Ambassador Alexander Shulgin and TASS correspondent, Mr. Vitaliy Chugin.
By A. Rangarajan.
It has been customary for Russia to celebrate the 10th of February as the Diplomat’s Day. And on this day the Russian Diplomatic Worker is honoured and Diplomats who have passed away are remembered and their services are gratefully acknowledged.
This has been a tradition from 2002. In keeping with it, this year too, the Embassy of Russia in the Netherlands celebrated the occasion and a reception was hosted in their Den Haag Embassy premises.
H.E Ambassador Alexander Shulgin welcomed the guests and presented a brief history of Russian diplomatic missions since the time of the founding of the “Posolsky Prikaz” or the Ambassadorial Department in1549. He chose the occasion to give a brief summary of the current state of international relations.
The Ambassador emphasized the importance of the work of diplomats in a modern world that is going through some troubled times and he further mentioned that as long as diplomats remain engaged and are talking, conflicts are avoided.
Ambassador Shulgin expressed confidence that using diplomacy and following the principles of equality, non-interference in sovereign affairs, mutual respect and by mutual accommodation of each other’s interests, countries will be able to find common solutions to the global problems
Ambassador Shulgin pointed out, in his speech, that Russian diplomacy plays a significant role within the UN, G20 and various other international and regional forums. Its main goal is to promote ties of friendship and cooperation with other States.
Referring to the special importance Russia attaches to its relations with Netherlands, Ambassador Shulgin said, “For me personally, it was a great pleasure to begin my work in the Netherlands as Ambassador of the Russian Federation. Our countries are united not only by common history and culture, but also by profound ties of friendship.
The fact was marked by making 2013 a year of friendship between Russia and the Netherlands, which was unprecedented in the history of our relations. More than 300 political, economic and cultural events were organized in the two countries.”
He referred to a special joint chapter from the history of the two countries, when both Russia and The Netherlands jointly celebrated the 200th wedding day anniversary of the Grand Duchess Anna Pavlona to the Dutch Crown Prince of Orange, who became the King of Netherlands in 1840 and was known as William II.
Representatives of Dutch ministries and agencies, international legal organisations, the diplomatic corps, the OPCW, special Russian guests and journalists had been invited to the event. In all, about 60 guests attended the celebration of the Diplomat’s Day.
By way of commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Russian revolution a special photo exhibition titled, “Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to the Netherlands from XVII century to 1917” was opened in the Embassy.
Visitors had the opportunity to see the portraits and learn about Russian Ambassadors to the Kingdom of Netherlands since the establishment of the diplomatic relations under Emperor Peter the Great.
