On September 20, in Naples, a bilateral meeting took place between Ukraine's Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications, Mykola Tochytskyi, and Germany's State Minister for International Cultural Policy, Katja Keul.
"Russia does not need territory, as it has plenty. This is more about trauma from the collapse of the Soviet Union, reinforced by narratives that without Ukraine, Russia will never be an empire. Putin continues to push his strategy of restoring the USSR, speaking about culture and cultural heritage," noted Mykola Tochytskyi. "Unfortunately, we have lost many historical sites during this war. Some can never be restored, as they are completely destroyed. But I am convinced that culture is the identifier that distinguishes Ukrainians from Russians, enabling us to fight and remain strong."
During the meeting, the ministers discussed the necessity of effectively combating disinformation and Russian propaganda. Mykola Tochytskyi brought up the situation surrounding the recent screening of a film by a Russian-Canadian director at the Venice Film Festival and the Canadian TIFF.
"This film portrays so-called 'good Russians' as people supposedly forced to fight. This is dangerous because indirect funding of such projects by democratic governments supports Russian propaganda," noted Ukraine's Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications.
As a result of the negotiations, the parties agreed to cooperate in the field of strategic communications and to exchange experiences in building partnerships between business and culture.
