conference on reconstruction in Rome – MoC

Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Mykola Tochytskyi told an Ukrinform correspondent on the sidelines of an international conference at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

“The next major conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine will be held in Rome in July, and we would like culture to become an organic part of each of the issues that will be considered. There are main blocks: social, defense, and reconstruction. We want to weave a cultural element into each of these blocks. Because there is a culture of the warrior, engineer, and IT specialist, and it is this culture that sews together all human activity,” the minister said.

These issues were discussed with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, as well as with the ministers of culture in Paris, Warsaw, and Brussels. The forum in Rome will also include a separate panel dedicated to the restoration of cultural heritage.

“We see culture as part of soft power. In our case, soft defense. Culture is a part of national security, which will help us not only to protect ourselves, our land, our people, but also to create unity inside and outside between our partners and allies in order to explain and convey to them why and for what we are fighting. To make them understand why this struggle is existential for us,” Tochytskyi emphasized.

He also said that he had held talks with Owen Bonnici, Minister of National Heritage, Arts and Local Government of Malta, about his participation as the next chairman of the conference with the participation of European and G7 culture ministers in Ukraine next February.

At the meetings at the Council of Europe, Tochytskyi also discussed expanding cooperation on the rescue of Ukrainian artworks and their exhibition in Europe.

“We need partnership in everything. In education, when it comes to training our restorers. These are mostly boys, many of whom went to war. We are losing an entire school, so we have to take students and send them here to improve their skills. We also need partners to not only preserve our art, but also to exhibit it in Europe so that we can be seen here,” he said.

As reported by Ukrinform, the “Cultural Ramstein” to coordinate international efforts to preserve Ukrainian cultural heritage and national identity may take place in February next year with the participation of ministers of culture from European countries and the G7 countries.