The document was signed in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Wednesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
It said the signatories included Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Culture Minister Piotr Gliński and his counterparts from Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Slovakia and Romania.
Support fund for Ukrainian culture
Meeting at the Lviv Opera, the Central European culture ministers agreed to set up a special fund to restore Ukrainian culture and help artists in Ukraine, officials said.
Ukraine’s Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko said his country was battling the Russian invasion “not just physically, but also on the cultural front.”
“Putin spreads disinformation about our identity, language and history, about everything that makes up our culture,” he told reporters.
Tkachenko said Ukraine urgently needed other countries to show support and solidarity, by blocking Russian propaganda outlets, helping restore Ukrainian art and culture, and assisting artists in Ukraine in getting back to work.
He said Wednesday’s declaration contained specific measures to achieve these aims.
'This war is our war': Polish culture minister
Poland’s Gliński stressed the need to support Ukrainian culture, but also “to send weapons to Ukraine and step up sanctions against Russia.”
“We are here to state that this war is our war," he said. "We should take responsibility for the situation in Ukraine."
Gliński added: “We must put pressure on European leaders so that they stand with Ukraine. Ukraine is fighting not just for its own independence, but also for Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and the whole civilisation.”
He said the declaration urged further sanctions against Russian propaganda outlets. “Wherever possible, they must be replaced by Ukrainian broadcasters,” he added.
Gliński also said that the new fund would “pool money from various sources, not only from the European Union and the countries of our region, but also from rich countries that want to help.”
Thursday is day 127 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, wnp.pl