On Tuesday in Bratislava, with the participation of the head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Piotr Gliński, the V4 culture ministerial communication signing ceremony took place and a press conference summarizing the ministerial meeting.

“This is actually the first meeting of the Visegrad Group in culture in four years. This parting is painful, we all felt it. I am very pleased that this meeting was very friendly and at the same time very professionally organized” – said Gliński.

As he put it, “Over the past two days, the Visegrad Group has appeared clearly in European politics, confirming its importance, its essence, because it is a format related to the strengthening and functioning of Central and Eastern Europe.” On Monday, Bratislava hosted a summit of the prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

At the end of his two day stay in Bratislava, Minister Piotr Gliński visited the local Polish Institute. An exhibition relating to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jerzy Nowosielski is currently being displayed at the Institute.

The Three Seas Initiative, the Lublin Triangle, the Visegrad Group and all other similar projects are very important. This is good news especially for our national community, for our country, but it is also good news for Europe and our partners in the East” – judged the Minister of Culture. As he said, “we need to build these political relations in our European region too because not everyone equally appreciates the importance of Central and Eastern Europe.” “This is very important, also through building relationships in culture, because everything depends on culture – our identity, the prospects for the development of our country, state, society” – said Gliński.

“This has also been confirmed, a deep understanding of cultural identity, cultural heritage. The understanding that without cultural heritage we cannot exist as a community. We are weak, we can fall apart, we are also unable to face the challenges of modernity. It is also a message for all of Europe, that it is very important to maintain the development of the national heritage in all respects and to cooperate in this. You can work together, you can exchange experiences” – said the head of the Ministry of Culture.

He is also grateful for this “common sense”. “Even if there are some differences in approaches, well-understood liberalism understands that issues of cultural heritage are and must be of paramount importance for the functioning of communities” – he added.

“A very important message from our meeting is the message about the importance of heritage for the survival of the nation in a dangerous situation. We have a war in Ukraine caused by Russian aggression against an independent Ukraine, and within the Visegrad Group, in our country. message, there is also mutual reference to help and engagement in helping culture. I would also like to thank all parties for our agreement on that,” he added. He considered that “we must be prepared for threats of aggression, because Syria, now Ukraine, and unfortunately many other places in the world show that countries must be prepared to protect the region’s heritage.”

He stressed that “our Central European experience is special.” “We have a team of specialists and traditions that are well prepared to deal with what someone wants to destroy. And we survive thanks to the fact that we don’t let it be destroyed permanently, that we rebuild what someone deliberately wants to destroy to destroy our culture, identity, community And that’s what we dealt with at the meeting,” said Gliński.

At the end of the meeting, the Minister of Culture of Slovakia, Silvia Hroncova, said that in V4 there was talk of forming a joint working group, a kind of platform whose task is to find solutions to help Ukraine at this time. , but also after the war ended. According to him, the protection of cultural heritage is very up-to-date. “Climate change is happening, there are wars going on beyond our borders and unforeseen events are happening.” He reminded of the March 2023 fire in Banská Štiavnica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is being carefully renovated.

He stressed the importance of cooperation in dealing with crisis situations. “Our quick response is very important. Because the longer we wait for help, the more expensive it will be to restore the monuments. On this occasion, I would like to thank my colleagues from the V4 countries who have helped us, giving us their technical expert group activities, said Min. Hroncov.

At the end of his two day stay in Bratislava, Minister Piotr Gliński visited the local Polish Institute. There are 26 similar institutions in the world. “In my opinion, they are still underinvested. We are increasing funding, we have also established in our ministry, because I want to remind you that the institute is under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but in the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage we have established a new program, which is also dedicated to the activities of Polish institutes that can register together with other entities for the implementation of various types of projects – to PAP prof. Glinsky.

An exhibition relating to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jerzy Nowosielski is currently being displayed at the Institute. This exhibition is cross-sectional, showing almost all of the painter’s works. “Although this is not an original work, it is only a reproduction. But modern reproductions are of such a scale and quality that they give an idea of ​​what these works are all about. However, there are two posters, basically a poster painting with Nowosielski’s original signature,” the minister said, adding that the seat of the Institute in Bratislava is located in a prestigious part of the city, and the institute can host various events, exhibitions or concerts.

From Bratislava Piotr Górecki (PAP)

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