In the picture Premier Laschet welcomes Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and Ambassador Sergej Netschajew – Picture by Land NRW, Uta Wagner.
18-19 July 2019, NRW, Germany: For the first time since its foundation, the ‘Petersburg Dialogue’, one of the most important events of German-Russian civil societal cooperation, takes place in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Under this year’s theme “Cooperation as a Leitmotif for a Europe in Peace: Contributions from Civil Societies in Russia and Germany”, around 350 guests from all areas of German-Russian cooperation gather for the high-level conference held at Bonn and Königswinter. The two foreign ministers of the Federal Republic of Germany, Heiko Maas, and of the Russian Federation, Sergei Lavrov, attended the opening event on Thursday. After his arrival in Germany, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov initially met for bilateral talks with the Premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, at Hotel Petersberg near Bonn.
Together with the two co-chairs of the Petersburg Dialogue, Ronald Pofalla and Viktor Subkov, Premier Armin Laschet received the guests at the Petersberg and delivered a greeting.
As per statement below Premier Armin Laschet remarked: “Following the 15th German-Russian City Twinning Conference, another of the largest and most important civil society cooperation events between Germany and Russia is now coming to North Rhine-Westphalia with the Petersburg Dialogue. This clearly shows that Germany’s cooperation with Russia is of great concern to us as a country in the heart of Europe. As a centre of competence for international politics, Bonn is an excellent location for the orientation of the Petersburg Dialogue”.
The ‘Petersburg Dialogue’was initiated in 2001 by then Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President Vladimir Putin. Named after its first venue, St. Petersburg, it has since taken place in annual rotation in Germany and Russia. The aim of the St. Petersburg Dialogue is to intensify cooperation between Germany and Russia in all areas of civil society, to counteract prejudices in the perception of the other country and thus to give new impetus to German-Russian relations.
For further information:
- Government of NRW: https://www.land.nrw/de/pressemitteilung/ministerpraesident-laschet-empfaengt-deutschen-und-russischen-aussenminister
- Embassy of the Russian Federation to the Federal Republic of Germany (HE Ambassador Sergej Netschajew): http://www.russische-botschaft.de
- Petersburger Dialog: https://petersburger-
dialog.de
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