Dr Danilo Türk on cultural heritage rehabilitation in South Eastern Europe

Ljubljana, 6.11.2009  |  press release

Today, Dr Danilo Türk, President of the Republic of Slovenia, opened the international conference entitled "Ljubljana Conference – Rehabilitating our common heritage". In his opening address he underlined one of the aims of the Ljubljana Process, which is to enhance the preservation of cultural heritage in South Eastern Europe, which is common to us all. He said that countries in this region have a rich political and cultural history, but also noted that this region has always been a theatre of armed conflict; for this reason this history and this heritage need to be addressed with the utmost solicitude.

He stressed that difficult historical events and the rich cultural heritage should have taught us values such as human rights, tolerance, dialogue and the capacity to compromise. According to President Türk, a thorough understanding of past lessons and caring for aesthetic values that are the legacy of the past are an important part of our approach to contemporary cultural creativity and offer promise for the future of our culture.

According to President Türk, the Ljubljana Process is a project which is the perfect symbol of union. This project is a bond between the past and the future, between art and fundamental social values, and between national states and international institutions such as the Council of Europe, the European Union, UNESCO and others. He expressed his hope that the Ljubljana Process would become a movement which would underpin our cultural development, and wished the movement all good and plenty of energy in the future.

In the afternoon, Dr Danilo Türk received the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, who also participated in the conference. They discussed the impending tasks of the Council of Europe, in particular the reform of the European Court of Human Rights, the question of minorities and the strengthening of the Parliamentary Assembly’s role within the system of the Council of Europe.