Упрощенная HTML-версия
Author : I. Kravchenko
Second Secretary, General Secretariat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Candidate
of Science (Political Sciences)
In the current climate, when Russia is under the
strongest information pressure since the time of the
Cold War, when the ruling circles in a number of coun-
tries, along with politically engaged media, have launched
an outright blatant propaganda war against us, the im-
portance of public diplomacy in promoting an objective
image of our country abroad cannot be overstated.
The expedition of non-profit partnership Leaders Club
for Business Initiatives Promotion to Western Europe's
highest peak, Mont Blanc, dedicated to the memory of the legendary Normandie-Niemen French
regiment, is a good example in this context.
The expedition's ideological charge has turned out to be very timely and relevant. Amid the obvious
connivance and frank flirting of the ruling circles in a number of countries with the fascist and mil-
itaristic nationalism rearing its head in Ukraine, it is extremely important to show the international
community historical examples when the entire free world, putting their differences aside, teamed
up in the fight against the brown-shirt plague. The approaching 70th anniversary of Victory in the
Great Patriotic War has added topicality to the event.
The idea behind the climb was to plant a Russian and a French national flag on top of Mont Blanc
in eternal remembrance of the heroic feat of the Soviet people and the pilots of the Normandie-
Niemen regiment.
There was to be a radio session with the International Space Station (ISS), as well as with entrepre-
neurs of a new Russian Federation member, the City of Sevastopol, directly from the peak. To cap
the event, a formal reception ceremony was to take place in Paris.
During the ascent, the Leaders Club members scaled a height 2,500 vertical meters, of which 500
meters were steep snow-covered cliffs. Storming Mont Blanc took more than twelve hours. The
climbers had only minimal stops. According to their assessment, for a person unprepared both phys-
ically and psychologically, it was right on the edge of the possible. They generously shared their im-
pressions with us.
The expedition of the Leaders Club has returned an even more solid team of like-minded persons.
They are not going to stop at what they have achieved. They plan next to climb Mount Vinson. It's
Antarctica, 1,200 kilometers from the South Pole, the Ellsworth Mountains. At its highest point -
4,892 meters. 82 meters higher than Mont Blanc.
It's the right mindset. It's worthy of support. After all, the main engine of growth, development
and progress of both individuals and governments is primarily the human passion and will towards
perfection and the conquest of new peaks.
Электронное приложение к журналу «
Международная жизнь
»
In Remembrance of the Normandie-Niemen Regiment