On May 16, as part of his official visit to Estonia, the Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, Mykola Tochytskyi, held a meeting with the Minister of Culture of Estonia, Heidy Purga.
The meeting focused on Ukraine’s Culture Development Strategy through 2030, which positions culture as a key part of national security, resilience, and European integration. Ukraine is interested in learning from Estonia’s experience to support cultural sector reforms.
One of the main topics was Estonia’s success in digitizing cultural heritage — with more than half of its cultural property already digitized and available to both local and international audiences.
Heidy Purga reaffirmed that supporting Ukraine remains one of Estonia’s top priorities, and confirmed Estonia’s readiness to provide expert help in preserving cultural heritage and advancing digital initiatives.
Mykola Tochytskyi expressed gratitude to the Estonian government for its consistent support since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion. He praised Estonia’s role in ending cultural ties with russia, blocking hostile media, and taking part in international efforts to support Ukraine. He also expressed appreciation for the invitation to the Lennart Meri Conference, a key international event held annually in Tallinn.
The Ministers also discussed international efforts to protect Ukrainian cultural heritage from the impacts of russian aggression, including the illicit trafficking and sale of museum items and archaeological artifacts. Mykola Tochytskyi noted that around 1.7 million Ukrainian cultural artifacts remain under russian control, and stressed Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to secure their return.
He also thanked Estonia for returning 274 cultural artifacts in 2024, which had been confiscated by Estonian authorities after being illegally taken out of Ukraine. Mykola Tochytskyi emphasized that this step set an important precedent for confirming Ukraine’s rightful ownership of its cultural heritage — especially at a time when russian museums continue to obtain items from Ukrainian state collections in violation of international law.
The meeting also covered preparations for the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) 2025, which will be held in Rome. Ongoing discussions are focused on the structure and strategic goals of the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Fund, as outlined in the Declaration on Strengthening Cultural Sector Resilience in Ukraine.
Mykola Tochytskyi invited Estonian experts to take part in developing the Fund and to join an expert seminar on June 20, 2025, in Florence, where the next steps in establishing the Fund will be discussed.
Photo: Jarek Jõepera
