Culture Minister Demeter Andras has voiced satisfaction over the government's approval of a memorandum initiating the steps prior to Romania's participation, in 2028, as a guest of honour, at the Frankfurt Book Fair, saying that Romania's presence "on the great market of book fairs" represents "a unique opportunity".
"I announced it from the Cairo Book Fair, because it is a very interesting meeting. The Cairo Fair is a gateway of Romanian culture to the East, to the Arab world, which is a huge market. And if we continue to set up the institution of translations, then we can enter this great market of cultural consumption, just as we can enter, via the Frankfurt Book Fair, where in 2028 we will be the guest of honour, the great market of book fairs, and through it everything that means, on the one hand, Germany, on the other hand, the whole world, as the Frankfurt Book Fair is the most important event of its kind," Demeter told AGERPRES on Thursday.
He added that the memorandum approved by the government "becomes, for Romania, for the coming years, from now until 2029, the first semester at least, the strategic project in the area of culture."
"And for that, we need to raise the level of discussion, to go beyond the limits of the Ministry of Culture - both literally and figuratively - and to set up at the level of the government, under the coordination of the Prime Minister's Chancellery, an interministerial working group, in which all the ministries that will have various roles in this in 2026-2028 will be represented," added Demeter.
The contract for our country's participation in the Frankfurt Book Festival will be signed next month in Bucharest.
"Last year, when we were at the fair, we put the final finishes and at the end of last year, in December, we received the draft contract that we are going to sign on February 20, in Bucharest," the minister said.
According to him, the Romanian presence at the Frankfurt Fair will mean not only books, but also films, music, as all cultural sectors will compete for an exceptional participation, because the Ministry of Culture is not "the only manager of this country project."
"The Frankfurt rule, in recent years, has changed. Frankfurt, in the preamble and after the fair, effectively creates an emulation of all the cultural sectors through which the country presents itself. Therefore, it is not enough and sufficient for the Ministry of Culture to be the sole manager of this country project after all, because that is what we are talking about. The Strategic Partnership with Germany, in its 146th year of diplomatic relations, will thus have a climax in 2028. It would be premature to talk now about the participants, about the names, about the representation, as long as the scale of the project far exceeds any book fair," Demeter said.
He added that "the interministerial working group will need the prior but constant support of guilds, the book industry, authors, publishers."
He called Romania's participation in the Frankfurt Book Fair a unique opportunity.
"It is a unique opportunity. Because the Ministry of Culture, through a small, but extremely soulful and even very skilled and appreciated team, has been working on this project for many years. I tell you, 20 years ago, when I joined the Ministry of Culture, Frankfurt was an important concern of ours. But for 14-15 years, the current team, which is very small, but, I repeat, extremely appreciated, has been building brick by brick so that, in any year given by God, Romania will have this honour. The year is 2028," said Demeter.
The government approved on Thursday a memorandum on the initiation of the steps prior to Romania's participation, through the Ministry of Culture, as the guest of honour at the book fair.
The inter-institutional framework for the preparation and management of the events and book launches that Romania, through the Ministry of Culture, will organise, has been established, according to a press statement released by the government. \
"Being the Guest of Honor in 2028 entails the management of a pavilion of approximately 1,500-2,000 sqm (as against 80 sqm in the 2024 edition and 100 sqm in 2025), as well as the organisation, between 2026 and the first semester of 2029, of a large-scale cultural program, which must be prepared in detail, in advance and which consists of related events held in several cities and regions, in partnership with German cultural organisations, universities, publishing houses and civil society organisations. The project implies the need to set up a committee, capable of coordinating a major project, with complex logistical, financial and institutional implications," the government reports.
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the most important book fair worldwide, operating as a primary market for copyright trading.
"In 2025, it brought together over 118,500 professionals from 103 countries, 4,350 exhibitors and a flow of 120,000 visitors, consolidating the event's position as the epicentre of global cultural dialogue by more than 3,500 events. For Romanian literature, the Frankfurt Book Fair is a strategic gateway not only to the German-language book market, but also to the entire world publishing scene, offering visibility to Romanian authors before major publishing groups on all continents."
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