On Wednesday 7 January 2015, a terrorist attack on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris killed 12 people, most of them journalists and artists working for the magazine.
Despite regular death threats, they had vowed to continue expressing their freedom to think and to create with humour and talent. They were murdered because they drew and published cartoons.
This unspeakable act was intended to silence them forever, to terminate the publication of the magazine and more broadly, to restrict the freedom to think, to speak and to create. These freedoms are core values of European democracy. They are universal democratic values.
In this time of profound sadness and grief, we, the ministers of culture of the European Union, condemn this senseless barbarity, which attempts to undermine our essential values in the most violent way.
We unanimously express our belief that artistic freedom and freedom of expression stand firm and unflinching at the heart of our common European values. France and her allies in the EU safeguard these values and promote them in the world. We affirm our determination to continue to do so in the future.
We, the ministers of culture of the European Union, do not accept terrorists’ attempts to impose their own standards. Since time immemorial, the arts have been an inspiration for reflection giving rise to new ideas and fighting against intolerance and ignorance. It is the freedom of expression in a culturally diverse environment that brings these ideas into meaningful dialogue.
We, the ministers of culture of the European Union, stand in solidarity to defend the freedom of expression and vow to protect the rights of artists to create freely.
Dace MELBĀRDE
Minister for Culture
Holder of Rotating EU Council Presidency
Latvia
Josef OSTERMAYER
Federal Minister for Arts and Culture, Constitution and Media
Austria
Fleur PELLERIN
Minister for Culture and Communication
France
Joëlle MILQUET
Vice Minister President of the Frenchspeaking Community and Minister for Education, Culture and Childhood
Belgium
Jean-Claude MARCOURT
Vice Minister President of the Frenchspeaking Community and Minister for Higher Education, Research and Media
Belgium
Isabelle WEYKMANS
Vice-minister-president of the German- Speaking Community and minister of Culture, Employment and Tourism
Belgium
Sven GATZ
Flemish Minister for Culture, Media, Youth and Brussels
Belgium
Vezhdi RASHIDOV
Minister for Culture
Bulgaria
Prof. Costas KADIS
Minister for Education and Culture
Cyprus
Daniel HERMAN
Minister for Culture
Czech Republic
Ph.D Andrea ZLATAR VIOLIĆ
Minister of Culture
Croatia
Prof. Monika GRÜTTERS
Minister of State for Culture and Media
Germany
Marianne JELVED
Minister for Culture
Denmark
José Ignacio WERT ORTEGA
Minister for Education, Culture and Sport
Spain
Urve TIIDUS
Minister of Culture
Estonia
Pia VIITANEN
Minister of Culture and Housing
Finland
Zoltán BALOG
Minister of Human Capacities
Hungary
Konstantinos TASOULAS
Minister of Culture and Sports
Hellenic Republic
Heather HUMPHREYS
Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Ireland
Dario FRANCESCHINI
Minister of Cultural Heritage and
Activities and of Tourism
Italy
Šarūnas BIRUTIS
Minister for Culture
Lithuania
Maggy NAGEL
Minister for Culture
Luxembourg
Dr. Owen BONNICI
Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government
Malta
Dr. Jet BUSSEMAKER
Minister for Education, Culture and Science
The Netherlands
Sander DEKKER
State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science
The Netherlands
Prof. Małgorzata OMILANOWSKA
Minister of Culture and National Heritage
Poland
Jorge Barreto XAVIER
Secretary of State for Culture
Portugal
Ioan VULPESCU
Minister for Culture
Romania
M.Sc. Julijana BIZJAK MLAKAR
Minster for Culture
Slovenia
Marek MAĎARIČ
Minister for Culture
Slovakia
Alice BAH KUHNKE
Minister for Culture
Sweden
Ed VAIZEY
Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy
United Kingdom