R1: Enabling creation, preserving memory. For the progressive cultural policy for Eastern Europe.

Across Eastern Europe, culture is increasingly treated as a marginal or
instrumental policy rather than a public good. Artists and cultural workers are
often deprived of social security, forced to take on additional jobs outside the
cultural sector, and pushed into precarious employment conditions, rendering
long-term cultural work unsustainable. This leads to talent drain, burnout,
emigration of artists and cultural workers, and the exclusion of people from
less privileged backgrounds from artistic and cultural professions. At the same
time, underfunding of cultural institutions in some countries, such as Serbia,
is a political tool used to silence critical and anti-government narratives,
further contributing to the precarity of culture workers and undermining
artistic freedom. The fair pay and social security of artists and culture
workers, as well as good, sustainable funding of institutions, should thus be a
priority of cultural policy. The universal basic income for artists can be
considered, following the evidence from pilot programmes, eg, in Ireland, that
show strong socio-economic profits from such investments[1].

Participation in culture needs to be encouraged, especially among young people.
There are several good practices already implemented in Eastern European
countries, such as free museum entrance days programmes existing in Bulgaria or
cultural vouchers covering entry to cultural institutions for students and
teachers in Slovakia[2]. Young people need to be treated as creators of culture,
not just consumers, and have spaces to create and participate in shaping
cultural spaces and programmes in their communities. Culture needs to be
integrated into education. There are some good ways to do it, such as school
visits to cultural institutions or the Estonian initiative to organise the
lessons with trained culture workers[3]. This needs to be tailored to the age
and needs of children, to build the habit of enjoying culture, and go in pair
with broader reform and modernisation of the educational system. Regional
culture and local institutions should be financed to be attractive for young
people, and cooperate with schools.

Systematic underfunding or neglect of cultural infrastructure also affects the
cultural heritage. Archives, collections and documentations of historical and
contemporary culture are often neglected or fragmented. Cultural products
sectors as early digital art, video games, etc., are being lost[4]. The
initiatives such as Stop Destroying Videogames[5] highlight the need for legal
and institutional frameworks that allow preservation, archiving and public
access to digital cultural works. Moreover, the neglect of digitalisation and
the lack of open-source and free digital materials lead to further inequalities
in access to culture, especially between big cities and towns and rural areas
with little to no cultural institutions. Countries should follow examples such
like Slovakiana cultural portal that has digitised over 180.000 objects from
over 75 institutions.[6].

Promoting cultural heritage and collective memory is an important aspect of
building resilience and decolonisation in some countries, such as Moldova or the
Baltic States. On the other hand, historical revisionism is a key discourse
point of Vucic's or Orban's regimes, and even in democratic countries, it is
often a political tool used to consolidate power and spread hatred towards
minorities and neighbours. For example, the Institute of the Romanian Revolution
of December 1989 was led for 17 years by former president Ion Iliescu and used
to promote himself and his political movements rather than conduct independent
and reliable research. Similarly, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance,
despite some successes, is widely used to legitimise current right-wing politics
and whitewash Polish crimes (such as Operation Vistula). While promoting further
decolonisation, states should depoliticise collective memory and focus on
creating research institutions that promote high-quality scientific research,
archiving, institutional intercultural dialogue, and funding for interactive and
immersive museums.

With this, we urge the Eastern European politicians:

CDN will contribute to these processes by:

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[1] Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. (2025, September 22). Basic
Income for the Arts pilot produced over €100 million in social and economic
benefits. Government of Ireland. https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-culture-
communications-and-sport/press-releases/basic-income-for-the-arts-pilot-
produced-over-100-million-in-social-and-economic-benefits/

[2] Council of Europe. Culture vouchers in: Strategy 21 - Good practices.
https://www.coe.int/en/web/culture-and-heritage/-/back-to-school

[3] Council of Europe. Back to School in: Strategy 21 - Good practices.
https://www.coe.int/en/web/culture-and-heritage/-/back-to-school

[4] Campbell, I. C. (2020, November 19). The Internet Archive is now preserving
Flash games and animations. The Verge.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/19/21578616/internet-archive-preservation-
flash-animations-games-adobe

[5] European Citizens’ Initiative. Stop Destroying Videogames. https://citizens-
initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2024/000007_en

[6]https://slovakiana.sk/en/about-slovakiana