European countries have adopted the Declaration on the Necessity of Culture and Media as a Safeguard for Our European Democracies. The document was approved during the Informal Meeting of EU Ministers of Culture and Media, held in Copenhagen under the chairmanship of Denmark.
The declaration was signed by representatives of more than 30 countries, including EU member states, as well as the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, and Ukraine.
Ukraine was represented at the meeting by the Vice Prime Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Minister of Culture, Tetiana Berezhna, who joined the collective commitment to uphold democratic values through culture, heritage, and media freedom.
“Today, culture and media are strategic pillars of Europe’s security and resilience. All signatories of the Declaration share a common understanding: by protecting culture, we protect democracy”, said Tetiana Berezhna.
The participants emphasized that amid growing global challenges and digital threats, culture, cultural heritage, and independent media remain the foundation of resilience for European democracies. The document highlights that Europe’s shared cultural heritage — tangible, intangible, and digital — is a “living memory” that connects citizens across time and borders.
Heads of delegations also underlined that free, diverse, and independent media are the primary sources of reliable information and one of the key tools in countering disinformation, manipulation, and external interference.
A separate section of the Declaration addresses the ethical and societal challenges linked to the use of artificial intelligence in culture and media. The signatories stressed the need to protect the integrity of cultural expression and citizens’ personal data as essential conditions for the stability of democratic societies.
The document calls for integrating policies in the fields of culture, heritage, and media into the broader European security framework, recognizing them as integral components in safeguarding democracy, human rights, and shared European values.
The full text of the Declaration is available here.
