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Russia, Germany to talk role of youth public organisations in broader ties

The forum which will be held on December 14 to 17 will focus on the role of young people from Russia and Germany in building trust in an epoch of transformations

SOCHI, December 14. /TASS/. The Petersburg Dialogue youth forum will open with a legal debate on international law and challenges of the twenty-first century in Russia’s Black Sea resort city of Sochi on Sunday.

The forum which will be held on December 14 to 17 will focus on the role of young people from Russia and Germany in building trust in an epoch of transformations, the Russian secretariat of the forum told TASS.

Politicians, scientists, cultural personalities and media people from Germany and Russia will participate in round-table meetings and discussions. Deputy chairman of German-Russian public forum board Wilfried Bergmann is expected to deliver a speech at the forum from Germany, professor of the faculty of international relations at St. Petersburg State University Stanislav Tkachenko and dean of the faculty of international journalism at Moscow State University of International Relations Yaroslav Skvortsov will lay out Russia’s position on the issues of international law.

On December 15, a meeting will be held with former German minister and member of the coordinating committee of the Petersburg Dialogue forum Manfred Stolpe and chairman of the German-Russian forum presidium Matthias Platzeck. The forum programme also includes meetings of workgroups on science and education as well as media.

The Petersburg Dialogue forum was set up in 2001 at the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the then German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in order to establish long-term, open exchange of opinions between politicians, scientists and cultural figures, businesspeople and representatives of public society of the two countries.

The public forum is held annually, in Russia and Germany by turn simultaneously with interstate consultations between Russia and Germany. This year the Petersburg Dialogue forum was expected to be held in Sochi on October 29-31, but Germany said the country would not participate in the event “due to a deteriorating political situation.”.

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