Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s congratulations to the faculty, students and postgraduate students of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s MGIMO University

Esteemed colleagues, friends,

Let me cordially congratulate you on a fine birthday, the 75^th anniversary of the foundation of the MGIMO.

Created during the difficult years of the Great Patriotic War, the MGIMO has covered a glorious path and achieved some truly impressive successes. It has raised an entire galaxy of statesmen, diplomats, journalists and businesspeople, who have successfully worked and continue to work productively not only in Russia but also in dozens of states all over the world. Smolenskaya Square is proud that alumni of the alma mater form the backbone of the Russian diplomatic service.

Throughout history, the MGIMO alumni were distinguished by an excellent knowledge of foreign languages as well as the traditions and cultures of various peoples, by erudition and the capacity for in-depth system analysis. They are also committed to the values of friendship and mutual respect, as well as to the principles of broad-based international cooperation. I am confident that this will continue into the future.

MGIMO today is a major Russian centre training highly-skilled international experts, who hold the leading positions in the educational and scientific space in Russia and elsewhere. The Foreign Ministry makes full use of the university’s vast expert potential in its everyday work. The network of partnerships with foreign colleagues is being expanded. The opening of the MGIMO’s first foreign branch in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is on the agenda. The credit for this goes to the closely-knit team of like-minded professors led by the MGIMO Rector, Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Anatoly Torkunov.   

I am confident that this anniversary will be a remarkable event in the busy life of the university and will strengthen the unique MGIMO fellowship. I wish all of you health, prosperity, new achievements in your work and academic pursuits, and all the best.