Mass-media publications„We want to be equal”Russia - President of the Russian Railways Vladimir Jakunin in an interview with “The COURIER” Vladimir Jakunin is fifth in the Russian hierarchy. President of the Russian Railways has 1.3 million staff and has known the President as well as the Prime-Minister well, for a long time. He gave the following interview to “The COURIER”: C: The Moscow stock market went down by 70%, the oil price is relatively low. What does this mean for Russia? WJ: Russia, which has always been a part of the global economy, is obviously affected by the world crisis. The budget was calculated based on no fewer than 70 U.S. dollars (oil price). That does not mean that everything collapses if the price has gone down, only our reserves are getting smaller.
C: Prime-Minister Putin and President Medvedev intended to invest billions into the infrastructure. Will they be able to do so? WJ: We were not developed to such an extent, but we have more tools to influence the economy. The government has the necessary reserves and the power. C: Medvedev has no profile in the West, Putin has a rather bad image. Why? WJ: This is a psychological effect, which has its roots in the history of the ideologies of the two societies, the Western and the Russian. C: Medvedev didn’t mention the name of the U.S. President elect in his speech, but he did mention that missiles would be stationed in Kaliningrad. This was perceived in the West as a threat. Can you understand that? WJ: Yes, I can, but it was not meant this way. Russia has opened up as a state, as a society and asked the West not to insult it by a lack of understanding, for example through the warning system in Poland and the Czech Republic. But we have not been heard in Europe. Partly because Europe stays under strong U.S. influence, but also because deep inside the European society is still afraid of facing a strong Russia. C: Do we misunderstand the Russian psyche? WJ: I think, you do. Russians misunderstand some steps in the West, too. C: Does Moscow misunderstand the EU, which operates with compromises and not with violence? WJ: These are not compromises which offend Russia, but the double standards. For instance, in Georgia. We did not want this war, because we knew it would damage our image. But if we had not reacted, this would have been the end of any respect towards us in the region. C: Moscow's recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia hurt its own foreign policy and fixed double standards, after Moscow's attitude towards Kosovo. WJ: We had warned the world that we had the same problems in the region as in the Balkans. We requested that the world system should not be destroyed. But who listened to us? Nobody! There is a serious disease in the communication. Courier: How does the pairing Putin-Medvedev function, who is the boss? WJ: For a long time the Prime-Minister was only an executive, now we have a genuine leader. A strong government is good for Russia. C: Medvedev is just a friendlier face of Putinism, as the West thinks? WJ: Both are faces of Russia, children of the same system, the same history. One - with specific experience (KGB, by author), the other - a pure representative of civil society. Perhaps, this was the best decision in Russia's history. C: Some prefer to believe that Putin is the face of the Russian society, because Russians prefer that their country is feared and not loved. WJ: Russians do not care, whether they are loved or feared. They want to be equal, be understood. They do not want anyone to exert pressure on them. And they do not want to be insulted. Dialogue of Cultures AWARD FOR CHANCELLOR GUSENBAUER
In 2002, Vladimir Jakunin, who comes from St. Petersburg and is President of the Russian Railways, founded together with the former Indian industrialist Jagdish Kapur and the U.S.-Greek Nicholas Papanikolaou the "World Public Forum - Dialogue of Civilizations". The goal is a better understanding of different societies and the fight against intolerance.
It was under the patronage of UNESCO that high-ranking personalities discussed the current socio-cultural problems in the world at the Vienna Hofburg Palace on Monday. The opening speaker was Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer. He also received this (that) year prize "Dialogue of Civilizations" for his "readiness to enter into dialogue, e.g. by coming together with public organizations, NGOs, scientists and artists of different origins".
