European Capital of Culture at the wrong time?

1985 is the year when Athens became the first European Capital of Culture (then called as European City of Culture) and began the tradition of introducing and showcasing diverse cultures of different European cities and countries. This year Vilnius is the first new EU member state from the Baltics and Eastern Europe which has been granted this opportunity (together with Linz in Austria). As the experience of first 1,5 months shows, the project has put our country to a difficult test which Lithuania (sad to acknowledge) can fail, if it continues in the same direction. Most tend to say now that we, as a country, were definitely not ready for it.

European Commission itself accounts the European Capital of Culture project as one of its most successful projects, similarly as the ‘Erasmus’. Quoting from the Europa website: ‘The title ‘European Capital of Culture’ was designed to help bring European citizens closer together. (…) Owing to the many visitors it has attracted, the title has since gone from strength to strength in Europe. Over the years, this event has evolved without losing sight of its primary objective: to highlight the richness and diversity of European cultures and the features they share, promote greater mutual acquaintance between European citizens, foster a feeling of European citizenship’.

To be nominated as the European Capital of Culture is not just an honour but also a big responsibility. Any applying country has to raise enough financial resources, guarantee the richness of the cultural programme and effective organisation of the entire programme. Applications are submitted five years before the event and therefore requires form each country (city) to have a clear vision of the whole programme, the outcomes it wants to achieve, means how it will be handled and organised. Above all, the country which hosts the European Capital of Culture has to raise its financial funds as the European Commission co-finances only 1,5 million Euros of particular cultural projects in the programme. It usually means that great sums of money are donated from the countries budget, different sponsors and includes income from the tickets sales, etc. For example, the total budget for Graz as the Capital of Culture in 2003 was 60 million Euros of which only 500 thousand were donated by the Commission.

The threat that Vilnius now experiences is firstly connected with the financial side of the project. In the light of the currently bad economic situation in Lithuania, politicians see no possibility of spending much or at all any (some have said) money from the budget for the European Capital of Culture programme. Yesterday the Ministry of Culture, which is one of the bodies together with Vilnius Municipality and the public institution “Vilnius – European Capital of Culture 2009” responsible for coordination and implementation of the programme, announced that it cuts the funding from the budget from almost 67,3 mill. pre-planed to 25 mill. Litas. Furthermore, the public institution “Vilnius – European Capital of Culture 2009” is being audited for making unreasonable decisions, possible corruption and wasting money for unsuccessful PR and communication activities. Artists and institutions having contracts for the cultural programme already raised many public discussions criticising the actions of politicians and the organisers accusing them of making the European Capital of Culture project a disaster.

How did the Commission react to this kind of situation in Lithuania? As the spokesman for the culture and education John MacDonald commented to the LTVs Brussels correspondent, the situation in Vilnius is rather disappointing, so Commission continues to monitor it. However, Lithuania was granted the status of the European Capital of Culture according to the conditions adopted in 1999, before the new members from Eastern and Central Europe joined. It is interesting that foreseeing the difficulties to keep the ‘European Capital of Culture’ as successful and prestigious project, new rules were adopted in 2006. Following it, since 2010 a ‘strong monitoring and consultative element’ is introduced – a committee of international experts, composed of seven independent experts appointed by the European Commission, the EP, the Council of Ministers and the Committee of the Regions. Maybe more supervision for the new member countries obviously not ready to face the challenges this project raises (as the Vilnius example shows) will be helpful in the future.

My questions are: What does the experience of Vilnius signal for the future of the ‘European Capital of Culture’ project? Does this mean new member states facing great challenges of young post-soviet democracies aren’t capable to succeed in programmes like this? What would be the solutions for the future?

I will continue to monitor the situation in Vilnius and how it develops. Personally I find the programme and the opportunity as extremely important for my country and despite everything I hope we will not fail. The good news is that if we manage to have the programme as it was planned, over a thousand of different music, visual arts, theatre, dance, media and literature projects and events will take place in Vilnius. Furthermore, Lithuania in 2009 also celebrates its names’ millennium. So, come and discover Lithuania in 2009!

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