The lakeside city of Ohrid has hosted a two-day gathering of culture ministers from across South-East Europe, with governments in the region reaffirming that culture and heritage must play a central role in sustainable development, not remain an afterthought to economic and security agendas.
The conference of the Council of Ministers of Culture of South-East Europe – held on 11–12 December under the banner “Sustainable Cultural Models for the Future” – was organised by North Macedonia’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Delegations came from Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Türkiye, Montenegro, Slovenia, Moldova, Greece and Romania, along with a large group of cultural policy experts and practitioners.
At the close of the meeting, participants adopted the Ohrid Declaration 2025. The document renews their collective commitment to strengthen regional cultural cooperation, protect both tangible and intangible heritage, and embed culture more deeply into national and regional sustainable development strategies. It also signals political will to keep cooperating within UNESCO frameworks and other multilateral platforms that support cultural diversity and heritage protection.
In his opening remarks, North Macedonia’s Culture and Tourism Minister Zoran Ljutkov presented cultural heritage as both a shared asset and a shared responsibility. He underlined that monuments, historic urban areas, traditional practices and creativity-based sectors all face mounting pressure from climate change, environmental degradation and mass tourism. In that context, he argued, it is no longer enough to preserve individual sites; governments must adopt integrated approaches that combine scientific expertise, professional conservation practice and modern technologies.
According to Ljutkov, heritage policy today is as much about long-term resilience as it is about aesthetics or tourism promotion. He described heritage preservation as “not only an act of strategic planning but also a responsibility towards future generations,” insisting that decisions taken now will determine what kind of cultural landscape the region’s citizens inherit in the coming decades. The crises of the past ten years – from economic shocks and pandemics to geopolitical tensions – have, in his view, clearly shown that societies which invest in culture are better able to maintain social cohesion and a sense of continuity.
The conference agenda reflected that broader understanding. Ministers and experts discussed practical ways to integrate culture into sustainable development policies, from greener management of historic sites and cultural institutions to support for creative industries that can generate jobs without exhausting local resources. Cross-border projects, joint nominations for international heritage lists, and coordinated responses to illicit trafficking of cultural goods were also part of the conversation, highlighting how closely regional cooperation and heritage protection are intertwined.
UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, based in Venice, was represented by its director, Magdalena Landry. She reminded participants that South-East Europe is one of the continent’s most culturally rich regions, marked by centuries of overlapping civilisations, religions and artistic traditions. This diversity, she said, is not only a legacy of the past but the living identity of its peoples – and a resource that can underpin social resilience, dialogue and economic development if it is actively supported.
Landry’s intervention underscored the idea that investing in culture is not a luxury item for prosperous times, but a pillar of stability in a period of global uncertainty. Cultural policies, she suggested, can help address social fragmentation, create inclusive public spaces, and foster a sense of shared ownership over common heritage, all of which are vital for democratic resilience.
Beyond declarations and speeches, the Ohrid meeting was also about continuity of regional structures. The Council of Ministers of Culture of South-East Europe has, over the years, served as a platform for aligning national priorities, exchanging policy tools and preparing joint initiatives. With the adoption of the Ohrid Declaration 2025, member states signalled their intention to keep using this forum to coordinate cultural responses to climate challenges, tourism pressure and digital transformation.
The conference also decided on the rotation of the Council’s leadership. Moldova will assume the chairmanship for the next meeting, scheduled for 2026, giving Chişinău a chance to steer the agenda and highlight its own cultural and heritage priorities in a broader South-East European framework.
For host country North Macedonia, convening ministers and experts in Ohrid – itself a UNESCO-listed site famous for its lake, churches and historical layers – was a symbolic choice. It allowed participants to discuss “sustainable cultural models for the future” in a setting that captures both the richness of the region’s heritage and the vulnerabilities it faces. The message from Ohrid was clear: in South-East Europe, culture is no longer to be treated as a peripheral policy field, but as a core element in building a sustainable, cohesive and resilient future.
