A New Year reception for foreign journalists was held in the Cultural Center of GlavUpDK

On January 15 a New Year reception for foreign journalists accredited in Moscow was held on the behalf of Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs S.V. Lavrov. Following the tradition representatives of mass media gathered in the Cultural Center of GlavUpDK at the beginning of the year to communicate in the informal atmosphere with executives of the Russian foreign policy department and their colleagues from other countries.

Addressing the journalist corps Mr. Lavrov noted that the year of 2007 was very rich in various events both in and outside Russia. Briefly summarizing the position of Russia on such actual international issues such as situation in CIS countries, euro-atlantic security, ties expansion with new centers of the developing world the Minister said: ‘In Russia those are respected who always try to be on the side of truth and justice. This is the way we try to behave on the international scene. We consider it our responsibility to contribute to creation of the world that will realize indivisibility of security and development and will provide access to the advantages of globalization to all countries’. In conclusion Mr. Lavrov congratulated the correspondents on the New Year and Christmas and expressed his hope that for those who work in Moscow Russia is no longer a “mystery”. He marked that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is always open for comments and information for both Russian and foreign journalists.

Adib Al’ Sayed, President of the Association of foreign correspondents thanked the Minister for holding such soirees that contribute to strengthening ties between the Association, the MFA press and information department and GlavUpDK.

The soiree continued with a reception and a raffle. The prizes were provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, GlavUpDK and the Association of foreign correspondents.