Address of H.E. Rinat Alyautdinov, Ambassador Permanent Delegate of the Russian Federation to UNESCO on the occasion of Russian Language Day at the UNESCO Headquarters

Rinat Alyautdinov, Permanent Delegate of Russia to UNESCO, opened the Ceremony on the occasion of Russian Language Day in the main hall of the Organization's Headquarters on 6 June 2025:

- The celebration of Russian Language Day at UNESCO is a joint initiative of the Delegations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The Russian language is a means of interethnic communication, a natural link for the exchange of ideas, economic and cultural achievements of the CIS peoples.

- Russian is an official language of the United Nations and UNESCO. Its role in the development of scientific, cultural and educational exchanges and contacts between people is indeed great.

- We make a significant contribution to achieving UNESCO goals in the sphere of multilingualism, share Russian experience in preserving linguistic diversity, digitalisation of languages, ensuring access to education in one's native language, preserving traditional cultural values.

- As Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, noted in his address on the occasion of Russian Language Day: "Further strengthening of the position of the Russian language in the world remains among the unconditional priorities of our humanitarian foreign policy. We will continue to do our utmost to fulfil the needs of our foreign partners in studying and using the Russian language, in obtaining generally meaningful and scientific information in Russian, and in expanding knowledge about Russia.