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On June 3, 2022, the Plenary Session “Public Diplomacy. New mechanisms for building a shared future” ended the International Forum of People's Diplomacy, dedicated to the fifth anniversary of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly.
The meeting brought together representatives of public organizations, business, science, culture, sports, the media, government, political and public figures from different parts of the Eurasian continent. The event was moderated by Svetlana Smirnova, First Deputy Secretary General - Head of the General Secretariat of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, Chairman of the Council of the Russian Peoples' Assembly.
The main leitmotif of the meeting was the consensus of the participants that in modern conditions the unity of the peoples of the Eurasian continent is becoming an urgent need for the further development of a multi-level integration model - a Greater Eurasian Partnership.
Opening the meeting, Andrey Belyaninov, Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, noted that the key task of the forum is to find practical solutions:
“The purpose of the forum is to find practical solutions. We must understand how we can use people's diplomacy so that people live in happiness, peace and prosperity."
The Secretary General thanked all those present for participating in the forum and emphasized that the activities of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly are not limited to the geography of one continent:
“Those who believe that Eurasia is Europe and Asia are greatly mistaken. In our editorial, Eurasia is also both Africa and Latin America, and, as I understand it, this is only the beginning of the journey. It turns out that the values that we are developing here, in the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, are of interest to many countries of the world, and today the ambassadors of several States are with us.”
Greetings to the participants of the international forum were sent by the Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov. Its text was read out by Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Executive Secretary of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO Grigory Ordzhonikidze.
The greeting, in particular, states that since its establishment, the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly has been successfully promoting cooperation between non-governmental organizations of the Eurasian region. In the current geopolitical conditions, such a dialogue between the socio-political, scientific and business circles of various countries makes a great contribution to strengthening, trust and mutual understanding between peoples and deserves great respect.
“The development of diverse cooperation in the vast Eurasian space is among the unconditional priorities of the domestic foreign policy. The initiatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin to form a Greater Eurasian Partnership as an integration circuit open to the participation of all States and multilateral associations of our continent without exception are aimed at solving this problem. I am convinced that the forum will traditionally be held in a constructive manner, and its results will contribute to unlocking the large-scale potential of public diplomacy,” - Sergei Lavrov said.
Addressing the forum participants, His Excellency Dr. Riad Haddad, Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic, noted that today the importance of cooperation at all levels, especially at public and humanitarian, is increasing in connection with global events. He thanked the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly for its contribution to strengthening cooperation between the countries of the world.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Angola to Russia Augusto da Silva Cunha, welcoming the participants of the plenary session, said that globally the whole world needs new tools to build the future. These instruments should be based on the principles of equality and mutual respect:
“The mechanism could be the international integration of peoples based on the principles of people's diplomacy. So we welcome the expansion of this dialogue and its emergence to a new level.”
Deputy Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee Ilkhom Nematov announced the Greeting of the Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee Sergey Lebedev. In particular, it noted that the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly has done a lot in a short time to develop a Greater Eurasian Partnership, support economic ties, develop cultural and humanitarian cooperation, and strengthen friendship between the peoples of the Eurasian countries.
"Joint projects implemented by the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, including today's International People's Diplomacy Forum, have confirmed their relevance and are platforms for joining efforts in enhancing integration processes within the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic Union," - the greeting says.
Oleg Kobyakov, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, focused on food security issues in his speech and stated that “FAO has developed a proposal for a Global Food Import Facility (FIFF) to help poorer countries cope with sharp price increases.”
“The complex nature of food security and nutrition challenges calls for increased synergy and coherence in policy formulation and implementation across all sectors, backed by more strategic investments. Our cooperation with the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly is just such an investment,” - he said.
Alexandra Ochirova, Co-Chair of the General Council of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, focused the attention of the meeting participants on the special role of science and culture, as well as the processes of building a “new world”:
“I think that science and culture cannot exist locally today. They have long acquired that universality that can be used in shaping the models of the world that should appear as a result of the current situation, because the liberal order and ideas about how the world should be are becoming a thing of the past - the idea of a unipolar world is becoming a thing of the past.”
Special attention at the plenary session was paid to work with youth. It was noted that within the forum, three panel sessions were in one way or another related to youth. One of their organizers was Ilya Lisnyak, Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Perm Territory, Chairman of the International Project Congress. He spoke about the results of the discussion platforms and announced new projects that were initiated and supported by representatives of different countries during the sessions. For example, such as the World Ocean Games, the creation of a Russian-Chinese media platform, the creation of sports federations independent of Western countries, and others.
It is important that a number of key statements were made during the forum and plenary session.
Thus, Sergey Glazyev, Minister for Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission, noted that a new world settlement currency may appear soon:
“I am convinced that in the coming years a new world settlement currency based on an international treaty will be introduced, international law will be restored. But this requires common efforts, including efforts in the field of public diplomacy, which brings together experts, scientists, entrepreneurs, citizens, all people who care about the fate of the world.”
Sergei Glazyev noted that a new world currency could appear thanks to the formation of broad international coalitions, and called for joint efforts to strive for this.
Chinese Ambassador Zhang Hanhui said that China, in the face of unprecedented international turbulence, is ready, together with Russia and other countries of Eurasia, to face common challenges for the benefit of the continent and the whole world. The ambassador noted that “individual forces” are pursuing an aggressive policy aimed at maintaining their “hegemonic position”, which has led to the fact that “there is a serious lack of peace, security and trust on the planet”, and global systems are facing new risks. According to the diplomat, in order to achieve their goals, the aggressive forces are imposing a “new cold war” on others, provoking a confrontation on the Eurasian continent.
During the plenary session, awards were given. The Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly Andrey Belyaninov presented the National Secretary of the Indian National Congress, member of the Supreme Advisory Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly Dalbir Singh with the Medal of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly "For Contribution to the Cause of Peace".
Antonio Fallico, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank Intesa, President of the Association “Know Eurasia”, was awarded the Eurasian Prize of National Recognition “Ambassador of Friendship”. Antonio Fallico thanked the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly for the award and invited the participants of the international forum to the XV Eurasian Economic Forum, which will be held on October 27-28 in Baku (Azerbaijan).
During the plenary session, speeches were made by the Co-Chairman of the Council of Elders of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, Director of the International Center for the Rapprochement of Cultures under the auspices of UNESCO in Almaty, People's Writer of Kazakhstan Olzhas Suleimenov; Head of the Department of Public Policy, Faculty of Political Science, Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, member of the Supreme Advisory Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly Vladimir Yakunin; President of Hoa Binh University (Vietnam) To Ngoc Hung and others.
At the end of the plenary session, Svetlana Smirnova recalled that the main mission of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly is the formation of the consciousness of a person of the third millennium. What should it be?
“This is a person based on spiritual and moral principles, a responsible person, a person who honors traditions and family values. It was these issues that were considered at the panel sessions of our International People's Diplomacy Forum,” said the First Deputy Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly.
In turn, the Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly Andrei Belyaninov thanked the forum participants for the formation of very important ideas, thoughts and meanings and their wide dissemination not only on the Eurasian continent, but throughout the world.
In general, the international forum and the plenary session showed that every year the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly develops more and more confidently as an international platform that affirms the ideology of peace, benevolent good neighborliness between countries and peoples.
Based on the materials of the forum and the plenary session, there will be the final document prepared and published.