BRUSSELS, May 26. / TASS /. The third Russia-EU Expert Forum "European Meridian XXI" opened in Brussels on Wednesday in a hybrid format, while experts discussed some political and social aftermath of COVID-19 and exchanged views on joint steps for overcoming them.

The Russian House in Brussels, the Russian Embassy in Belgium as well as the country's Permanent Mission to the EU held the event. The main discussion took place on the Russian House online platform.

"Change is the keyword describing the modern period of development. There is an opinion that the difficult and unpleasant events which we have experienced over the past months due to COVID-19 can accelerate these changes," Russian Ambassador to Belgium Alexander Tokovinin stated while opening the forum. The diplomat also emphasized that "in an era of changes, old trends and developments had lost their significance, therefore the expert community's task was to catch the most promising new ideas and help people involved in the decision-making process to take them into account." "Such work definitely can best be done jointly, on the basis of cooperation between pundits and experts of different countries," the envoy noted.

Head of the Russian House in Brussels Vera Bunina stated that the European Meridian XXI was the only real platform here for an informal expert dialogue between engaged specialists from Russia and the EU countries. "Taking place in the European capital for the third time, the forum actually proved that the pandemic was not an obstacle to international cooperation," she stressed.

Experts from the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Europe, the Russian International Affairs Council, the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations as well as the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) and other expert centers of the EU countries took part in the debate. Russia in Global Affairs magazine was the partner of the event. The online forum is available to participants from all over the world after registration and is broadcast live.

At the end of the forum, speeches will be published, which contain some specific recommendations for building mutually beneficial relations between Russia and the EU.

European Meridian XXI, created in 2019 by the Russian House in Brussels, is held annually online or offline in the Belgian capital, bringing together hundreds of experts and participants.