On February 1, at the “Cooperation for Resilience” Conference, Mykola Tochytskyi, the Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, met with Glenn Micallef, the EU Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture, and Sport.
Mykola Tochytskyi expressed gratitude to the Commissioner for visiting Ukraine and recognized his valuable contributions to the Conference.
They discussed ways to bolster international support for preserving Ukraine’s cultural identity, focusing on protecting its cultural heritage from wartime destruction. The Minister emphasized the importance of integrating the cultural sector into Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts, seeing it as vital for strengthening social cohesion, national security, and economic growth.
Both parties discussed their next steps in preparation for the upcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2025), scheduled for this July in Rome. They shared ideas for creating a Ukrainian Heritage Fund to involve international partners and strengthen efforts to restore and protect Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
Their conversation also highlighted the urgent need for global cooperation to fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property, document russia’s war crimes, and impose stricter sanctions on individuals and organizations involved in cultural crimes.
Mykola Tochytskyi stressed the need to strengthen human resources in Ukraine’s cultural sector. He expressed Ukraine’s strong interest in launching educational initiatives to train specialists in rare fields, particularly restorers and experts in cultural artifacts evacuation.
The Minister also emphasized enhancing collaboration between Ukrainian and European museums through joint projects to exhibit items from Ukraine’s collections abroad. These initiatives would help preserve valuable collections affected by the war and create new opportunities for their presentation to European audiences, promoting Ukraine’s integration into the European cultural landscape.
Glenn Micallef confirmed that European partners are committed to supporting Ukraine in its efforts to protect cultural heritage, especially through collaborative capacity-building programs, training initiatives, and sharing expertise.
