Artem Sokolov at Vesti.FM: compatriots create objective image of Russia abroad

Russian compatriots contribute to creation of an objective image of modern Russia abroad, expert of Vestnik Kavkaza Artem Sokolov said today during the National Question program on Vesti.FM.

He recalled that according to official statistics, about 30 million of our compatriots are currently living outside Russia, and about 17 million live in the CIS countries. "All of them represent of Russian culture and language to some extent. They help to strenghen humanitarian ties and relations between Russia and foreign countries. Of course, Rossotrudnichestvo is carrying out the main work in this field," he said.

Artem Sokolov specified that right now there are 96 missions of the agency in 81 countries of the world. "As for priorities of this agency, it supports Russian language in Europe and in the US. Over 125 million people outside of Russia are currently speaking Russian language. Naturally, it is the most popular foreign language in Ukraine (about 37 million people), Kazakhstan (13.5 million), Uzbekistan - about 12 million, Belarus - more than 9 million and Azerbaijan - about 5 million," he noted.

"Federal Program 'Russian Language' is a key element in the implementation of Russian language policy. It was adopted last year and it will operate until 2020. In the framework of this program, branches of Rossotrudnichestvo abroad and Russian centers of science and culture teach Russian language in approximately 60 countries of the world," he stressed.

According to him, one of the most important areas in the work of this agency is promotion of Russian education abroad. "Rossotrudnichestvo supports for the 'Russian School Abroad' concept, which was approved at the end of 2015. Under this program, the agency annually implements a number of projects aimed at exporting Russian education, promoting international scientific cooperation and interaction between scientists in order to attract foreign citizens to study in Russia. Branches of Rossotrudnichestvo hold various events aimed at establishing contacts between Russian youth and their European, American counterparts," Artem Sokolov said.

"In addition, I would like the work in the cultural field. Today Russian centers of science and culture regularly host various events aimed at popularization of culture," he concluded.