She explains that she herself is uncompromising when it comes to the principle that an “arm’s length distance” should prevail for politics.
The issue has been debated recently, among other things after the Sweden Democrats wanted to redefine the term and the party’s cultural policy spokesperson, Alexander Christiansson, has said that it is a principle and not a law and that the definition depends on who you talk to.
The Minister of Culture is clear that the freedom of culture is stipulated in the Tidö Agreement and emphasizes that all parties have agreed to the agreement.
— And it is important that it is held, not only at the national level, but also at the regional and municipal level. Every time you try to go in and decide on the content of the culture – then there are restrictions on what is our openness and democracy, she says in the interview.
So far, the new government has reduced the cultural budget by SEK 1.1 billion. It is mainly about the temporary pandemic subsidies that have been removed.
