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Petersburg Dialogue annual session to be held in Kassel

The Russian delegation at the session is headed by Viktor Zubkov

Chairpersons of the Petersburg Dialogue Lothar de Maiziere (L) for Germany and Viktor Zubkov for Russia EPA/HENDRIK SCHMIDT

Chairpersons of the Petersburg Dialogue Lothar de Maiziere (L) for Germany and Viktor Zubkov for Russia

© EPA/HENDRIK SCHMIDT

KASSEL, December 04. /ITAR-TASS/. "Social and Political Rights as an Earnest of Free Society" is the theme of the 13th annual plenary session of the Petersburg Dialogue, which opens in Kassel (the Federal Land of Hesse) on Wednesday. This year, this annual session of the authoritative non-governmental association has drawn about 300 participants from Russia and Germany.

They will discuss topical matters concerning present-day development, and the activities of the non-governmental organizations of the two countries. Discussions will be held in the following eight working groups: "Politics", "Economics", "The Media", "Civil Society", "Education and Science", "Culture", "Workshop of the Future", and "Churches in Europe".

The Russian delegation at the session is headed by Viktor Zubkov, chairman of the forum's Coordinating Committee, who superceded Mikhail Gorbachev at the post. On the German side, the Council is chaired by Lothar de Maiziere, the last Prime Minister of the former German Democratic Republic.

The winners of the Bonisch Prize will also become known at the session on Wednesday. The Prize is presented to Russian and German journalists for materials dedicated to various aspects of bilateral interaction. The award is named in honor of Peter Bonish, the first Co-Chairman of the Petersburg Dialogue on the German side, the patriarch of German journalism, who died in 2005.

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