CoE Culture Ministers call for cooperation with Ukrainian authorities to help restore country – joint statement

KYIV. Jan 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ministers of Culture of the Council of Europe member states, as well as Heads of Delegations, representatives of the participating organizations and businesses, have issued a joint statement on Ukraine in Davos, in which they called for cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities to help restore the country.

"Call on the international community to coordinate its efforts and cooperate with the Ukrainian authorities in helping to rebuild the country in line with the Lugano principles and the high-quality Baukultur values; and to strive for the maximum use of local human and material resources in rebuilding the country in order to support local competences, economy and climate neutrality," reads the statement.

Also, the signatories highlighted the need to ensure participation of Ukrainian non-governmental and professional organizations, acting in the fields of architecture, spatial planning, engineering, cultural heritage and other, in the process, as well as of the Ukrainian professionals in the country or displaced to other countries due to the military aggression.

"Acknowledge the importance of taking an inclusive approach in the rebuilding of Ukraine, involving Ukrainian communities in the process as it concerns their living spaces, as well as their national, regional and local cultural identity; […] express the will and readiness to provide expertise and support to Ukraine in rebuilding the country," the document says.

The signatories condemned resolutely the continuing Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and its deliberate attacks against Ukrainian people, civilian objects and infrastructure, including the destruction or damage of Ukrainian cultural sites and cultural heritage, in gross violation of international law.

The joint statement was supported by Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine, as well as the Architects’ Council of Europe, the European Council of Spatial Planners, ICOMOS, Europa Nostra, the International Federation of Landscape Architects Europe, the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe, Bouygues Bâtiment International (France) and the German Sustainable Building Council.