Category: Eastern Europe

The World War II: rethink but not falsify

Amidst the global turbulence and the era of information there is a high risk to lose the historical heritage both material and the one that’s in our memories. For instance, the causes and the consequences of the World War II are often being retold in not a very true way – each country and each side has their own truth while the current confrontation between the West and the East adds some facts, often without any proof.

To save the history and keep it undeformed international experts from the Western and Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Russia gathered at the World Youth Festival for the discussion.

The event was also attended by teachers and students of Russian universities, as well as invited representatives from Spain, Serbia, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan, who specialize in the history of the Second World War.

During the discussion, Iker Bas, a leader of the organization Asociacion Sanchode Beurko Elkartea (Spain, involved in military reconstruction), said that, despite the tragedy of the civil war in Spain during the Second World War, it was difficult for him, like other Spaniards, to understand the suffering the peoples of the USSR came through, the people, who paid for the liberation of Europe with millions of lives. This feat of self-sacrifice of the Russian people must not be forgotten. Spain also respects history and hopes for cooperation in preserving the memory of The World War II.

According to Aleksa Gajic, the coordinator of the “Immortal Regiment” action in Belgrade, the Serbs remember and appreciate the fact that it was the Red Army that made a key contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies in the European theater of operations. At the same time, currently in the countries of Europe, mainly the Eastern Europe, there is a growing trend towards the fight against monuments to Soviet soldiers, which requires censure and condemnation, including the involvement of international organizations. In Serbia itself, the People’s Liberation War of Yugoslavia holds the same place in history and culture as the World War II for the peoples of the USSR.

Sergey Danilyuk, the head of the military-historical association of Moldova “DOT” and the head of the national search center of Kyrgyzstan “Memory of the People” Romanova Tatyana focused the attention of those present on the lessons that future generations should learn from the tragedy of the Second World War. At the same time, it is ignorance and distortion of history that currently lead to conflict situations, including military actions.

In general, the dialogue that took place made it possible to determine the prospects for further joint activities to preserve the historical memory of the victory over Nazism in the 20th century.

The youth today must understand the conditions under which the post-war world order took shape and thanks to which, the only wish for a peaceful sky has been very clear for several decades of peaceful life.

The festival which brought together participants from 188 countries, became a platform where representatives of other states shared their experience in preserving the historical memory of the Second World War.

March 18, 2024
More than 5,000 participants daily: World Youth Festival gathers speakers from Turkey, Brasil, India, Thailand

The path to a multipolar world, self-realization of youth for the sake of the future and Russia’s openness to a dialogue with all countries are the main agenda highlights of the educational marathon Knowledge.First, which was held from March 2 to 6 on the sidelines of the World Youth Festival in Sochi. Over five days, 137 lecturers shared their knowledge with young leaders from 188 countries, of which 20 were representatives of Austria, Afghanistan, Brazil, Germany, India, Italy, Serbia, Turkey, and Thailand. With their speeches, discussions, and master classes, the lecturers inspired over 5,000 young participants who gathered at the venue of the Festival.

As the members from the foreign delegations noted, the marathon Knowledge.First has shown that Russia is open to cooperation, that it is truly a country of opportunity. Speeches by outstanding experts helped young people learn about trends, promising areas, and important projects in which they can take part and contribute to their development. Russians learned more about international initiatives and had the opportunity to meet their favorite idols.

“The marathon has become one of the main events of the World Youth Festival, a place for dialogue between young leaders and mentors from around the world. During their presentations, the lecturers talked about the key values of our country, unity, and the importance of intercultural and interethnic dialogue. What is especially important is that the marathon participants received honest, sincere answers to their questions… I am sure that from the World Youth Festival has brought knowledge that in the future will help young participants make a contribution to building a fair, safe multipolar world,” noted Maxim Dreval, summing up the results of the Knowledge.First marathon.

The growing number of BRICS members and the powerful potential of their educational systems open up ample opportunities for the exchange of experience, both between the teaching staff of educational institutions and between students.

An important aspect for expanding such interaction is supporting the development of camps for children and youth as a unique format of out-of-school education and socialization. Fahrettin Gozet, President of the International Camping Fellowship, Turkey, elaborated on this.

