Response to interpellation 2025/26:361 on cultural heritage below the water surface
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the protection of cultural heritage below the water surface and the need for national governance. S argues that the distribution of responsibility is unclear and that there is a lack of a clear mandate, national coordination, and long-term resources to prevent looting 1 2 3. S emphasizes that a formalization of the cooperation is required to ensure equal protection across the entire country 2 3. M argues that the legislation already exists and that cooperation between authorities works well 4 5. M emphasizes that the government has invested money, appointed Riksantikvarieämbetet as a preparedness authority, and established a council for the protection of cultural heritage 6 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! Lars Mejern Larsson has asked me if I intend to take the initiative for a formalized system with clear decision paths and mandates for how the cultural heritage below the surface can be monitored and protected.
It is important for the government that there are conditions to preserve, use and develop a diversity of cultural environments. In the Cultural Environment Act (1988:950) there are basic provisions for the protection of important parts of the cultural heritage. Among other things, responsibility for crimes against ancient monuments is prescribed. Cultural environments and ancient remains below the surface are protected under the legislation. It also appears from the Cultural Environment Act that it is the County Administrative Board that is responsible for the state's cultural environment work in the county and that the National Heritage Board has oversight over the cultural environment work in the country.
The Swedish Police Authority has a general responsibility to investigate and prosecute crimes, which also includes crimes according to the Cultural Environment Act. The Coast Guard can assist the Swedish Police Authority in these matters within the framework of its indirect crime-fighting activities. These authorities cooperate, based on their respective mandates, with the Swedish Prosecution Authority, the Swedish National Museums, the Swedish National Heritage Board and relevant County Administrative Boards.
The government follows the authorities' work to preserve the cultural heritage below the surface. It is these initiatives that are currently on the government's desk.
Lars Mejern Larsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! Sweden is a maritime nation. For centuries, trade, travel, and war have shaped our history at sea. But a large part of this history does not lie in our archives or in our museums, but hides beneath the surface.
During the work of building up the Museum of Wrecks, it was discovered that several of the wrecks that had been assessed as particularly worthy of protection had been looted or affected without any authority noticing it in time. It turned out that this was not an isolated incident but a constantly ongoing process of looting and impact.
Several court cases show that looting of wrecks can continue for decades before it is detected. In one notable case, individuals were convicted of crimes against cultural heritage after, over a long period, in practice several decades, having taken objects from wrecks in the Baltic Sea. During a house search, hundreds of objects were found, including a cannon from the 1600s.
When objects are taken from a wreck, it is not just an object that disappears – a part of history is lost. Marine archaeologists often say that it is like tearing pages out of a book.
Mr. Speaker! I have myself had the privilege of diving, even if it has occurred in significantly warmer waters than in the Baltic Sea. To slowly sink down towards a wreck is a special experience. One does not just encounter wood, iron, or cargo; one encounters a story, people's life destinies, a moment from history frozen in time. When one sees how fragile everything is down there and how easily an environment can be disturbed, one also realizes how vulnerable this cultural heritage is. It is a silent world that does not protest when it is looted.
Mr. Speaker! The distribution of responsibility is unclear today. The Swedish National Heritage Board has a national responsibility, the county administrative boards make decisions, and other authorities have resources and competence but lack the mandate and a clear mission to protect the cultural heritage below the surface. This leads to the overall responsibility practically falling between the cracks.
As marine archaeologist Jim Hansson at the Swedish History Museum for Maritime, Transport and Defence History has described, engaged officials have been forced to build up collaborations between relevant actors such as the Coast Guard, the sea police, and the Armed Forces. It is fundamentally positive that such things occur, but it is not a system.
Mr. Speaker! As Jacques Cousteau once expressed it: We protect what we love, and we love what we understand.
But to understand does not mean that everyone feels that they have responsibility. Therefore, I want to ask the Minister for Culture once again how the government intends to ensure a national management for the protection of the cultural heritage below the surface?
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! I must say that I share Lars Mejern Larsson's description of the cultural heritage below the surface. I also share the enthusiasm for it. What I do not share, however, is the description that the authority management is unclear and that cooperation between authorities is lacking. I do not agree with that.
