10th Russian-German Petersburg Dialogue forum opens in Yekaterinburg

YEKATERINBURG, July 13 (Itar-Tass) -- The 10th Russian-German forum
"Petersburg Dialogue" opens here on Tuesday, a spokesman for the
Sverdlovsk region administration told Itar-Tass.
According to the spokesman, on the first day of the forum, the guests
will be offered a cultural program.
On July 14 and 15, participants in the forum will focus on the main
topic of the forum - "Russia and Germany in the Next Millennium." The
Wednesday session is expected to be opened by Russia's First Deputy Prime
Minister Viktor Zubkov, who is the chairman of the Russian Coordination
Committee. Russian and German experts will discuss issues of the European
security architecture, modernization problems, building a civic society,
problems of education, science, healthcare, and mass media.
On July 14, the forum is expected to be attended by Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It will be their
third meeting within the Petersburg Dialogue framework.
The Petersburg Dialogue forum was set up in 2000 on the initiative of
the then Russian and German leaders, Vladimir Putin and Gerhard Schroeder,
put forth during their meeting on September 25, 2000 in Moscow. The forum'
s goal is to bring closer the Russian and German peoples, to overcome
prejudices in mutual attitudes and encourage mutual understanding between
the two countries.