“We demand that Russia be excluded from UNESCO and that the session of the World Heritage Committee be held not in Kazan, but in Lviv”, said Oleksandr Tkachenko, who spoke by video conference this morning at the opening of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers of Culture, organised by the Italian Presidency.
“Like the media, culture is a propaganda tool for Putin”, he said, welcoming concerts in support of Ukraine, but calling for Russian artists not to be allowed to perform at them.
He also requested a “special fund” created by European countries for the restoration of Ukrainian heritage. “We will need several billion euros”, said Mr Tkachenko after announcing the creation on 31 March of a database dedicated to the inventory of destroyed or damaged buildings and works of art. To date, 59 Orthodox churches and Protestant, Muslim and Jewish places of worship, 51 historical monuments, 12 museums, 6 theatres, 12 libraries, cinemas, and others have been identified. To illustrate his point, he mentioned the history museum in Ivankiv, the Holocaust memorial near Kharkiv, and the theatre and museum in Mariupol.
“Russia’s objective is to destroy us physically and historically”, the minister concluded, calling on his counterparts to “launch an initiative”.
A resolution adopted at the end of the day formalised the Council of Europe’s commitment to defining a future action plan for the conservation of Ukrainian heritage, creating cultural cooperation programmes and supporting the “Year of culture from Ukraine in Europe” initiative, also involving displaced persons. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)