On June 24, the Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, Mykola Tochytskyi held a meeting with the Minister of Culture of France Rachida Dati, in Paris.
Representatives from the French Institute, the French National Institute of Cultural Heritage, the ALIPH Foundation, the Franco-German broadcaster ARTE, and the film industry also attended the meeting.
Mykola Tochytskyi expressed gratitude to his French counterpart for France’s strong support of Ukraine’s cultural sector during russia’s ongoing war.
The ministers discussed the next steps to develop cultural cooperation between the two countries and coordinated plans for the upcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2025), which will be held in July in Rome. They focused especially on advancing initiatives from the first Conference on Culture in Ukraine held on February 1, 2025, in Uzhhorod, including the creation of the Ukraine Heritage Fund, the Culture Recovery Platform, and the Culture Resilience Alliance.
“I am very grateful to France for its steady support since the full-scale invasion began”, said Mykola Tochytskyi. “We highly appreciate French experts helping to build our institutions and look forward to France’s involvement in URC2025 in Rome. We believe the Conference will strengthen a wide cultural coalition to support the recovery and protection of our cultural sector, as outlined in Ukraine’s Internal Resilience Plan presented by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in November 2024”, he added.
Rachida Dati, the Minister of Culture of France, highlighted France’s full support for Ukraine in all areas — not only culture but also in countering russian propaganda and disinformation.
“France supports Ukraine and remains a reliable partner in the Ukrainian people’s fight for freedom as a European nation, whose culture is part of our shared European heritage. We will continue to work together to protect and preserve cultural heritage, restore Ukraine and its cultural sites, and support Ukrainian artists, museum workers, restorers, and researchers”, said Rachida Dati.
They also discussed enhancing international cooperation to combat the illicit trafficking of cultural property and other crimes against culture, returning stolen artifacts, supporting Ukrainian artists in France, developing Ukrainian-French film projects, and collaboration between museums in both countries. This cooperation aims to organize exhibitions of Ukrainian collections abroad, protect cultural artifacts from the war’s damage, and introduce Ukrainian-language audio guides in French museums.
During the visit, Mykola Tochytskyi and Rachida Dati took part in an event for Ukrainian restorers. The event gathered French cultural institutions working with Ukrainian specialists, European diplomats, and media representatives. Ukraine’s Minister expressed gratitude to French partners for creating and supporting an important internship program for Ukrainian museum workers. Such cooperation is very valuable as Ukrainian museums face unprecedented challenges due to the full-scale invasion.
“russia’s missile attacks target libraries, theaters, museums, historic sites, and architectural monuments. Their real goal is clear — to destroy Ukraine’s national identity and erase its culture. That’s why training specialists in restoration, conservation, and evacuation of cultural valuables is strategically important for preserving Ukraine’s cultural heritage”, stressed Mykola Tochytskyi.
This week in Paris, a new course started as part of a professional exchange program focused on protecting heritage during crises. It promotes sharing knowledge, skills, and experience among cultural heritage professionals. The program is organized by the French Ministries of Culture and Defense in cooperation with the French Embassy and the French Institute in Ukraine, the Blue Shield France Foundation, ALIPH Foundation, the Ukrainian Institute in France, the Louvre Museum, and the Center for Research and Restoration of Museums of France. Ten Ukrainian museum specialists are participating.
