The Russian broadsheet “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” has published an article about the reunion of MGIMO graduates which took place in Baku. The newspaper stressed that the idea behind the reunion was not purely to recall the alma-mater, Moscow, and youthful studies – but also to give thought to ways of uniting business and politics for the economic benefit of nations. Thus the conference had the symbolic title “Together Into The Future”.

The author of the RG article writes: “More than 400 people from twenty-five countries gathered in Baku, to mull over important issues – education, the foundation of a system of values, the development and convergence of civilisations, the energy and environmental aspects of a global economy on the path to sustainable developments.. and also issues connected to the role of civic institutions, particularly the media community and business, in an international context”.

In the author’s view, many of those who attended the conference now hold senior governmental positions, and this lent a special importance to the event. Among these were Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky; Special Envoy of the Russian President to the SNG Countries. Member of the Board of Trustees of MGIMO and Chairman of Russotrudnichestvo Konstantin Kosachev; Vice-Premier of Ukraine Konstantin Grishenko; Slovakian Vice-Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs Miroslav Lajček; Moldavian Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration Yuri Lyanke; Chief of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kirghizia Erlan Abdyldaev; Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam Nguen Font Nga; Special Representive of the UN General Secretary in Afghanistan Jan Kubish, and many others.

The newspaper went on to write: “The Baku Forum was organised on the initiative and with the active participation of the President of Azerbaijan, Mr Ilham Aliyev, himself a graduate of MGIMO in the Class of 1982. Mr Aliyev gave fifteen years of his life to MGIMO – at first as a student, and subsequently as a member of the teaching staff.  “The atmosphere here reminds us of the atmosphere at MGIMO” said the Azerbaijan President in his opening address. “It’s an atmosphere we well recall, and can never forget. The lessons I learned at MGIMO remain with me and aid me to this day. Those traditions of higher education have been passed on to my family. I am glad that my daughter Leyla also received her education at MGIMO”.

“We remain faithful to our own origins, but we also hold a deep respect for world culture. In our country Russian culture is greatly loved, as is Russian literature, and Russian language remains taught as it ever was” said Mrs Leyla Aliyeva, the Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, and President of the Association of MGIMO Graduates, when opening the discussion on the first panel of speakers, on the topic “The Energy and Ecological Dimension Of The Global Economy On The Path To Sustainable Development”.

As was mentioned in the article, the attendees of the forum were met by the Director of the Geneva Branch of the United Nations, Mr Kasymzhomart Tokaev, and the General Secretary of UNESCO, Irina Bokova. Mr Vladimir Medinsky, Culture Minister of Russia, expressed the opinion that MGIMO had instilled in its graduates the culture of getting things done. “The more MGIMO graduates feature in the governments of different countries, the fewer problems will be experienced” he opined. “Frankly there are no problems which MGIMO graduates can’t solve.”

The Russian Foreign Minister, Mr Sergey Lavrov, said he hoped that the forum would become a traditional event, and invited the attendees of the Baku event to attend a meeting of MGIMO alumni to celebrate the insitute’s seventieth anniversary next year.