Nordic-Baltic ministerial declaration on the role of culture and cultural heritage for democratic and resilient societies

Culture and cultural heritage are pillars for vibrant and democratic and resilient societies – societies that protect human rights, celebrate diversity, freedom of expression and respect heritage as a foundation for collective memory based on facts.

In armed conflicts, culture and cultural heritage are deliberately targeted as means to erode identity and weaken the resilience of people and countries. This underscores the importance of intensified contingency planning to secure and protect cultural heritage, and maintaining cultural activities in the event of crisis, heightened state of alert or war.

We, the Ministers for Culture in the Nordic and Baltic states, invited to the Nordic/Baltic meeting of Ministers for Culture on the 3rd of May 2024 in Stockholm, arranged as part of the Swedish Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers,

• emphasise the great importance of cultural cooperation between the Nordic and Baltic countries;
• recognise the importance of a free and vibrant cultural life for maintaining resilient and democratic societies;
• declare strengthening preparedness in our countries as a high priority in order to protect cultural heritage and maintain cultural activities in the event of crisis, heightened state of alert or war;
• emphasise specifically the importance of exchange of knowledge and experiences of national expertise to strengthen the Nordic and Baltic preparedness of the cultural sector; and
• resolutely condemn Russia’s continuing military aggression against Ukraine, in flagrant violation of international law, and its deliberate attacks against Ukrainian civilians and civilian objects, including the destruction and damage of Ukrainian cultural, historical, and religious sites and cultural heritage.

• Jakob Engel-Schmidt, Minister for Culture, Denmark
• Heidy Purga, Minister of Culture, Estonia
• Sirið Stenberg, Minister of Social Affairs and Culture, the Faroe Islands
• Sari Multala, Minister of Science and Culture, Finland
• Aqqaluaq B. Egede, Minister of Children Youth, Education, Culture, Sport and Church, Greenland
• Lilja Dögg Alfreðsdóttir, Minister of Culture and Business Affairs, Iceland
• Agnese Logina, Minister for Culture, Latvia
• Simonas Kairys, Minister of Culture, Lithuania
• Lubna Jaffery, Minister of Culture and Equality, Norway
• Parisa Liljestrand, Minister for Culture, Sweden
• Annika Hambrudd, Minister of Education, Sport and Culture, Åland