MOSCOW, November 14. /TASS/. Russia welcomes the new UNESCO leadership and is ready to offer all-round support for their work, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Earlier, member states of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved Egyptian politician and professor of Egyptology Khaled El-Enany as director general of the organization.

"We welcome the choice of the General Conference and support the course announced by the new director general of this structure," Zakharova said. "Our country is ready to offer all possible support for the new leadership of the organization in addressing the imbalance and getting rid of politicized topics he has inherited from his predecessor, who literally added a touch of destruction to UNESCO’s activity and, not to beat a dead horse, marred this structure with her presence."

Khaled El-Enany was elected UNESCO Director General by 172 votes at the 43rd General Conference of the organization in Samarkand. He replaced Audrey Azoulay of France, who had served as UNESCO chief since 2017.

El-Enany, 54, is a Professor of Egyptology at Helwan University, where he has been a faculty member for over 30 years. He holds a PhD in Egyptology from Paul-Valery Montpellier 3 University (France). He was director of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (2014-2016) and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (2015-2016). In 2016-2022, he served as Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities and then Minister of Tourism and Antiquities.