Prague hosts a conference on Europe of 21st Century

On Tuesday, the international conference, Europe of 21st Century: Crossroads of Civilisations, held in the framework of the international public forum, Dialogue Among Civilisations, is opening in Prague.

"The Prague conference will seek ways of active interaction between the public forces of Europe and Russia," Alexander Melnik, president of the Russian National Glory Centre - an organiser of the upcoming event, said at a meeting with Russian reporters.

The conference will highlight a series of problems of European integration. Among them will be such problems as new economic processes in Russia and Europe linked to the European integration and ways of preserving national identity and European integration processes.

Besides, the conferees will consider opportunities of settling ethno-political conflicts through a dialogue, the social, demographic and ethno-confessional situations and their prospects in Russia and Europe, and also the role of the church in youth education.

Participating in the conference will be representatives of public organisations, politicians, religious figures, scientists and journalists from Russia, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Germany, Israel, Slovakia, Switzerland and other countries.

"We are hopeful that the Prague conference will help organise active co-operation between public forces of Europe and Russia within the Dialogue Among Civilisations programme and in particular help consolidate the current spiritual and cultural ties between Russia and the Czech Republic," says the statement of Alexander Melnik, published on the site of the international public forum Dialogue Among Civilisations.

The programme Dialogue Among Civilisations was set up more than two years ago on the initiative of the Russian National Glory Centre and the Fund of St. Andrew the First Called.

The idea of the Dialogue Among Civilisations belongs to incumbent Iranian President Mohammad Khatami who in 1998 proposed to the UN to declare 2001 the Year of the Dialogue Among Civilisations.