h3. ALFRED GUSENBAUER ERHÄLT INTERNATIONALEN PREIS "DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS"
ÖSTERREICH JOURNAL(http://oe-journal.at)
Die hohe Auszeichnung wurde dem österreichischen Bundeskanzler am 10.11. in der Wiener Hofburg im Rahmen eines High-Level Meetings vom World Public Forum verliehen
Wien (comm:unications) - Im Rahmen eines High-Level Meetings des World Public Forum - Dialogue of Civilizations, das am 10.11. unter der Patronanz der UNESCO im großen Redoutensaal der Wiener Hofburg im Beisein von 100 internationalen Persönlichkeiten aus Wirtschaft, Kultur und Politik stattfand, wurde der österreichische Bundeskanzler für seine Bemühungen geehrt, den Dialog zwischen unterschiedlichen Kulturen zu fördern und diesen mit Verständnis, Respekt und Offenheit zu begegnen. Überreicht wurde die hohe Auszeichnung von Vladimir Yakunin, dem Präsidenten des World Public Forums. Yakunin begründete die Entscheidung der Jury wie folgt: "Alfred Gusenbauer ist eine Persönlichkeit mit großem europäischen und internationalem Potenzial. Sein Denken und seine Erfahrung tragen dazu bei, ein Europäisches Projekt des 21. Jahrhunderts zu etablieren." Auch die ständige Dialogbereitschaft Gusenbauers, etwa durch das Zusammentreffen mit zahlreichen Vertretern öffentlicher Organisationen, NGOs, Wissenschaftern und Künstlern unterschiedlicher Provenience, hob Yakunin hervor. Darüber hinaus verwies der WPF-Präsident auf das kürzlich stattgefundene Rhodos-Forum 2008, wo Alfred Gusenbauer mit seinen Vortrag, in welchem er den Dialog der Kulturen in direkten Zusammenhang mit den größten Problemen für eine weltweite Entwicklung brachte, für Standing Ovations sorgte. Weitere prominente Preisträger des Awards "Dialogue of Civilizations" sind u.a. König Abdullah der II. von Jordanien, der litauische Präsident Valdas Adamkus, sowie UNESCO-Generaldirektor Koitiro Matsuura. World Public Forum Das World Public Forum wurde 2002 von Vladimir Yakunin (Präsident der Russischen Eisenbahnen) gemeinsam mit seinen nunmehrigen Stellvertretern Jagdish Kapur (Philantrop und ehemaliger Industrieller aus Indien) sowie Nicholas Papanikolaou (Präsident der Titan Finance Cooperation, Griechenland/USA) gegründet. Leiter des internationalen Koordinationskomitees ist Walter Schwimmer (ehemaliger Generalsekretär des Europarates), Generalsekretär ist der Kosmonaut Oleg Atkov. Ziel der internationalen und unabhängigen Vereinigung ist es, durch nachhaltigen Dialog die weltweite Zusammenarbeit sowie gegenseitiges Verständnis und Respekt für geistige und kulturelle Werte unterschiedlicher Kulturen und Zivilisationen zu fördern. "Weltumspannender Dialog für unsere Zukunft"
www.presseportal.de
Wien (OTS) - Unter UNESCO-Patronanz fand heute in der Wiener
Hofburg ein Experten-Meeting des World Public Forums, WPF, statt.
Bundeskanzler Alfred Gusenbauer und WPF-Präsident Vladimir Yakunin
sowie international führende Intellektuelle aus Wirtschaft, Politik,
Religion und Wissenschaft diskutierten über die Herausforderungen des
21. Jahrhunderts. Das High-Level Meeting der internationalen NGO World Public Forum
Dialogue of Civilizations fand am 10. November unter der Patronanz
der UNESCO im großen Redoutensaal der Wiener Hofburg statt.
Diskussionsimpulse lieferten neben Alfred Gusenbauer, dem
WPF-Präsidenten Vladimir Yakunin und dem WPF-Vorsitzenden Jagdish
Kapur, Fred Dallmayr, Politikwissenschafter an der University of
Notre Dame, Craig Calhoun, Soziologe an der New York University,
Katerina Stenou, UNESCO Direktorin für Interkulturellen Dialog,
Botschafter Babacar von der Organisation der Islamischen Konferenz,
sowie Kamran Mofid, Gründer der Globalization for the Common Good
Initiative. Neue Konzepte für eine globale Entwicklung
Eine moderne Gesellschaft muss auf positiven, lebensbejahenden Werten
basieren, in denen Menschenrechte respektiert und garantiert werden,
hob Alfred Gusenbauer in seiner Begrüßungsrede hervor. Um den größten
Herausforderungen des 21. Jahrhunderts - Armut, Krankheit,
Terrorismus, atomare Gefahr und Klimawandel - müssen neue
Partnerschaften aufgebaut werden. "Die Antwort auf die Probleme
unserer Welt muss ein Gemeinschafts¬projekt für alle sein", so der
Bundeskanzler, der im Rahmen der Veranstaltung zu einem "Dialog der
Hoffnung" aufrief. WPF-Präsident Vladimir Yakunin brachte die Ziele
der weltumspannenden, unabhängigen, und in Wien ansässigen
Vereinigung auf den Punkt: "Wir brauchen neue Konzepte und Lösungen
für eine globale Entwicklung. Statt Intoleranz und Aggression, die
die Menschheit ins Verderben führen, brauchen wir einen globalen,
öffentlichen Dialog, um den Herausforderungen der Weltentwicklung
begegnen zu können". Award "Dialogue of Civilizations"
Höhepunkt der Tagung war die Verleihung des Preises "Dialogue of
Civilizations". Die hohe Auszeichnung ging an den österreichischen
Bundeskanzler Alfred Gusenbauer. In der Vergangenheit wurden u.a.
