The Public Chamber told how to improve Russia’s image abroad.
March 26, 2015 in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation discussed the issues of Eastern European humanitarian cooperation at the present stage.
«This topic does not lose its relevance and is only gaining momentum in the current tense situation in the international arena, which I personally consider absolutely unacceptable,» said Sergey Ordzhonikidze, Deputy Secretary of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
In this regard, he invited the participants to develop specific proposals for the use of humanitarian cooperation in order to overcome the trust deficit in Russia in many countries of Eastern Europe.
«A full and complete dialogue between us is conditioned by common history, traditional Christian values, centuries-old cultural ties and, finally, common linguistic roots and territorial proximity,» Ordzhonikidze stressed.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Alexander Konuzin noted that humanitarian cooperation between Russia and Eastern Europe has «rolled back» over the past five years for a variety of political and economic reasons.
Participants in the hearings noted that this negative trend is largely due to the fact that Russia’s image abroad leaves much to be desired — including because of Western Russophobic propaganda.
Alexander Alekseev, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s ambassador-at-large, said that «we have to show Russia for what it really is.»
«Uninformed people abroad cannot understand that Russia is not only an accordion and balalaika,» Alekseyev continued. — So we need to present the humanitarian and technological spheres of our country in their full richness.»
Lidia Diachenko from Rossotrudnichestvo told that this federal agency is represented in many countries of Eastern Europe and works together with different foundations and public organizations, which have the task to improve the image of Russia in these countries.
At the event it was stressed that the further integration of Russia into the world cultural process and the strengthening of its positive image abroad is especially necessary in conditions of sanctions.
Thus, according to the participants of the round table, to turn the negative image of Russia into a positive one it is necessary to develop and use modern information technologies, to cooperate more actively with reputable international organizations, to conduct activities aimed at promoting the achievements of Russian culture and traditional cultures of Russia and so on.
Press Service of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation