By Vestnik Kavkaza
Despite cool relations between Russia and the EU, humanitarian cooperation remains an effective instrument of the soft power. At the same time, according to MGIMO Professor Tatyana Zotova, the notion of “humanitarian cooperation” is multivalent. Working languages of the EU use the term “humanitarian” in the context of fighting violations of human rights and violence, providing help in emergency situations. In Russia, humanitarian cooperation is interpreted in a broader way, covering cultural contacts, inter-civilization dialogues, and dialogue between civil societies, as well as relations with compatriots who live abroad. That’s how Russia and the EU complement each other. Russia is a country of European culture, which is devoted to universal democratic values, including human rights and freedoms. Russian resources are important for Europe, while our country needs European technologies in high-tech products and investments.
Yesterday the Russian State Humanitarian University in Moscow hosted the Forum of Rectors of Liberal Arts Colleges in Russia and France, which was attended by more than 40 Russian and French universities. Since 2009, the Forum has been well-known as a permanent Russian-French dialogue platform in the field of humanitarian sciences. This time the main focus of the communities of rectors of the two countries was on the signing of an intergovernmental agreement on mutual recognition of diplomas and degrees, the support of educational space in the Russian and French languages, creating a special humanitarian program of the Russian-French University and the development of Moscow's unparalleled ranking of liberal arts colleges.
The head of the delegation and the president of the National Alliance for the Humanities, 'Athena', Jean-Emile Gombert, told Vestnik Kavkaza that “the difficult political situation has not affected the depth or level of cooperation between the scientific communities in Russia and France.” He believes that “we need to expand and develop all types of cooperation in order to move to a higher level.”
The rector of the RSUH and co-chairman of the Coordinating Council of the Forum of Universities in Russia and France, Yefim Pivovar, told Vestnik Kavkaza that "this is not the first, not the second, already, in fact, this is the fifth meeting. Maybe it's due to the fact that we have our very active French colleagues and assets of the Centre for Science and Culture in Paris, we are working together. We want in the future to create a permanent platform across Europe, the OSCE - on the borders of the countries, that are included in this organization. And I think we can do this, because there is a specificity of liberal education and the humanities and the importance of this sector of education in science, which requires more attention and other approaches. It is necessary to make joint efforts, so the results can be real, so society will realize that they are real, and at the same time to work with elite decision-makers to receive this support."