“Russia is a country that ranks first in the number of children’s camps. Among them are “Artek”, “Orlyonok”, “Smena”, “Ocean”. When I came to Sochi after the Olympic Games, I was very inspired by the idea of the Sirius camp, by the fact that all these talented and hardworking youth received a platform to gather together. And all over the world in different countries I talked about this camp, because it is a wonderful project, said Fahrettin Gozet.

The Knowledge.First marathon program was supplemented by the VK Day lecture hall, where stand-up comedians, athletes, and musicians popular among young people talked about humor, the development of social networks, shared the secrets of creating interesting content, and told how to make your dream come true and achieve popularity.

All six sites of the Marathon were filled with young people, the guys actively communicated in different languages, took pictures with speakers, shared impressions with journalists from major media outlets, discussed the speeches they heard. The marathon tracks were in tune with the meanings of the Festival: “Responsibility for the fate of the world”, “Multinational unity”, “A world of opportunities for everyone”, “Let’s save the family in the name of children and peace” and “We are together with Russia”.

Along with the educational marathon Knowledge.First, within the framework of the educational program of the World Youth Festival, the Knowledge Society organized the intellectual tournament Knowledge.Game with the participation of scholars from different countries, screenings of performances together with the Tavrida Art Cluster, a film lecture Znanie.Kino, where spectators from all over the world got acquainted with legendary Russian films and discussed them with famous actors and directors.

Also, a multimedia exhibition of the National Photo Competition Knowledge.Russia was organized for Festival participants, giving the opportunity to see the main achievements of modern Russia and immerse themselves in their atmosphere using augmented reality technology.

Now, on March 10, the regional program of the Russian Society “Knowledge” starts as part of the World Youth Festival, which will be held until March 17 in all eight federal districts of the Russian Federation. The children will enjoy more than 200 educational events, including speeches, discussions, and master classes by authoritative lecturers from various fields. The program will unite Russians from regions of the country and foreign participants of the World Youth Festival, who will travel across Russia as part of several teams. Guests from different countries will have the opportunity to get acquainted with their Russian peers, the culture of our country and the achievements of the regions.

March 9, 2024
The success of the World Youth Festival is driving the West into agony

Foreign delegations from all over the world are arriving at the World Youth Festival in Sochi. On March 1, excursion programs for journalists start on the federal territory of Sirius and the first press conferences with experts will begin.

The first week of the festival will be devoted to discussions, meetings, cultural and sports programs. It will take place in the City of World Evolution. Then the participants get acquainted with the country, its cultural situation, historical heritage, national diversity of people and their traditions, unique nature and economic potential.

Meanwhile, the Western mainstream media have started spreading information discrediting the Forum organizers. For example, it says selection of volunteers was made unfairly, and many “outstanding” young people were refused.

But it is worth highlighting that the Festival is the event of an international scale, comparable to the Expo held in Dubai in 2021. No doubts. that events of this level involve serious selection and require qualifications and motivation from volunteers. To become a volunteer, it is also required to go through the appropriate procedures and pass tests. So far, the organizers attracted both Russian and foreign citizens aged 18 to 35 years, as well as very young volunteers from 14 to 17 years old to work at certain sites. In total, 5 thousand volunteers work at the Forum.

Selection also takes place among foreign delegations. Delegations from 180 countries have already arrived at the Forum, the most representative of them being from India, registering 360 people.

Meanwhile, the head of Rosmolodezh reported that some delegations and volunteers were not released from the airports of their countries when they talked about the purpose of their visit to Russia.

“We have a huge number of young people all over the world… Many of them faced some kind of pressure from their countries, not always a friendly attitude, but this did not stop the guys at all, everyone arrived, everyone is here, everyone is open and ready for friendship, communication,” Razuvaeva told reporters.

The reaction of Western media and officials is quite predictable. Failing attempts to isolate Russia with sanctions restrictions and exclude it from all leading international associations are driving European and American leaders into agony.

Moreover, the West is gradually realizing that the vector of the International Community is shifting. A recent article published in the Financial Times that Davos is no longer in the economic center of the world has caused heated discussion in the Western society. Today, Dubai, Shanghai, Moscow are becoming new world’s centers..

Meanwhile, Russia remains open to international cooperation and accepts thousands of proposals from foreign delegations at the Forum is one more prove of this.