Today, there is legislation in place that both regulates the protection of our cultural heritage and prescribes responsibilities regarding specifically crimes against ancient monuments. Furthermore, there are established cooperation paths between the authorities whose task is to work with different parts of the protection of the cultural heritage.
It is clear that different authorities must do different things depending on what happens with the cultural heritage. The Swedish National Heritage Board has an incredibly important mission to be a unifying authority and see the whole. At the same time, a partial responsibility lies with the County Administrative Boards in this. When it comes to the crime-fighting part, the Swedish Police Authority, the Swedish Coast Guard, and others are completely crucial for the work to function.
I do not, therefore, share the view that there is an ambiguity here. However, I can say that when many authorities are to cooperate, it naturally also depends on finding sensible ways of cooperation and building up a collaboration that will hold over time. There must be a long-term perspective in that. It is based on relationships. It is based on contacts between the authorities. I perceive that such contacts are established. There is a cooperation between authorities and other parties that work to preserve the cultural heritage.
This is still a reasonably well-functioning area. Then one can always think that things can be improved. One can continue to look at how to increase the understanding of these issues and increase the cooperation and collaboration to protect our cultural heritage even better.
The government has taken several steps to enable our authorities to cooperate in a better way. For example, we have appointed the Swedish National Heritage Board as the authority that shall have the coordinating function for the work of taking care of our cultural heritage and ensuring that our authorities, which have shared responsibility for this in different ways, also take that responsibility and that cooperation occurs between them.
I believe, of course, that there are always things that can be improved, but I also think it is important to say that the cooperation that has been built up over time has actually been judged to have yielded good results and increased understanding of the issues.
Lars Mejern Larsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! I agree that there are things that can be improved, because after hearing the Minister's answer, it feels as if the government is throwing the wrecks overboard. It is a cultural heritage that belongs to us all. It is therefore also our collective responsibility to ensure that it is preserved.
In my previous post, I described the problem. Let me now speak about the solution. What is missing is what only politics can provide, namely a clearer mandate, national coordination, and long-term resources. Today, the responsibility is unclear when it comes to the cultural heritage below the surface. The work varies across the country. The protection risks becoming dependent on individual initiatives. We cannot have that.
I want to particularly highlight the need for equality. It cannot be chance or the zip code that determines whether a wreck is investigated during exploitation and whether suspected damages are followed up. The Swedish National Heritage Board must be tasked with taking a clear leadership role.
Mr. Speaker! When I have dived in tropical waters, the visibility has been good, and wrecks can be seen from a distance. In the Baltic Sea, visibility is often worse, but the preservation conditions are unique. This means that we are sitting on a world-unique cultural heritage. It places demands on us. We are really good at the tracking, but we cannot be world-leading in theory and unclear in practice. If Sweden is now at the forefront when it comes to agency cooperation, the next step is to formalize it.
Mr. Speaker! Cultural heritage below the surface must not continue to be a blind spot on the political agenda. This autumn, I participated in a sharp operation where the museum Vrak in Stockholm collaborated with the sea police, the coast guard, and marine archaeologists to protect and preserve our common cultural heritage. Many wrecks are being looted today, both by curious hobby divers and by organized criminal actors, which means that invaluable parts of our cultural heritage risk being lost. During the operation, it became clear how different competencies can collaborate effectively to protect and utilize our marine cultural heritage, in this case around Dalarö. The looting at our coasts is a national problem that must be countered with clear division of responsibility and strengthened cooperation.
Mr. Speaker! I have seen how vulnerable what lies beneath the surface is. The question is not whether we can afford to protect it, but whether we can afford not to. I am still disappointed that the Minister did not take the bait.
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! Let me provide some examples for the members. The government is allocating half a billion kronor to preserve the cultural heritage throughout Sweden. These are funds that are to go towards maintenance efforts and the protection of our cultural heritage so that it may be preserved for future generations. Half a billion we are allocating to it.
