In the upcoming spring amending budget, the government is thus allocating 4 million kronor for the authorities to start working on the task when the regulatory change comes into force. The authorities will then become part of the Swedish emergency preparedness system.
Parisa Liljestrand and Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin (M) emphasize that they have drawn lessons from Russia's war in Ukraine.
Russia has systematically tried to erase the Ukrainian identity by targeting archives, libraries, and cultural heritage in various forms. We need to look at how preparedness looks within the framework of our own authorities, says Parisa Liljestrand.
All Sold Out
The government also announced in the total defence proposition that it wants to analyze the role of cultural institutions in times of crisis.
There is no reason to believe that what is the greatest political and military threat to Sweden - Russia - would have any other intention if Sweden were to be drawn into an armed conflict, says Carl-Oskar Bohlin.
Parisa Liljestrand also gained an important insight during a visit to Ukraine a couple of months ago, when the Ukrainian Minister of Culture showed statistics for cultural institutions and cultural events. Everything was sold out eight months in advance.
Every single theatre performance and exhibition, every concert was sold out. It says something about the need for culture, both in itself and as part of civil defence, she says.
Cultural Crisis
Cultural Sweden has been warning about tough times lately. Will there be more cultural initiatives in the supplementary budget, which are not linked to preparedness?
What we are presenting now is an investment in culture. It is a clear way to show that this government takes the signals seriously that we should upgrade culture and our cultural heritage, says Parisa Liljestrand, but refuses to comment further.
