President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a pleasure to welcome you all to this presentation of letters of credence. Today marks the official commencement of your diplomatic missions in Russia. It is my sincere hope that your missions will be successful and that our bilateral ties, the relations between our countries, will develop as dynamically as possible.
International politics is at a very important stage in its development today and has reached a turning point. The latest session of the United Nations General Assembly demonstrated that the majority of countries see a clear need to build a new and fairer system of international relations, promote a healthy atmosphere in the world and achieve a greater level of global partnership. All of this is essential in order to respond to today’s challenges and vanquish the economic crisis that has affected the entire planet. We are all busy now with this big undertaking of addressing the global financial crisis’ consequences. Joint coordinated action has enabled the international community to obtain some promising results. The global economy is now starting to emerge from recession.
We agreed at the last summit in Pittsburgh in the United States to launch mechanisms for monitoring the global economy and our national economies and ensure stable credit markets. We hope that these measures will produce positive results.
Most countries today share the view that we need to take collective responsibility and look for collective solutions to the common challenges that we face, not only in the economy, but also in security, including settlement of regional conflicts, and in resolving the issues of food shortages and climate change. This also broadens our opportunities for bilateral trade and economic cooperation and for building up our humanitarian ties. I hope that you will contribute to these efforts over the course of your missions.
One of the big events in 2010 will be the sixty-fifth anniversary of victory in the Second World War. This is a special anniversary in Russia, where millions gave their lives for our common victory, leaving practically no Russian family spared by grief and loss. We greatly appreciate the fact that other countries preserve the memory of our fallen soldiers. To cite one recent example, in Slovakia, whose ambassador is here today, events were held to commemorate the sixty-fifth anniversary of the Carpathian-Duklinsky Operation, which marked the start of the country’s liberation. We thank our Slovakian colleagues for the respect they show for our fallen soldiers’ memory.
Speaking of our relations with the Republic of Slovakia, we have made progress in almost all different fields of cooperation over recent years. We are ready to continue our political dialogue and carry out joint economic and cultural projects.
We consider the Republic of Slovenia a promising partner. We will give particular attention to our big new projects, including in the energy sector. We also hope to broaden our humanitarian ties with Slovenia.
We are likewise working on expanding the ties between Russia and Belgium. Our plans include continued diversification of our bilateral trade and a stronger emphasis on joint scientific and technical projects.
We want to develop our cooperation with Malta, including on issues of guaranteeing security in the Mediterranean region.
We seek to build up our cooperation with Albania following a pragmatic approach that takes our interests into account. We see the dialogue between Russia and Albania as an important factor for stability in the Balkans.
The Bolivian president’s recent visit to Russia gave a big boost to the relations between our two countries, and we hope to make a common effort on intensifying trade and economic cooperation and work together in other sectors.
We see it as a priority to develop our relations with the Republic of Peru, one of our important partners in Latin America, including as regards coordinating issues on the international stage.
Our relations with Libya are on the rise. Over recent years, we have made considerable progress in many different sectors and our political dialogue has gained in substance. We have regular top-level contacts and are building up our economic cooperation. Our agenda today includes new joint investment projects and development of our humanitarian ties.
Russia and the Netherlands share a longstanding constructive partnership that has contributed to our economic growth and cultural enrichment over many centuries now and over recent years has become an important factor in European politics.
I have fond memories of my recent visit to the Netherlands. I am sure that our cooperation will continue to be substantial and productive.
Russia and New Zealand have friendly relations and it is in our common interest to activate our dialogue and exchange views on a broad range of international issues and build up our mutually beneficial trade, economic and humanitarian ties.
I congratulate you all on the start of your diplomatic missions. I hope that your time in Russia will be fruitful and interesting and will mark a stage in your diplomatic careers and your personal lives too. I hope that your Russian colleagues will provide you with all necessary help in carrying out the important missions vested in you.
I wish you all the very best.