Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the Knowledge Day ceremony at Primakov School, Moscow, September 1, 2023

Mr Vorobyov,

Mr Primakov,

Ms Maisuradze,

Friends,

This is not the first time that we are marking Knowledge Day and the start of the new academic year together at this school; it has become a good tradition. I am pleased to note that the Primakov School’s prestige, reputation and popularity has been growing every year, and an increasing number of parents want their children to join this excellent educational institution. The teachers here are excellent professionals; the school uses modern teaching methods and its infrastructure speaks for itself – it does not need any additional compliments.

I would like to wish the first-graders good luck in this new stage in their lives. You will be crossing the school threshold for the first time today. Here, you will make new friends, you will experience success, difficulties, and trials. I have no doubt that you will overcome every challenge if you listen to your teachers who will help you learn and think independently. This is the most important thing.

I would like to especially address the 11th graders. You have already received the extensive knowledge that the Primakov School provides; this will be your last year before the final exams. You will also face the choice of your future path in life. I wish that you make a choice which will meet your interests and help you become an independent and successful person. I hope that some of you will consider enrolling at MGIMO. We could only welcome that. Our university draws on the most talented school graduates’ pool from all over our Motherland, but above all, from Moscow and the Moscow Region.

I would like to remind you that the name of Yevgeny Primakov, the man your school was named after, is associated with numerous great events in our country’s past, with the evolution of the Russian Federation as a sovereign, independent state, and the development of its foreign policy, which remains fully relevant today. Yevgeny Primakov will forever remain in our memory as a great diplomat, scholar and statesman.

I wish you to be worthy of his memory, in your studies and deeds. Good luck and all the very best.