The ENRS received an operating grant under the European Union funding program 'Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values' - strand 'Promoting European remembrance'.
The EU grant program provides a 4-year support, with funds awarded every year based on separate applications. As an addition to the ENRS 2022 budget, comprising in most part of the member states’ contributions, the EU funds will help developing the ENRS core initiatives, including educational and academic projects, exhibitions, and networking activities bringing together the European community active in the field of remembrance.
This is an important moment in the history of our organization. We treat the decision of the European Commission as an extraordinary success of the Network and appreciation of its development and operation so far, which to date has resulted in a portfolio of activities including over 180 various projects, prepared and implemented with 470 partner organizations from 39 countries – says Rafał Rogulski, director of the ENRS.
The ENRS’s mission of fostering dialogue on 20th-century European history and supporting the development of a common European culture of remembrance has been proven to be extremely relevant in the last weeks. As Russian invaders use manipulation and historical lies to justify their unprovoked attack on Ukraine, Europe should be able to oppose by promoting the vision of the past based on an open, objective historical dialogue about our shared history.
Claudia Roth, German Minister of State for Culture, expressed similar idea in her recent statement: To protect and strengthen the culture of democracy, we must counter these disinformation campaigns with scientifically proven and readily available facts. This is what the (…) European Network Remembrance and Solidarity deals with, by being committed to a forward-looking understanding of the past in Europe. It is very valuable that these important cultural policy measures will now be significantly strengthened in the future with EU funding.
Values such as knowledge of history, dialogue, and cooperation strengthen us and keep away threats to peace. We hope that with the help of the new EU operating grant we will be able to work towards this end even more effectively.