17 May 2006

Russia Rally comes to ‘Hero City’ News 15/05/2006 - NATO NATO-Russia Rally close to halfway mark 13/05/2006 - NATO Yekaterinburg - defence reform in the spotlight 12/05/2006 - NATO Science city second stop on NATO-Russia Rally 11/05/2006 - NATO NATO-Russia rally starts at the end of the line 04/05/2006 - OTAN NATO-Russia Rally to take place in Russia Multimedia High resolution photos Rally map Historic Volgograd was the fifth stop on the NATO-Rally Russia route, 17 May, with events focusing on overcoming stereotypes and building trust. The programme kicked-off with an evening celebrating local culture, music and dance, and continued the next day with a conference on “NATO-Russia historical perspective – from stereotypes to mutual trust”. Leaving stereotypes behind The very frank and open discussions, which included students, representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry, NATO as well as local officials tackled both easy and quite difficult subjects in NATO-Russia relations. Parts of the discussion became quite heated, but Isabelle Francois, Director of NATO’s Information Office in Moscow said that building trust, required open – even if passionate – discussions. “We received a very, very warm welcome,” she said, “The discussions focused on building trust and were very open.” Highlights included an award ceremony for winners of an essay content on NATO-Russia relations, a video conference with NATO Headquarters in Brussels, and a boat cruise on the river Volga, where participants had a chance to mingle in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. Vyacheslav Yagubkin, Head of the International Department of the Volgograd Academy of Public Administration, said that the Rally “was not NATO boots on the ground, if anything NATO slippers,” referring to the tone of the discussions. During World War II, the city – called Stalingrad at that time – was the site of what is considered to be the costliest battle in human history. Roughly 500,000 Axis troops as well as approximately one million Soviet soldiers died, and an unknown number of civilians. The city was reduced to rubble. The event was hosted by the Volgograd Academy of Public Administration. The Rally is a series of public events held in nine cities across the Russian Federation from 11 to 26 May. The aim is to give the Russian public a chance to hear more about, and to debate, cooperation between the Alliance and Russia in the framework of the NATO-Russia Council. Next stop – Moscow, 18 May.