Estonian minister to discuss protection of culture with Nordic, Baltic colleagues

TALLINN – Estonian Culture Minister Heidy Purga is on a visit to Sweden until Friday to attend a meeting of the culture ministers of the Nordic and Baltic states, where the protection of culture and cultural heritage in a crisis situation will be discussed.

The visit is taking place in the framework of the Swedish presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

"The ministers of the Nordic and Baltic countries have not met with each other in such a composition for almost ten years and that is one of the reasons why the meeting is important. The situation in the world forces us to think about how we can protect culture and heritage even better. At the meeting, we will exchange best practices and look for opportunities for cooperation," Purga said.

The focus of the discussion between the culture ministers of the region will be on the exchange of knowledge and experience and the discussion of the conditions for further cooperation in relation to the readiness of the cultural sector to operate in a heightened state of alarm or war. The ministers will share information about the most urgent issues of their country in securing and protecting cultural heritage. Successful examples and initiatives will be presented and the ministers will discuss in which areas they could cooperate more deeply and what the biggest challenges of cooperation are.

Purga will also meet separately with Swedish Culture Minister Parisa Liljestrand and Norwegian Minister of Culture and Equality Lubna Jaffery to discuss cultural cooperation and exchange experiences on the protection of cultural heritage in various crises where it makes sense to cooperate across borders.