The White Hall of the Livadia Palace hosted the "Friends of Russia Club" round table, which was attended by Artek students from Russia and other countries, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, Rossotrudnichestvo, United Russia, Movement of the First, and the expert community.

Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, sent greetings to the participants of the round table. He expressed his confidence that the event would be "informal, allowing to exchange personal experiences, make new friends, and, of course, to get acquainted with the unique historical and cultural heritage of Crimea, admire the diversity and beauty of its natural landscapes".

Denis Gribov, Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, addressed the children and experts in the format of the teleconference: "I would like to thank you for organizing the round table, where all participants are given the opportunity not only to share their experience of international cooperation between young people, but also to discuss the prospects for the development of children's diplomacy, which is currently becoming an increasingly popular area of the education system. Artek has undoubtedly been and remains a significant platform for intercultural dialog. The possibility of an open dialog between children from different countries, especially in a face-to-face format, is very important. Young people are the future conductors of the ideas of international cooperation," Denis Yevgenievich noted. The Deputy Minister of Education also congratulated the winners of the International Action "Artek People" and expressed his gratitude to the staff of the International Children's Center.

The moderators of the round table were Alexander Alimov, Director of the Department for Multilateral Humanitarian Cooperation and Cultural Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, and Roman Romanov, coordinator of the "United Russia" party project "World of Opportunities".  

"The Friends of Russia Club was created on the initiative of United Russia," said Roman Romanov, coordinator of the United Russia party project "World of Opportunities". "Our International action "People of Artek" was held within the framework of the program "Club of Friends of Russia". Foreign children, including participants of the People of Artek action, became true friends of Russia. Artek and our country will remain in their hearts for the rest of their lives. They will spread this friendship in their countries, among their friends and relatives. This is very important. We will continue this initiative," the speaker expressed his opinion.

One of the main events of the round table was the presentation of the Children's Manifesto of Friendship. "I am sure that many people of different ages will join this initiative. We will form a community, we will develop it. Within the framework of such a community, a large number of projects will emerge that will be implemented all over the world," Roman Romanov emphasized.

"I am delighted and encouraged by the children with whom we managed to communicate. "Artek is a delightful place, a forge of friendship between nations, a pledge of friendly relations between countries in the future. These relations will be formed by the children who came to the International Children's Center. They have great potential, enthusiasm, they are smart, talented, and they are the future. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will support Artek in its international work. Children from different countries will come to the Children's Center, and there will be even more of them. We are preparing together for the centenary of Artek, I am sure it will be a landmark year filled with important events," Alexander Alimov said.

Director of Artek Konstantin Fedorenko noted that such international events contribute to the formation of the most complete representation of foreign children about the Russian Federation: "In our country, rich historical traditions are carefully preserved and at the same time, great attention is paid to the intercultural dialog of children from different countries, representatives of different nationalities. We have been and remain open to all children who come from different corners of the planet Earth with pure thoughts and good intentions. I am sure that there will be more and more true friends of Russia every year! We will follow our unique course and successfully develop, remaining an inspired place of friendship for children all over the world, a recognized center of children's diplomacy".

Dmitry Polikanov, Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo, also noted the importance of the Friendship Manifesto: "It is very important that initiatives related to children's diplomacy are born at Artek. Children create the basis for today's international relations. We would like the children from different countries to join the publication of the Friendship Manifesto and offer their initiatives for the development of friendship between children. And we will try to choose the best initiatives and invite their authors to Artek next year. We will have a good project for the centenary of the International Children's Center".

The round table was also attended by: the founder of the network publication "Science. Society. Defense", deputy editor-in-chief of the "Military History Journal", Doctor of Historical Sciences, Candidate of Military Sciences Vladimir Kiknadze; coordinator of the Youth Commission at the World Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots Ekaterina Kremenskaya; Chairman of the Council of Young Diplomats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Konstantin Kolpakov; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of South Ossetia to the Russian Federation Znaur Gassiev; senior lecturer of the Center for Russian Studies at the Javakh University of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Children from Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Morocco, Qatar, Armenia, Kuwait, Kazakhstan and other countries of the world spoke at the Round Table. The speeches were devoted to cultural ties between countries, preservation of cultural diversity in the modern world, environmental safety, activities of children's movements, international friendship clubs, communication between children from different countries.

A separate block was devoted to the "Movement of the Firsts". Evgeny Levin, Chief Specialist of the Department for International Projects of the "Movement of the Firsts", told the participants about the activities of RDDM, and Tatyana Shchurova from Kursk region shared her experience of participation in the Movement's projects.

Among the participants of the event were the winners of the "People of Artek" International Campaign. The guys noted that participation in the action gave them many impressions.

"I believe that the "Friends of Russia Club" is a wonderful project, which gives an opportunity to communicate with children not only from all over Russia, but also from other countries, and helps to strengthen international ties. Many thanks to the United Russia party for the opportunity to visit Artek. My speech at the round table was devoted to cultural ties between countries. I spoke about the cultural diversity of Kyrgyzstan, as well as the strong friendship between Kyrgyzstan and Russia. It was an honor to participate in the creation of the Friendship Manifesto and to listen to children from different countries. This is an invaluable experience for me. Within the framework of the "People of Artek" campaign, I prepared a project and conducted research work. The hero of my project is a man who, as a boy from a small village in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, was able to go to Artek. After his shift, he was charged with incredible energy, returned home, went to university and became a wonderful surgeon," shared Anastasia from Kyrgyzstan.

"For the People of Artek competition, I prepared a project about my grandmother and sister. They are two representatives of different generations who told me their memories of the Artek shift. My grandmother was in Artek in 1966. She and her friends kept in touch even after the shift and sent letters to each other. My grandmother still considers her fellow students as family and close people. Her sister was here last year and described the same emotions. She communicates with the guys often even now. It is great that in Artek there is an opportunity to meet children from different countries. Here we acquire different skills and new knowledge by communicating with each other," said Meri from Armenia.

At the end of the round table, Tatyana Shchurova read out the children's Friendship Manifesto, which the children had developed together with the experts. The children noted that the text reflected their thoughts and was interesting. The young participants of the round table thanked the organizers and experts for useful communication and the opportunity to express their thoughts and suggestions. Children noted that being heard is very important.

"It was great to be able to present their projects and reports, listen to other children, exchange experience and knowledge with them. The topic of my presentation was cultural ties between countries. I believe that this is a very important issue. I told about my experience and knowledge on this topic, why it is necessary to develop cultural ties. The Manifesto took into account the opinions of all children, I think that the text of the document came out full and important for children", - said Vyacheslav from Kyrgyzstan.

"I talked about the importance of environmental habits among the younger generation. If people from an early age start caring for our planet, promote respect for ecology, the world will become a much better place. I liked the speeches of all the kids. I realized that among us there are many initiative children who have their own point of view on various topical global problems. It was interesting to listen to their opinion. I sincerely hope that such events will be held further. I am proud that I was one of the speakers and represented my country. I believe that children's point of view is important and objective. Many thanks to the organizers of the roundtable, all the speakers and diplomats who spoke today," said Adil from Kazakhstan.




Source: https://artek.org/press-centr/news/klub-druzyay-rossii-sobral-v-livadiyskom-dvorce-artekovcev-iz-52-stran/