Dear CCI Friends,
The brief article below provides a glimpse of hope that life may return to more rational approaches. The Slovakian Minister of Culture sums it up:
“There are dozens of military conflicts going on in the world, and, in our opinion, artists and culture must not suffer because of them.”
As always, we look forward to your thoughts.
Pamela, Paula and Krishen Center for Citizen Initiatives
Signs of Light?
January 20, 2024
BRATISLAVA, January 20. /TASS/. Minister of Culture of Slovakia Martina Simkovicova cancelled the decree that suspended cultural cooperation with Russia and Belarus after February 24, 2022, Slovakia’s Pravda newspaper reported.
“There are dozens of military conflicts going on in the world, and, in our opinion, artists and culture must not suffer because of them,” the Minister said, according to her spokesman Pavol Corba.
In March of 2022, the Ministry of Culture of Slovakia banned contacts and cooperation with Russia and Belarus. Its former head, Natalia Milanova, representative of one of the liberal parties that lost power in the republic after the recent elections, justified it by the condemnation of the special military operation in Ukraine.
The incumbent Minister, who represents the Slovak National Party, cancelled her predecessor’s decree on January 12. According to the newspaper, it has lost effect since January 15.