The allocation concerns the cultural heritage owned by the state, according to Minister of Culture Parisa Liljestrand (The Moderate Party), and is stored, among other places, at the state museums, the National Archives, and the Royal Library.
It may also be the case that other cultural institutions that receive funding from the state budget may be considered, she says.
Building new
The initiative will take place over three years and amounts to a total of 84 million kronor. According to Liljestrand, it is up to the authorities themselves to plan and decide whether new secure storage facilities need to be built. The preparedness that exists today is, according to her, varying.
It looks very different, and before the war in Ukraine, it was significantly worse. We have really learned, after Russia's aggressive war in Ukraine, that cultural heritage is not just an obstacle. It is even designated targets used in warfare, striking at identity, what creates a sense of "us" in a country, says Parisa Liljestrand.
The allocation is given to the National Heritage Board and is part of the government's three-year initiative to expand the entire civil defense, whose allocation will increase by 2 billion kronor next year – a budget initiative that Minister for Civil Defense, Carl-Oskar Bohlin (The Moderate Party), presented on Thursday.
We need to get better at protecting our cultural heritage from armed attacks, he says to TT.
"Wait and see"
Minister of Finance Elisabeth Santesson (The Moderate Party) has previously presented a reform space of 60 billion kronor in the budget for 2025. The 19 million that are now allocated to securing cultural heritage are part of this, according to Minister of Culture Parisa Liljestrand.
Will more money then be allocated to the cultural sector?
I'm afraid I can't say anything about that, you'll have to wait and see when the budget is presented.
