Culture important component of Ukraine's EU membership talks - Minister Tochytskyi

The development of national culture, ensuring fundamental freedoms and freedom of expression remain key provisions in the negotiations on Ukraine’s EU membership.

Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Mykola Tochytskyi said this during a visit to Brussels, following a meeting with representatives of key European institutions, speaking in an interview with an Ukrinform correspondent.

"I held a meeting with my colleague, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos. We discussed our issues of the negotiation process. Culture should become an integral part of such a negotiation process. The meeting within the first cluster (of negotiations – ed.) in our field has already taken place. In principle, our colleagues are satisfied with what we are doing, both in terms of culture and information,” the Ukrainian minister said.

He noted that European Commissioner Marta Kos, herself a former journalist, paid attention to discussing freedom of speech in Ukraine and its observance under martial law.

“Of course, the issues of media freedom in wartime are not simple. Since it is necessary to observe freedom of speech and at the same time effectively fight against hostile disinformation. To this end, we have our own experience, which is noted by our European counterparts, with whom we are in constant contact on all issues. They welcomed our decision to allocate serious money for the development of our public broadcaster (UAH 2.1 billion in 2025, compared to UAH 1.8 billion in the current year – ed.). I think this is a very important area,” Tochytskyi noted.

He reported that he had not heard any criticism from European partners regarding the government policy on respecting freedom of speech, which is an important component of the negotiation process. European colleagues offered Ukraine assistance in developing relevant legislation. It is expected that the EU and Ukraine will purposefully discuss the "cultural" cluster within the framework of talks on Ukraine's accession to the European Union as early as next spring.

As reported earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky, during the presentation of the National Resilience Plan in the Verkhovna Rada on November 19, 2024, announced a proposal to rally a large coalition of allies and partners who have a vision for the development of cultural policy in Ukraine, and to hold such meetings regularly in the format of a "cultural Ramstein".