König Abdullah der II. von Jordanien, der litauische Präsident Valdas
Adamkus, sowie UNESCO-Generaldirektor Koitiro Matsuura, für die
Förderung von Dialog und Zusammenarbeit ausgezeichnet. Weltweite Prominenz
Unter den rund 100 Gästen des hochkarätigen Welt-Meetings waren u. a.
Repräsentanten von den Vereinten Nationen und der Arabischen Liga
sowie Vertreter aus Italien, Griechenland, den Niederlanden, der
Türkei, der Tschechischen Republik, Frankreich, Österreich, Russland,
Singapur und Indien, die sich für den interkulturellen Dialog stark
machen. World Public Forum
Das World Public Forum wurde 2002 von Vladimir Yakunin (Präsident der
Russischen Eisenbahnen) gemeinsam mit seinen nunmehrigen
Stellvertretern Jagdish Kapur (Philantrop und ehemaliger
Industrieller aus Indien) sowie Nicholas Papanikolaou (Präsident der
Titan Finance Cooperation, Griechenland/USA) gegründet. Leiter des
internationalen Koordinationskomitees ist Walter Schwimmer
(ehemaliger Generalsekretär des Europarates), Generalsekretär ist der
Kosmonaut Oleg Atkov. Ziel der internationalen und unabhängigen
Vereinigung ist es, durch nachhaltigen Dialog die weltweite
Zusammenarbeit sowie gegenseitiges Verständnis und Respekt für
geistige und kulturelle Werte unterschiedlicher Kulturen und
Zivilisationen zu fördern und damit den Herausforderungen der Zukunft
zu begegnen. www.dialogueofcivilizations.org INTERNATIONAL AWARD "DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS" Award-Ceremony and Press-Conference with Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer & WPF-President Vladimir Yakunin
www.ots.at
Wien (OTS) -
Monday, November 10th, 2008
Hofburg, Kleiner Redoutensaal, Entrance Josefsplatz
3.30 pm: Award-Ceremony
4.30 - 5.00 pm: Press-Conference
The World Public Forum (WPF) "Dialogue of Civilizations" is
hosting a high level meeting of experts to discuss the most pressing
socio-cultural problems facing the world today in the Vienna Hofburg.
The conference is held under the patronage of UNESCO, and will be
attended by experts, renowned politicians and public figures from
around the world.
