MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. Russia expects new UNESCO Director General Khaled El-Enany to correct the numerous mistakes of his predecessor Audrey Azoulay, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"We expect that the new [UNESCO] head <…> will benefit from the trust bestowed upon him by the world majority and immediately start fixing the numerous mistakes of his predecessor," the top diplomat pointed out at the general meeting of the Russian Commission for UNESCO.

Lavrov praised El-Enany’s victory in the election for UNESCO director general as an "encouraging sign," recalling that during the campaign, the official advocated for reforming the organization by depoliticizing its activities. "n other words, he wants to undo the changes that the French [UNESCO] head, our Egyptian colleague’s predecessor, brought about," the Russian foreign minister explained.

"We welcome the new UNESCO head’s attitude toward strengthening the role of member states in managing the organization, as well as ensuring financial transparency and accountability," Lavrov concluded.