The message reads, in part:
”I am pleased to greet the participants of your prestigious forum, which for the fourth time is bringing together prominent representatives of CIS intelligentsia.
Initiated by the public, your annual meetings have had a profound effect on the development of multilateral contacts in culture, science, education and other areas related to cultural and educational cooperation within the Commonwealth.
This year has been declared the Year of Youth in the CIS. Moldova is the hospitable host country of the forum and its focus this year is our younger generation. Contact between young people in the CIS has enormous practical benefits: it promotes not only their professional development but also better mutual understanding. It teaches mutual respect and reinforces the traditions of friendship that have built up over the years between our countries and peoples. In many ways it determines the future of our societies and the entire Commonwealth.
These days it is especially important to involve young people in new joint projects such as, for example, the Year of Science and Innovation in the CIS, which will take place as early as next year. And of course we need young people to actively participate in the celebrations of the 65th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
I am confident that this forum will once again be characterised by a lively and committed discussion of issues in the cultural and educational spheres. And the proposals and initiatives you come up with will make a tangible contribution to increasing mutual understanding between our peoples.“