The Westminster Russia Forum, which is the UK’s strategic partner for the National Civic Committee and the National Foundation Social Recognition, is pleased to announce that, in collaboration with Pinsent Masons, it will be hosting the Third Annual Conference on Russian-British European Relations on October 10, 2019. This is the most influential event in London on this subject.
The organizers of the conference are the Westminster Russia Forum, MGIMO-MFA of Russia, the National Fund for Public Recognition, the Siberian Alliance Group of Companies and the Independent Civil Society Organization.
In a period of heightened tension, we believe that the ties between our two countries go deeper than just geopolitics, and therefore the conference will evaluate not only the possibilities of political rapprochement between Moscow and London, but also our growing economic ties, rapid cultural exchange as well as high social communication.
The event will also evaluate the legal structures between our two countries, a unique platform for evaluating our bilateral legal structures.
Focusing on a wide range of topics and forming around interactive panels, the conference will bring together more than 100 participants from the entire British-Russian community to assess both the opportunities and problems of our bilateral ties.
The aim of the conference is to create a tangible, transparent and productive framework for strengthening our economic, cultural and possible political ties.
While Moscow and London are facing the crisis of the day, the Westminster Russia Forum is establishing basic bilateral ties between the countries.
The conference will include the following topics:
- Socio-political interaction between Russia, the UK and Europe
- Discussion and identification of areas of cultural and social cooperation
- Launch of Russophobia and Engage Russia campaigns to highlight the positive impact of the Russian population on UK society
- Representing the potential of Russian-British trade relations
- The formation of a positive image of Russia in the UK
- Cooperation in the field of finance and investment
- The ceremony of awarding high civilian awards in the field of development of Russian-British civil society and assistance in strengthening Russian-British relations.
Among the speakers will be diplomats, public figures, businessmen and investors from Russia, the UK and Europe. The conference is sponsored by the English law firm Pinsent Masons and will be held throughout the day on October 10, 2019 for more than 150 participants.
The Westminster Russia Forum is a UK nonprofit organization founded in 2012 to foster greater cultural, business, and political understanding between the UK and the Russian Federation.
Members of the WRF are representatives of public and political structures, business circles, cultural and art workers from both Great Britain and Russia, as well as the former Soviet Union, and we regularly organize networking events with a wide range of senior speakers from the cultural, political and commercial fields.
The goal of the Westminster Russia Forum is to provide a free and open forum for discussion of Russian-British European relations with the participation of speakers, starting with the ministers of the UK government, senior Russian diplomats and leading British and Russian business and cultural leaders.
WRF also provides a unique networking platform for anyone interested in the history, politics, business and art of Russia, Europe and the UK, as well as supporting and promoting healthy relations between the UK, the Russian Federation and Europe.
As a non-partisan nonprofit organization, the WRF seeks to stimulate open debate on issues of concern, including international diplomacy, energy security, and domestic political systems.
The main goal of the WRF is to improve British-Russian relations by strengthening mutual understanding.
To this end, throughout the year, the Westminster Russia Forum hosts a number of speakers related to politics and civil society in Russia, Europe and the UK.
“Based on our successful conference in 2018, we look forward to discussing the positive areas of cooperation - at the same time, fully aware of the geopolitical differences that our peoples have a common past and future, this event is designed to attract the Russian community of Great Britain and other Russophiles as well business, cultural and political commentators to create a network and form a positive basis for cooperation. ”said Nicholas Cobb, Chairman of the Westminster Russia Forum.
In 2018, the British organization Westminster Russia Forum, working to improve relations between the UK and the Russian Federation, conducted an information campaign to counter Russophobia in the UK. This was announced on September 12, 2018, speaking at the opening of the annual forum conference on British-Russian relations, its chairman Nicholas Cobb.
“Despite the fact that the British government emphasizes that geopolitics has little connection with the Russian community in the UK, the actions and words of our press and politicians contribute little to the perception of the hardworking members of this community in a positive way. Many of its members feel the pressure of negative stereotypes, which is unfair to "towards hundreds of thousands of working taxpayers, entrepreneurs, cultural figures, public sector workers and students," said Cobb.
The forum’s statement emphasized that the Salisbury incident, which had greatly complicated London-Moscow relations, was a "monstrous act." At the same time, representatives of the organization urge to maintain and expand political, economic and cultural ties between the countries, despite the unstable nature of inter-parliamentary relations.
According to Cobb, the goal of the campaign is also to promote positive information about Russia and Russians in the British information space, as opposed to the often biased articles in UK newspapers.
“We fully accept the political status quo and condemn the Salisbury incident, but we will continue to work with our partners to promote positive information about the contribution of the Russian community to the social structure of Great Britain. Where possible, we will do the same in Russia. We believe that our peoples have much more that unites them than what separates them, "Cobb concluded.
The letter sent to the conference participants by the Chairman of the RF State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky, as well as representatives of a number of Russian public organizations, such as the National Recognition Fund, expresses the hope that this conference will contribute to the exchange of ideas and building fruitful public political interactions, the development of trade, economy, education and culture between representatives of the two countries and will become an effective platform for implementation new mutually beneficial projects