The government has also designated the Swedish National Heritage Board as a preparedness authority, because there is a need for much closer cooperation regarding cultural heritage issues as part of our civil preparedness and because culture is an important part of a country's identity. We therefore need to work systematically with these issues also as part of our protection.
The government has also allocated 84 million kronor over three years to the Swedish National Heritage Board to strengthen the cultural heritage sector's preparedness. These are funds that are outside the half billion that we have set aside for the protection and preservation of cultural heritage and for working with different types of interventions there.
We have established a council for the protection of cultural heritage. The Swedish National Heritage Board is the coordinating authority for that council. The council itself brings together authorities across all of Sweden and within the entire cultural heritage sector so that they can cooperate more systematically with these issues.
Those were just a few examples, Mr. Speaker, of things the government has done to protect cultural heritage, whether it lies at sea or on or in the ground. There is much work left to do. But to accuse the government I represent of not having done enough in these matters becomes a bit bold when Lars Mejern Larsson's government, over eight years, did not lift a finger or even spend one million to do anything to protect cultural heritage or increase preparedness in the cultural heritage sector in the event of crisis or war.
Now we are moving in the right direction. Half a billion is allocated to preserving the cultural heritage and 84 million to the Swedish National Heritage Board to continue ensuring that the cultural heritage is protected and that a proper preparedness is built up. A council for the protection of cultural heritage has been established. Preparedness funds are being added. The Swedish National Heritage Board and the National Archives have been designated as preparedness authorities. These are just some of the examples of how the government has moved forward to ensure that the cultural heritage can actually be preserved for future generations.
I still get a bit curious. Perhaps the member can describe what his party, the Social Democrats, did for the maritime cultural heritage or for our cultural heritage in general during eight years in government?
Lars Mejern Larsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! I appreciate the money for the cultural heritage. It is welcome.
What we are discussing here today is, ultimately, about responsibility for what is beneath the surface, which is not functioning. We have a unique cultural heritage, we have knowledge, and we have commitment. We even have functioning methods that have been developed by those who work with this in reality. But what politics can provide is still lacking, that is to say, a clear mandate and real coordination.
What lies beneath the surface is no less important than what we see on land. It is a part of our shared history and our responsibility towards future generations.
Let me conclude with these words, Mr. Speaker. A country that takes its cultural heritage seriously cannot turn a blind eye to what lies hidden. We must not let the silence on the seabed become an excuse for passivity regarding what exists above. Clarity, coordination, and a national responsibility that works in practice are needed. To protect those who can no longer speak for themselves, we must do so. It is our duty toward history, and it is our responsibility toward the future.
Mr. Speaker! The Minister is unfortunately clear that the government will not commit to a change, but the current situation seems good enough. It does not appear that the wrecks in their depth will receive increased protection from the mainland as long as the Tidö government holds the ministerial seat.
Kulturministern Parisa Liljestrand (M)
Mr. Speaker! To begin with, it is the member himself who, from the rostrum, has spoken about there being a discrepancy between what lies beneath the surface and what is above the surface, and that what lies beneath the surface would be worth less. I have not taken those words into my mouth and will also never do so.
Cultural heritage is ours to protect. It is ours right now, but it belongs to future generations. It is our responsibility as those responsible for Sweden and as the responsible government to take it and to take it seriously. We must do what is required so that future generations will also have the right to their history and to their heritage.
Let me remind the member once again that eight years with the Social Democrats in government did not lead to any changed legislation in this area. Not a single mandate was given to any agency within the framework of this area. And not a single krona was invested within the framework of the area.
The Moderate-led government, on the other hand, has increased the appropriations to the Swedish National Heritage Board. We have provided direct funds for the work of protecting our cultural heritage. We have established a council for the protection of cultural heritage. We have designated emergency authorities that shall work with the protection of our cultural heritage.
This is an issue that we have brought to the fore, and we will continue to drive and work on it. We are not finished. One does not become finished in three and a half years. But we have achieved a lot during three and a half years, things that the Social Democratic government did nothing about during its eight years.
To stand here and say that we have not done enough is, I think, quite a stretch, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the discussion!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.