Culture in the CIS is a crucial factor in strengthening the atmosphere of friendship, mutual understanding and good neighborliness. It plays an invaluable role in developing human contacts, shaping spirituality, people’s worldviews and educating the youth. It serves as a solid foundation upon which integration processes within the CIS are built.

The events in the CIS member states between 2021 and 2025 were carried out within the framework of the relevant Decision (in Russian) adopted by the Council of Heads of Government on May 29, 2020. The Decision included more than 120 diverse international and national initiatives in various areas of cultural cooperation: the preservation and use of historical and cultural heritage monuments, museum activities, the library sector, theatrical and concert activities, music and cinema, visual arts, book publishing, as well as the holding of cultural days (years) of the Commonwealth countries. Their implementation was intended to create and ultimately strengthen an environment of equal opportunities and cultural diversity as values recognized by all member states of the Commonwealth.

This idea was also confirmed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who addressing the participants of the meeting of the CIS Heads of Government Council in 2023 emphasized: “We have inherited a truly unique civilizational fusion of traditions and customs, languages and literature, art and folk creativity. Our task is to preserve this common multinational heritage to the greatest extent possible and enrich it with new content”.

Significant attention was paid to the development of cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian sphere by the Russian Chairmanship of the CIS in 2024. Its results included the creation of the Eurasian Academy of Cinematographic Arts in April 2025 and the establishment of the Eurasian Film Award. In September of the same year, the International Song Festival “Intervision” was held with great success.

This period was marked by the implementation of film and television projects, and the holding of competitions by the CIS Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation. All projects featured the theme of preserving the memory of our common past, countering attempts to rewrite history, and the inadmissibility of glorifying nazism. The “Immortal Regiment”, “St. George Ribbon”, and “Memory Train” campaigns gained wide scope across the CIS space, designed to acquaint citizens of the Commonwealth states with the history of the Great Patriotic War and places of military glory.

In March 2026, the CIS Heads of Government Council approved the Main Cooperation Activities of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the Field of Culture for 2026–2028 (in Russian). The document was adopted for the practical implementation of the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Culture of May 15, 1992 (in Russian), and the Concept of Cooperation of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the Field of Culture of May 19, 2011 (in Russian). It was based, among other things, on the developments within the framework of the thematic Year of Folk Art and Cultural Heritage (in Russian) held in 2022, which, as noted by many representatives of the CIS countries, significantly promoted cultural dialogue and strengthened humanitarian ties within the Commonwealth.

The document consists of ten sections and includes 138 international and national events in various areas of cultural cooperation: in the preservation and use of historical and cultural heritage monuments, in the protection of intangible historical and cultural heritage and folk art, in museum work, in library, theater, music spheres, in the field of fine arts, in cinematography, as well as in science, education and personnel training.

The implementation of the Main Cooperation Activities in the Field of Culture will contribute to creating conditions for deepening intercultural dialogue, including through the exchange of experience and information, the development of creative contacts, and participation in multilateral cultural events – festivals, competitions, conferences, forums.

Megri—Cultural Capital of the CIS in 2026