St Petersburg University at the International Conference "Current Trends in Consular Activities in the New Geopolitical Environment"
As part of the activities of St Petersburg University within the Historical and Diplomatic Centre, more than 30 consuls from Russia and friendly nations have gathered in the General Staff Building of the Hermitage Museum to discuss diplomatic work in the new geopolitical environment. Speakers at the conference were Russian and foreign scholars, domestic and foreign diplomats.
‘St Petersburg has been announced as the capital of the Commonwealth of Independent States. This is a great honour and responsibility. St Petersburg is rightly considered the consular capital of Russia. Peter the Great created the diplomatic service by transforming the Ambassadorial Prikaz into the Collegium of Foreign Affairs. The authorities of the Northern Capital of Russia have always been active in international affairs, developing relations with many countries: today there are 68 consular missions operating in the city,’ said Alexander Beglov, Governor of St Petersburg, addressing the conference participants.
Speaking at the conference, Elena Chernova, Senior Vice-Rector of St Petersburg University, noted that the University educates about 5,000 international students. Today, St Petersburg University is not only an educational institution, but also a centre of expert activity, providing expert opinions on important issues in relations with other nations.
‘We are constantly running programmes that enable people living abroad to be taught in Russian. This is also our mission. There are 112 Russian language testing centres in 50 states, which serve the mission of popularising the Russian language. We have recently opened centres in Indonesia, Paraguay, Malaysia, Algeria, Kenya, and the Republic of South Africa. They help stimulate interest in the Russian language and culture, which can be studied freely from anywhere in the world. Today, we are implementing the programme of St Petersburg University representative offices, which helps to provide citizens of the countries where our representative offices are located with truthful information about Russia,’ explained Elena Chernova.
Today, about 1,500 students from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Algeria, Nigeria, and Tanzania are enrolled in Russian language courses at St Petersburg University. Among the students of the degree programmes at St Petersburg University, there are about 100 citizens from 23 countries of the African continent: Algeria, Egypt, Rwanda, and Tunisia to name just a few. Additionally, the number of students of the online courses of St Petersburg University has reached 27,000 people from 50 African countries.
Igor Demianenko, Deputy Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in St Petersburg and Director of the Historical and Diplomatic Centre at St Petersburg University, continued the work of the conference. He emphasised that despite the challenges facing current international relations, it is necessary to look for common themes. He explained that regardless of political and ideological confrontation these themes will become the basis for the cooperation, which should lead to the development of approaches to solving problems in joint activities.
‘Consuls deal with administrative and legal matters, when it is necessary to resolve issues of assistance to the respective citizens. The consular service also provides humanitarian and logistical assistance. It helps citizens who are detained in a foreign country. These aspects are common to all states, regardless of the chosen political vector,’ continued Igor Demianenko.
Vladimir Zapevalov, Representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry in St Petersburg, said that there are currently applications from a number of African countries to create the post of honorary consul.
I am confident that we will expand our consular corps to Africa and Latin America.
Vladimir Zapevalov, Representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in St Petersburg
According to Mr Zapevalov, the interest of African countries in expanding the consular representation of the Russian Federation is a trend that emerged even before the Russia−Africa summit. The forum only encouraged those countries that were not represented.
During the conference, a memorial plaque was unveiled. It will be installed on the wall of the State Hermitage Museum near the Pevchesky Bridge. The inscription on the plate reads: "From 1828 to 1917, this building housed the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire".
‘In the State Hermitage Museum, there are halls dedicated to the history of the Russian diplomacy. Now, another memorial plaque will be added to remind visitors that these walls once housed the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs and that great things happened within these walls,’ said Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum.
With the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a collection of the diplomatic documents was created especially for the conference. It will become part of the resources of the Historical and Diplomatic Centre and will remain at the University.
The conference was organised by the representative office of the Russian Foreign Ministry in St Petersburg, the State Hermitage Museum, and St Petersburg University.