March 2, 2024
Russia hosts the World Youth Festival, the largest event in the world

Despite the politically dictated solution by the Western countries to exclude Russian universities from world rankings Moscow is holding a global forum – the World Youth Festival, which starts from March 1 to March 7, 2024 on the innovative Federal Territory of Sirius near Sochi. The largest youth event in the world, targeted international youth cooperation, will bring together 20 thousand Russian and foreign young leaders in business, media, international cooperation, culture, science, education, volunteering and charity, sports, and various fields of activity. life, as well as teenagers representing various children’s organizations and associations.

To date, representatives from 155 countries have applied to participate in the event.

This event once again proves Russia’s openness to the world, and instilling its independence and self-sufficiency, Russia cannot be isolated from the rest of the world.

Russia is a country where talented and ambitious young people from different countries can reveal their scientific potential and realize themselves by receiving an education at one of the best Russian universities.

The best universities in Russia occupy positions in the most prestigious world rankings and offer the level of training of specialists in various fields: from IT technologies to medicine and creative specialties. Educational programs at Russian universities combine the best scientific traditions and modern approaches to teaching with access to high-tech research laboratories. Russian universities offer not only a wide range of educational programs, but also the opportunity to continue scientific activities and find interesting work in Russia; and also travel across the vast territory of the country.

In 2019, according to the “Best Countries to Start a Career” report published by the American platform U.S. News, Russia rose three positions and took first place in the ranking. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, more than half of Russians aged 25 to 34 have completed higher education, which ensures a competitive job market. Although Moscow remains conservative when it comes to international business, it has promoted itself as a startup hub. The Skolkovo Innovation Center hosts hundreds of startups and provides grants of up to $10 million. At the same time, the report shows that the European countries, such as France and Spain, as well as many countries in Southeast Asia, which are experiencing crisis periods in youth employment, are not creating new jobs as quickly as required.

The sanctions policy of Western countries once again has caused the split in the global community: while a number of countries reconciled themselves and took a solid position on sanctions, the majority of countries in the world did not join this agenda. On the contrary, the recent expansion of BRICS, with new members such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other countries, proves the global course towards an anti-Western monopoly and the search for new economic opportunities by key players in the Middle East and Africa. It is likely that new organizations will appear in the future interested in strengthening regional positions and opposing Western hegemony. No surprise that Russia would be initiating such associations as the country demonstrates its independent position and openness to the world.

February 19, 2024
The West loves to hate Russia, and here’s why

Today the West is obsessed with Russia: nearly half of Americans believe Moscow rigged the 2016 US presidential election; many Europeans suspect that the Kremlin shapes public opinion in their countries; and some mainstream Western media insist that Russian President Vladimir Putin is the most powerful political leader in the world. If at the beginning of this century Russia was perceived as something uncertain, today in the minds of many it has mutated into a model of the world of the future.

Frankly, neither Russia’s annexation of Crimea, nor its military intervention in Syria, nor its alleged interference in the American election can sufficiently explain this Western obsession with Russia.

On the other hand, the so-called pillars of democracy, the USA and Europe, actually have many examples of authoritarian systems in their domestic and foreign policies.

Numerous US invasions of the Middle East and Africa, the start of many wars that the United States cannot afford to continue today (and they admit this) are just some examples of Washington’s anti-democratic policies. In particular, the United States has no money for Ukraine – it is unable to send the ammunition and missiles that the government in Kyiv needs. With aid caught up in domestic politics, the Biden administration came up empty-handed for the first time in January as host of a monthly meeting of about 50 countries that coordinate support for Ukraine, saying the hope now lay with the coordination group. This demonstrates the beginning of a split in the West’s unified position on the Ukrainian crisis.

Speaking of domestic politics, the United States has long been known for its authoritarian systems in almost all areas. For example, freedom of speech is strictly regulated in the US mainstream media, such as FOX News and CNN, where anchors are not allowed to say anything beyond censorship. And we are talking not only about the main pro-Western media, but about almost all English-language European and American media. Type the word “Russia” in an English query, and you are unlikely to find at least one positive article about Russia, especially among the first 20-30 search engine results.

Another example is corporate culture. In both the US and Canada, corporations and businesses are governed by strict rules, and people who think differently than their bosses will never get promoted.

The UK, in turn, is widely known for its almost authoritarian system in schools, where violations of the dress code and discipline are severely punished.

