Visit to the Russian Embassy Berlin
During its semiannual meeting in Berlin IFAIR’s core team and members had the opportunity of visiting the Russian embassy on the 22nd of February. After a brief walking-tour through the building we had a discussion circle with three young diplomats debating and identifying challenges and perspectives of the Russo-European relationship.
The architecture of the building complex built in 1837 is impressive to say the least. Moreover, we had the opportunity to see smaller rooms in which Russian leaders meet with German representatives just as Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel for example.
Afterwards, our talk with the three young Russian diplomats was held in the beautiful concert hall. Being able to talk to officials who just graduated and started their first station of the journey at an embassy enabled us to get a glimpse on ways to enter the diplomatic world in Russia. The political discussion was not as controversial as some of us may have expected. Both sides stated their respective position on recent socio-economic events as represented in the media and therefore did not offer many novel perspectives. However, it was delightful to have a direct dialogue. Furthermore, IFAIR has been invited to potentially visit again one day and is looking forward to further discuss the different perspectives in the future.
