11th session of Russian-German Petersburg Dialogue opens in Wolfsburg

WOLFSBURG, Germany, July 17 (Itar-Tass) -- The 11th plenary session of
the Russian-German public forum Petersburg Dialogue opens in Wolfsburg,
Lower Saxony, on Sunday. Its topic will be "Citizens, Society and State -
Partners in Modernization Process."
The forum will be attended by about 280 delegates from Russia and
Germany. They will discuss issues of contemporary development, and the
activity of non-governmental organizations of the two countries. The forum
will be held in eight working groups, i.e. Politics, Economics, Mass
Media, Civil Society, Education and Science, Culture, Workshop of the
Future, and "European Churches."
The Russian delegation to the forum is led by First Deputy Prime
Minister Viktor Zubkov, who heads the Russian coordination committee.
Previously, the committee was chaired by former USSR President Mikhail
Gorbachev. The coordination committee includes prominent public figures
from Russia and Germany.
The plenary session will be crowned by a meeting with Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Hannover
on July 19. The two leaders will hold Russian-German interstate
consultations in Hannover on July 18-19. The consultations, attended by
government members from the two countries, will focus on key issues of
international and bilateral agenda.
Lothar de Maiziere, the forum's German co-chairman and the last prime
minister of the former German Democratic Republic, expressed satisfaction
that the forum for the first time will be held in Lower Saxony, a German
state that maintains comprehensive and active ties with Russia. "At the
session, we shall try new approaches in a number of areas and we believe
there are optimal conditions for that," he said.
According to de Maiziere, the forum's agenda includes a number of
pressing problems, such as the legal system in Russia. It is also expected
that participants in the forum will discuss issues related to a would-be
cooperation agreement in the areas of energy, migration policy, social
partnership, cinema, etc.
The Petersburg's Dialogue was set up in 2001 at the initiative of the
then Russian President Vladimir Putin and the then German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroder. Its goal is to establish a long-term, open exchange of
views among politicians, people of science and culture, businessmen, and
human rights activists of the two countries.
The forum's plenary sessions are traditionally held once a year in
Russia and Germany in turns.