Ceremony awarding state decorations to foreign citizens who have made a great contribution to building friendship and cooperation with Russia was held in the Kremlin 2009-11-04 16:00:40 Moscow Speaking at a reception at the Kremlin marking the Day of National Unity, Dmitry Medvedev thanked the recipients of state decorations, calling them true enthusiasts who make efforts at the highest level to support interest in Russian culture and history, promote the study of Russian, and preserve the integrity and diversity of the unique Russian world that unites all Russians, wherever they may be, and all friends of Russia around the world. Recipients of Russian state decorations: Order of Honour Helene Carrere d’Encausse – permanent secretary of the Academie Francaise Order of Friendship Michael George Charles Franklin Windsor, Prince of Kent – second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II of Britain Kassa Gebre Hiwot – former Ethiopian ambassador to the Russian Federation Sergei Kivalov – chairman of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on Justice, Ukraine Georgy Kryuchkov – executive secretary of public political organisation Ukrainian Forum, Ukraine Hermann Parzinger – president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Germany Maya Romenets de Rios – trustee and director of Maxim Gorky School, Republic of Peru Sergei Tsekov – deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine Mikhail Shemyakin – member of the New York Academy of Sciences Pushkin Medal Isa Naya Bakori – Russian language teacher at Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Federal Republic of Nigeria Mir Sahib Jan Nawab-han Kuchai – head of the Russian language department at Kabul State University, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan