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Austria remembers Soviet soldiers who died liberating country from Nazism, says president

Alexander Van der Bellen pointed out that 100,000 Soviet soldiers had been killed

VIENNA, May 13. /TASS/. All Austrians remembers Soviet soldiers who lost their lives while liberating their country from Nazism, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said in an exclusive interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman in the run-up to the first Sochi Dialogue Russian-Austrian forum scheduled for May 15.

"Everyone in Austria is aware of the sacrifices made by Russian soldiers at that time," the president said, adding that "a magnificent monument [to Soviet soldiers who liberated the country] on Schwarzenbergplatz [Square] in Vienna is a reminder of that." Alexander Van der Bellen pointed out that "100,000 Soviet and 10,000 American soldiers had been killed" while liberating Austria from National Socialism and that "both countries had made a substantial contribution to Austria’s liberation."

During a meeting in Vienna in June 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Austrian counterpart Alexander Van der Bellen agreed to facilitate the realization of plans aimed at establishing the Sochi Dialogue public forum, which should become a platform for informal cooperation between Russian and Austrian civil societies.

On March 12, 2019, Russian and Austrian Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and Karin Kneissl signed a statement in Moscow on setting up the Sochi Dialogue forum.

The forum is co-chaired by Russian Presidential Aide Andrei Fursenko and Christoph Leitl, former head of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and current President of the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

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