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The Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, as a partner of the organizers of the First Catherine Forum, attracted many resources to prepare and conduct panel sessions, meetings, competitions, excursions, and round tables. The Assembly's events became the basis for the forum, which raised issues of international relations, public diplomacy and building a new world order.
More than 600 participants took part in the First Catherine Forum. Several dozen experts worked at the panel sessions of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, and half of them were foreigners. To help guests and create comfortable working conditions, the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly attracted 21 volunteers. They became important assistants to the organizers.
To thank the volunteers for their work, communicate and talk about future cooperation, Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly Andrei Belianinov met with young helpers over tea.
The Assembly volunteers, boys and girls - students of Moscow colleges and universities, were interested in telling about themselves and learning more information about the activities of the largest International Union of Non-Governmental Organizations.
“Seven years ago, two and a half thousand people came to Moscow from different countries of the world and established the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly,” Andrei Belianinov told about the history of the organization. “Many people for some reason think that the Assembly was invented by Russia - this is not true. There is no state involvement here. We had to understand why we gathered. After all, there are politicians, foreign missions, embassies and consulates. It seems that all the tools are there and everything can be agreed upon. However, it doesn't always work out. And as our Assembly lives, we are more and more convinced that ordinary people will tell each other more truth than official diplomacy and agree on everything”
Also, the talk was about the course and lessons of history. Giving examples of illiteracy and ignorance of some Western politicians, Andrey Yurievich gave the young assistants a life advice: "Don't be like that! Don't leave school without knowledge of history, geography. We probably know their history better than they do. Keep learning always".
The guys shared their impressions of meeting the guests, the opportunity to see famous politicians, diplomats, public figures, and talked about their communications with outstanding Russian and foreign experts.
“The hardest part of our job was to endure communications with a very large number of people and little sleep,” - shared Maria Moskalenko, a first-year college student at the Moscow City Pedagogical University. She met guests and accommodated them at the hotel, and helped resolve all everyday issues that arose. “But a big plus for us was the opportunity to improve our English, communicate with foreign experts, and learn a lot of new things. This is truly a diversified development,” said Maria’s companion, a student at the State University of Management, Victoria Sitalova.
Volunteer Daniil Saenko, student of the Moscow Technological College of Nutrition of the Plekhanov Russian Economic University, spoke about his opportunity to communicate with an eminent expert from India, forum speaker Dalbir Singh. He is the President of the Foundation for Policy and Governance (India), a member of the Supreme Advisory Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly: “Dr. Singh shared that he spoke several times at our Russian universities. He shared his mood, talked about his plans for staying in Moscow.”
“Take advantage of the moment and don’t be shy about learning languages,” Andrei Belianinov wished the volunteers. “According to scientific research, it is widely believed that the optimal age to learn a foreign language is before the age of 28. After this age, it becomes significantly more challenging.”
The leader of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly told young interlocutors about the importance of humanitarian cooperation between countries. Andrei Yurievich cited a telling fact from the First Catherine Forum: 26 million Russian Germans currently reside in Germany, with 2.5 million expressing a desire to return to Russia. The reason for this desire is the opportunity to build their family life in accordance with traditional spiritual, moral, and family values.
The discussion with volunteers at the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly covered important and timely topics, without any subjective evaluations. While showing great interest in the content of the forum, young people also noted some unattractive aspects: adult speakers of panel sessions did not always hear each other in the dialogue. Often, while sitting on stage in front of the audience, they simply scrolled through pictures on their phones during the speeches of other experts.
Agreeing with the fair comments of young people, Andrei Belianinov said: "It is good that you note such things, it is for you to change it in the future, you have to live in this world", - said the Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly.
The conversation over a cup of tea ended solemnly: Andrei Belianinov awarded the volunteers with letters of appreciation “For active participation in the organization and holding of the Catherine Forum and the II International Competition “Leader of Public Diplomacy” on December 11-14, 2023 in Moscow, for their contribution to strengthening friendship between peoples of Eurasia."
The first Catherine Forum was dedicated to the “Manifesto” of Catherine II. Its attractive conditions favored the influx of foreign specialists from various fields of economy to Russia This document played an important role in Russian history, and 260 years after its release, it again proves the relevance of the idea contained in it: in the current geopolitical situation, citizens of Western countries have begun to consider Russia as a place for a new life - stable and based on traditional spiritual and moral values.
The organizers of the forum are the All-Russian public-state organization “Assembly of the Peoples of Russia” and the Federal National-Cultural Autonomy of Russian Germans with the support of the Presidential Council of the Russian Federation for Interethnic Relations, the Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs.
The International Union of Non-Governmental Organizations “Eurasian Peoples' Assembly” acted as a partner of the First Catherine Forum and held three panel sessions at its site: “Everyone’s responsibility for a common future”, “Support for compatriots and friends of Russia abroad”, “Business diplomacy: from people’s trust to trust” economics".
