Стр. 34 - V

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Электронное приложение к журналу «
Международная жизнь
»
something that another has - there are no attributions and sources are not taken into account
because they cannot be confirmed. All of this creates huge problems, as unconfirmed, unverified
news stories are reported.
Igor Pellicciari
,
professor at the University of Salento,
Russian honorary consul in Bologna, Emilia Romagna (Italy)
:
The Russian Federation is a country too large. Its ad-
versaries fail to realize that it isn't in Russia's interest
to attack anyone. Rather, Russia is afraid of an attack.
And it is the size of the country that explains this fear,
a fear that is a product of its history, because such a
country is very difficult to defend.
I noticed one remarkable thing about San Marino
when I was living six kilometers from its border. San Marino is indeed one of the smallest states
in Europe along with the Vatican and the Principality of Monaco. San Marino is the smallest
liberal democratic country in Europe. It can be called a political microsystem with all elements
of the liberal democratic systems of other European countries. For this reason, in my view, San
Marino has the full right to be called a smaller state of Europe.
Something small may conceal something large in it, a micro may conceal a macro, and it is the
purpose of this meeting to explore possible connections between large and small entities. It's
thrilling to see something small being part of something large, when this small entity watches
developments and looks at everything from a different standpoint.
Andrei Nesterenko
,
Ambassador-at-Large, RF Ministry
of Foreign Affairs (Russia)
: This plenary session is an
opportunity to exchange opinions not only on issues
of cooperation between Russia and small European
states but also on the role of small states in global af-
fairs in general.
Modern information technology and means of com-
munication and the increasingly free movements of
capital, goods and people have turned the world into
a "global village." One logically wonders whether, in this situation, small states will retain their
role in international affairs.
Russia, as a staunch champion of the supremacy of international law in relations between coun-
tries, sees the United Nations as the main guardian of international law.
Small size does not prevent a country from closely following developments in any part of the
world, from becoming involved increasingly deeply in global processes, or from working for the
implementation of measures that have been developed by the collective intellect of the interna-
tional community and that are in line with international law.
Russia has tremendous respect for the European and worldwide roles of San Marino as a neutral
state involved in tackling international issues.