Press Release November 24, 2000

Grigory Yavlinsky to participate in European Forum in Berlin

The leader of the Yabloko Association, Grigory Yavlinsky, will participate in the European Forum, to be held in Berlin on November 24-25, 2000.

The goal of the Forum is to support European integration. Heads of states, ministers, representatives of large-scale businesses and the mass media participate in the work of the Forum, which has been held each since 1995 in Berlin, Germany. Yavlinsky has been a permanent participant of the Forum since 1995.

One of the three topics of the Forum is devoted to Russia. The main speaker on the debate “Russia in Europe: possibilities and prospects of pan-European and international co-operation” will be the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the RF Igor Ivanov. Yavlinsky will be co-speaker . The discussion will take place on November 25, 2000. The discussion will focus on the following issues: assessment of the course of President Putin’s Administration (restoration of state management or return to authoritarian rule) and its influence on the prospects of economic and social progress in Russia; the potential confrontation of Russia, Europe and the USA in the creation of the US National Anti-Missile Defence System; assistance from European countries in the provision of environmental safety for Russia and its neighbours; creation of the political and legal basis for attracting large-scale foreign investments to Russia; relationships between NATO countries and the CIS, admission of the Baltic states to NATO.