/ world today news/ “The preservation of cultural heritage must be on the political agenda”. This was stated by MEP from PES/BSP Momchil Nekov at the round table organized by him in the EP on the topic “Modern cultural heritage at risk”.
He continued that policies in the field of culture are primarily the responsibility of national governments, but the EU has the task of complementing and supporting the actions of member states in the field of preservation and protection of cultural heritage. The MEP explained that this support is provided through European funding for cultural heritage, but unfortunately, information about it is too fragmented. In this regard, Nekov added that one of the first reports voted in the committee on culture, of which he is also a member, takes into account precisely these problems and offers solutions to overcome them. “In the adopted resolution, we insist on two main things. The first is the creation of a single EU portal dedicated to cultural heritage to synthesize information from all EU funding programs in this area. The second is the announcement of a European Year dedicated to cultural heritage in 2018,” the MEP pointed out. He expressed hope that this initiative will give a positive boost to the sector and reveal its economic potential.
Momchil Nekov stated that, beyond these efforts, the care of the cultural heritage remains in the background, and the financial and economic crisis has forced a number of member states to cut the funds for its preservation. “As far as European public policy is concerned, the situation is similar. Neither the “Europe 2020” strategy, nor the plan for investments in Europe, nor the so-called “Junker” plan, indicate culture as a priority, not to mention cultural heritage”, said the MEP. According to him, it is time to start changing these negative trends. “On the one hand, it is part of our identity, European, regional and national, and we have the duty to preserve, protect and pass it on to future generations. On the other hand, our heritage is a strategic resource for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”, argues Nekov.
The discussion focuses on the risks to modern cultural heritage and what is its cultural value, what potential it has and what are the challenges to its preservation. Special attention was paid to the role of socialist cultural heritage in post-socialist countries, and in the discussion young architects presented their vision of how we can free socialist cultural monuments from the political tension that surrounds them and breathe new life into them.
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