“I believe it is the duty of those who have the means to step in to help,” said Open Society Institute chairman George Soros. “My foundation has a long commitment to the region. I wanted to do what I can, although I know it cannot alleviate the suffering.”

The funds are a one-time gift to be spent over the next two years in the Balkans, the Baltics, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Ukraine.

Many of the target countries are new members of the European Union that have had to slash budgets in the face of turbulent economic times. In addition, many donors have pulled out of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

“We want to help those communities most at risk. My priority is helping young people. We need to help the next generation,” Soros said.

A committee made up of people from Eastern Europe will evaluate the severity of the crisis in each country. In cooperation with Soros foundations located in the 20 countries, the group will consider proposals for funding.

“No funding decisions have been made yet,” Soros said. “But projects could range from support to keep children in school to shelters to cultural institutions at risk of failing.”

The countries eligible to receive funds are Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan and Ukraine.

The hole is that this generous philanthropic aid will stimulate the non-profit organisations in the cultural sector in Central and Eastern Europe, helping them to mobilise efforts and organise themselves. It will also initiate well elaborated projects for improving cultural policies in the region, bringing culture and art closer to education, ecology, human rights, gender issues and equality, social affairs.

This major gift will hopefully be a positive sign for all other European public and private funders that culture and arts are much negatively influeced by the global economic crisis and there is a need for urgent joined efforts to lift up the overall cultural sector and infrastructure, helping it to become more even productive, dynamic and innovative in a time of crisis.