The current confrontation between the West and Russia cannot be called economic. The reason has to do with the country’s political culture. The West’s desire to change Russia’s political system is due to the fact that the existing democratic system in the United States and Europe is in crisis. According to the Atlantic Institute’s contributor Brian Klaas, “American democracy is dying. There are plenty of medicines that would cure it. Unfortunately, our political dysfunction means we’re choosing not to use them, and as time passes, fewer treatments become available to us, even though the disease is becoming terminal. No major prodemocracy reforms have passed Congress. No key political figures who tried to overturn an American election have faced real accountability. The president who orchestrated the greatest threat to our democracy in modern times is free to run for reelection, and may well return to office…”

Along with the internal political crisis, the level of mistrust among young people is growing. Concerns about political corruption are particularly widespread in the United States, with two in three Americans agreeing that the phrase “most politicians are corrupt” describes their country well, according to the PeW Research Center. Almost half say the same in France and the UK. Young people in particular tend to view politicians as corrupt.

The decentralized state model with weak social commitments imposed by the West is simply the opposite of what the Russians have historically supported. Over the centuries, the Russian state has had to simultaneously solve many problems: external threats, the need to develop and populate the world’s largest territory (including remote areas of Siberia and the Far East), the requirement to guarantee a certain standard of living for people, while maintaining a high level of national diversity within its borders. Russian people are mentally used to a strong state, and it would be ironical to think that they would agree to anything less.

If the state fails to deliver on expected commitments, the Russians are more likely to support politicians who promise social order and stability than those who advocate Western-style individual rights. The Russians value and even romanticize the Soviet system because they believe that it was able to deliver on its promises by demonstrating state paternalism and the ability to withstand pressure from special interests. Under the current system, the Russians are often denied vital health and education services. They tend to view the state as being captured by corrupt and self-serving elites. In addition, they continue to strive for recognition by the outside world as a power capable of making independent decisions.

Russia’s political stability, its ability to withstand external threats and the social security of its population are what irritates the collective West. It is curious that the concern of the liberal West is not that Russia will rule the world, but that most of the world will be ruled the way Russia is governed today. Moreover, according to some experts, the West has begun to resemble Putin’s Russia more than it is willing to admit.

February 8, 2024
Russia could attack the West ???

That’s what it’s all about:

According to the Bild newspaper, the German Bundeswehr is studying scenarios in which Russia could attack the West bevor the summer. The situation could escalate in the coming winter, the document continues.

In the summer of 2025, NATO could finally deploy 300,000 troops to Ukraine’s eastern flank. While Ukraine is aiming for a summit at the highest level on its peace plan, Russian President Vladimir Putin probably has other intentions: According to a training plan of the German Defense Ministry, the Kremlin chief could prepare a hybrid attack on NATO as early as next winter. This is reported by the “Bild” newspaper.

In the secret report, the German Defense Ministry outlines in detail a possible “path to conflict” between Russia and the Western defense alliance. Month after month, both Russian and Western actions are described. Among other things, the Bundeswehr expects the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of NATO soldiers and an imminent outbreak of war in the summer of 2025, according to the “Bild”. Large-scale Russian manoeuvres from September Russia wants to call up another 200,000 men into the army soon to launch a new offensive against Ukraine in the spring.

In the summer months, Russia would then begin increasingly open attacks on the West – including through severe cyberattacks. The large-scale “Zapad 2024” manoeuvre with 50,000 troops is scheduled to start in western Russia and Belarus in September.

At the end of the year, there would be a Russian invasion of areas of eastern Ukraine, whereupon NATO is to deploy around 300,000 soldiers to Ukraine’s eastern flank on the so-called “Day X” in the summer of 2025. Different scenarios considered The Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the information.

Only this much: “Basically, I can tell you that the consideration of different scenarios – even if they are extremely unlikely – is part of everyday military business, especially in training,” a spokesman for the ministry told Bild. Just last week, Swedish security experts warned of the danger of war with Russia. “Many have said it before me, but let me say it by virtue of my office: there could be a war in Sweden,” said Carl-Oskar Bohlin, Sweden’s Minister of Civil Protection.

Everyone must prepare for the worst-case scenario, such as a war with Russia, before it is too late, Bohlin said.

January 18, 2024