🎙 Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s speech at a gala event on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of MGIMO (Moscow, October 14, 2024)

💬 The continuity of generations and traditions, as well as our history, is the key to success and ensuring that MGIMO remains at the forefront of our diplomacy and foreign policy activities that are designed to implement the Foreign Policy Concept approved by President Vladimir Putin. Just like 80 years ago, when MGIMO was established at the turning point of the Great Patriotic War, we are at a turning point today as well.

We remain confident that this turning point will inevitably lead us in the direction of the objective course of history, and diplomats, without a doubt, just like they did during the war years and the post-war efforts to create “that” world, will once again play their part in shaping our land, the entire Eurasian continent, in a manner where none of our Western “partners” will be able to bargain for, or to trick or to cajole us into obtaining unilateral advantages.

President Putin has repeatedly mentioned how we were deceived over the past 30 years. We now know how it works. We have learned from this experience. I’m convinced that our diplomatic service will take advantage of its proficiency, skills, and the experience of our predecessors to ensure it never happens again. The emerging multipolar global order must be fair and prevent anyone from exploiting it in its self-serving unilateral interests.

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We closely collaborate with Anatoly Torkunov, prorectors, deans, and heads of departments. We discuss the most important issues in real-time on a daily basis. Often, our colleagues from MGIMO guide us toward certain decisions during general debates and discussions in the format of situational analyses, which have become an established tradition. My deputies and department directors highly appreciate such interaction.

Many MGIMO graduates work honourably in other governmental agencies, including the Executive Office of the President of the Russian Federation, the Government Executive Office, ministries and agencies, as well as in research, business, and journalism and many other fields that are key to ensuring our state’s strength and development the way we want it to and independently of anyone else.

I would like to close by wishing long life to the order-decorated MGIMO University!

#MGIMO80