The Program of the Summit also includes the presentation of the
International Prize of the WPF "Dialogue of Civilizations" to a new
laureate. This Prize is awarded for outstanding achievements in
promoting a dialogue of cultures in the world, for creating efficient
and democratic instruments to resolve global problems at an
international level, for carrying out evolutionary changes in the
structure of contemporary society, for all-round development of the
potential of an inter-confessional dialogue and peaceful cooperation
among peoples, as well as for major contributions to the culture and
development of society. In your capacity as media representative, you are warmly invited
to attend the award ceremony, the reception and the subsequent press
conference with high-ranking representatives of the World Public
Forum as WPF-President Vladimir Yakunin, the Austrian Chancellor
Alfred Gusenbauer, as well as the highly acclaimed American
sociologist, Craig Calhoun, Oxford University. We are looking forward to your attendance! In Vienna, experts of the Forum “Dialogue of Civilizations” are to discuss ways of getting out of the global financial crisis
Moscow. November 10. INTERFAX
High-level experts, public dignitaries and representatives of international organizations are to discuss pressing socio-cultural problems of world development at the Hofburg Palace (Vienna) on Monday, the World Public Forum “Dialogue of Civilizations” has informed “Interfax.” “The WPF is prepared to take upon itself the function of public coordinator in the process of elaborating and launching international legal mechanisms that would allow us to create a new socially oriented model of the global economy,” the news agency’s spokesman reports. Among other issues, the participants of the meeting shall discuss ecological security in the conditions of unbridled industrial growth and climate changes, providing “third world” countries with food, problems of terrorism and shall try to elaborate general ways of resolving them on the basis of a dialogue model. The meeting is being held under the patronage of UNESCO, the decision for which was made a few days ago by the Director-General of that Organization, Koichiro Matsuura. The participants in the Vienna meeting are expected to address the question of building a closer partnership between the WPF and UNESCO. Besides that, the Federal Chancellor of Austria, Dr. Alfred Gusenbauer, will participate in the working sessions of the meeting. The International Prize of the Forum of “Dialogue of Civilizations” shall be awarded to a new laureate during the meeting. The Prize is awarded for achievements in promoting the culture of a dialogue, for creating effective instruments to resolve global problems and for developing an inter-religious dialogue and cooperation among peoples. Earlier, this Prize was awarded to King Abdullah II of Jordan, the President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Salem, the ex-prime minister of India Kumar Gujral, the President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus, the ex-president of Iran Mohammad Khatami and the UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura The World Public Forum is an international, independent, consultative body consisting of members of public and governmental structures, representatives of the clergy, intellectual, cultural, business and political elite of different countries, bearers of different cultural traditions who are united by a desire to make a contribution to the dialogue of civilizations. The Dialogue of Civilizations forum in Greece to have over 400 participants
Source: Interfax religion
More than 400 politicians, public dignitaries, representatives of religious circles and creative intellectuals, journalists will gather from the 9th to the 13th of October this year on the Greek Island of Rhodes to participate in the VI annual session of the World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations. The main topic for discussion is as follows: "The dialogue community as a model of contemporary development." In one way or another, this subject will come up in the reports presented by participants in the discussions within the framework of nine panels and roundtables of the Forum: religious, political, economics, legal, education and migration. "In view of certain recent events this year's Rhodes Forum is destined to become the first major public platform in the international calendar that is opening up in conditions of an onset of a sharp global cooling. It is clear that here we are not talking about the weather: the world climate is, as many claim, on the contrary, in the stage of warming. And the potential of dialogue and cooperation among countries, cultures and civilizations these days is passing through a severe stamina test", the organizers of the Forum note. By their opinion, the recent events in the Caucasus, the renewed activation of Muslim extremism, including the terrorist acts in Turkey and Pakistan, "shall also be a stamina test for the dialogue of civilizations, while for the organizers and main participants in the dialogue this is seen as a test of their loyalty and faithfulness to their convictions and philosophical principles". There will be presentations of new books, including the book by the WPF President Vladimir Yakunin Dialogue of Civilizations in the contemporary epoch in Rhodes. The organizers of the Forum have devoted particular attention to the presentation of a special Russian language publication by the influential Italian Catholic journal 30 Giorni, the editor-in-chief of which is ex-premier of Italy Julio Andreotti. It is expected that at the Forum most interesting presentations will be made by such eminent and prestigious experts as Jacques Sapir (Professor of Economics with the Higher Education School in the area of social sciences, France), Jack Goldstone (Professor with the Public Politics School at the George Mason University, USA), Lee Seen (Professor, Shanghai University, PRC), Indian Professor of Law, Yogesh Tyagi, and many others. “Dialogue of Civilizations” opens on Rhodes
The Voice of Russia (www.ruvr.ru)
09.10.2008 The global economy and financial system problems will feature prominently at the 6th world public forum, “Dialogue of Civilizations”, which has opened on Rhodes, Greece, today. The international conference, taking part in which are more than 600 representatives from a dozen countries, will work till October 13th and will end in the adoption of a general resolution. As the forum’s president Vladimir Yakunin said, the American version of the financial market that was for many years supported by many countries has proved unreliable today. That is why it is necessary to find a new economic model that would be far more stable and that would meet all the parameters of the modern world. Yakunin also said that many counties, including Russia, had already begun to think about an alternative. Vladimir Yakunin says that by the well-established tradition, other urgent issues that are of great importance for the modern world will also be discussed at the Rhodes forum.
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