Recently, false information appeared in social networks that Ukraine had asked 7 countries for help in developing a plan for the preservation of cultural values, in particular works of art, and apparently the Ministry of Culture of Poland is the only one that categorically refused to participate in its development. And there was also false information that some “group is working in Lviv together with the ministerial delegations of other 5 countries and representatives of the government of Ukraine to create a “bridge” that will be used to take cultural values to safe storage places abroad.” In addition, it seems that the Government of Poland has blocked the possibility of transit through its territory of Ukrainian cultural values, and because of this, it is difficult to save them from looting by russia.
The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine refutes all these fake news spread in social networks. MCIP reminds that russia’s brutal war of aggression continues not only on the battlefield in Ukraine, but also in the information space of the whole world.
We would like to emphasize that since the very beginning of the full-scale invasion of russia into Ukraine, the relevant ministries of Ukraine and Poland have been closely cooperating on the preservation of Ukrainian cultural heritage and on the implementation of information policy. At the same time, the Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Oleksandr Tkachenko, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, Piotr Glinsky, constantly communicate on urgent issues by phone and during meetings.
The last such meeting of ministers took place in Warsaw on January 20. Its topic was further cooperation between Poland and Ukraine in the field of cultural heritage protection in Ukraine and the activity of the Lublin Triangle Foundation on the digitization of cultural heritage. The parties also discussed strengthening international cooperation in the field of countering russian propaganda.
Ukraine does not tire of constantly thanking its Polish brothers for their sensitivity to the plight of the Ukrainian people due to russian aggression. We will forever remember who provided transport with help for Ukrainian cultural institutions, which arrived in Lviv on March 10, 2022 from the National Museum in Poznań. Poland also provided the Ukrainian side with more than 800 pallets with protective materials intended, among other things, for the internal movement of valuables of museums and other institutions and many other assistance.
MCIP strongly condemns the absurd and fake accusations of blocking the legal export or transportation of works from Ukraine. After all, it is obvious that works from Ukrainian collections are presented at exhibitions in Polish cultural institutions, including at the exhibition “I go to the world and continue” in the National Museum in Poznań, at the exhibition “Love and duty. The January Uprising of 1863.” in the Royal Castle in Warsaw, at the exhibition “Ukraine. Under a different sky” in the Center of Contemporary Art in Ujazdowsky Castle.
