The Ministry of Culture will next year be recalling its cultural advisor from Sweden, and wrap up a part-time cultural representative role in New York. However, another full-time post will be created in the U.S., relating to culture.

Head of international cooperation at the Ministry of Culture. Meelis Kompus said the change will intensify Estonia's cultural diplomacy with key transatlantic partner the U.S. at a time when belts have to be tightened in any case.

Kompus said: "Bearing in mind the U.S. market's potential and depth, as well as the need to strengthen cultural diplomacy in the U.S., our most important transatlantic partner, this choice was the only viable one at present."

"The return of the cultural counselor from Sweden is by mutual agreement between the Ministry of Culture, the cultural representative, and the Estonian Embassy in Stockholm," Kompus went on, noting it was a part of restructuring necessitated by limited resources.

"This is a restructuring which is taking place in the current context of limited resources," he added.

Minister of Culture Heidy Purga (Reform) said since the ministry is already one of the smaller ones, significant layoffs are hard to make, even as the government has mandated budget cuts across all 11 ministries.

Purga's ministry has been tasked with slashing its budget by 10 percent by 2027, which will include a €13.4 million cut in 2025 alone.

Purga said: "The Ministry of Culture is the smallest ministry, and primarily top specialists and heads of their respective fields work here."

"The ministry's idiosyncrasy is such that it has fewer than 100 employees, and each substantive field has only one highly qualified advisor, and not an entire department. With such a structure, making significant layoffs from the state budget perspective is challenging," she added.

The planned U.S. cultural diplomat role will cost an estimated €150,000 per annum, plus an additional project budget of at least €30,000.

Meelis Kompus added: "The practice that one cultural representative covers a slightly larger area than one country if needed is a widespread one. For instance, Lithuania does it this way. When opportunities improve once again, our wish is to restore our presence in Sweden," he added.

For the meantime, the ministry's cultural representative in Finland will have the responsibility for Sweden too.

The culture ministry has a broad remit which includes sport and integration, as well as culture in a narrower sense.

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