Putin to attend World Congress of Russian Compatriots
MOSCOW. Nov 5 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to participate in the 5th World Congress of Russian Compatriots living abroad on Thursday, the Kremlin press service has reported.
The event, which will take place in Moscow, will be attended by some 400 representatives of Russian communities from 97 countries.
In its work, the World Congress of Russian Compatriots seeks to consolidate ethnic Russians living abroad, protect their rights and legitimate interests, bolster their ties with their historical homeland, and safeguard cultural heritage and the Russian language abroad.
The Russian community is among the world's fourth largest ethnic communities and has approximately 30 million people.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, for its part, said that the congress, due to be held in Moscow on November 5-6, will be dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
"The main objective of the event is to comprehensively analyze the results of the three-year work accomplished by organizations of compatriots at all levels, including the World Coordination Council, outline further avenues and directions for bolstering the activities of Russian communities abroad, as well as assess the effectiveness [of efforts] to protect the rights and legal interests of compatriots," it said.
The event will also help assess the role and the influence of ethnic Russian communities in foreign countries, as well as address options to bolster the positions of the Russian language and Russian culture, and ways to broaden ties between ethnic Russian communities abroad with their historical homeland.
In addition to that, the congress is expected to see a ceremony to present some ethnic Russians living abroad with Compatriots' Badges of Honor and honorary diplomas of the Russian government's commission for ethnic Russians living abroad. A final resolution will also be adopted at the end of the congress.