World Youth Festival in Sochi: Putin's Address

This isn’t the first World Youth Festival held in Russia. The current event is a successor to the World Festival of Youth and Students, which Wikipedia describes thusly:

The festival has been held occasionally since 1947, mainly in communist states, as an event of global youth solidarity for democracy and against war and imperialism.

The last version was held in Sochi in 2017.

For the curious, the English page for the festival is linked to up top and is well worth exploring. In keeping with the theme Wikipedia described, there’s a special NATO exhibit with and extensive photo tour. Yes, this festival is a huge event as Putin describes in his video address during the opening ceremony. The West might be seen as winning what’s called the Info War, but when it comes to diplomacy and the organizing of people-to-people events of this sort, Russia wins hands down. Those curious about the site, Sirius, will find basic information at the link that will lead to

more, and of course a Yandex search will reveal more. And now for Putin’s short, 5-minute address:

Vladimir Putin: Dear friends!

I am sincerely glad to welcome the participants and guests of the World Youth Festival, envoys of different countries and peoples who are united by Russia here in Sochi.

Our country has already held such large-scale youth forums three times, and each time they confirmed that there are no borders and dividing lines for young generations. You will communicate with those with whom you want to communicate, get the knowledge and experience that you need.

This was also shown by hundreds of thousands of applications for participation in the festival, which came to us from 190 countries of the world, and the only thing we regret is that we could not accept all of them.

Now representatives of many different nations have gathered in this arena. We in Russia are well aware of the richness of such diversity, the powerful positive charge of development and spiritual enrichment it has. Our multinational country is made up of hundreds of cultures, languages, and traditions, and the brotherhood of peoples has always been and remains its main support, advantage, and strength. It helped us through all the twists and turns of history, helped us conquer new heights in science, art and education, win the Second World War and crush Nazism. Multinational unity is the greatest value for us, and this largely determines the principles that our state and society live and develop by today.

I speak about equality and justice, about the traditions of a strong family and mutual assistance, about serving one's Fatherland and responsibility for its fate. I know that these values are shared by the vast majority of the world's inhabitants. Therefore, we must protect and protect them together, realize our dreams together, and help each other to make the lives of billions, and I want to emphasize this, billions of people better. Work together for the sake of future generations, fight poverty and terrorism, diseases and drug trafficking, preserve the unique natural resources, cultural heritage, and all the beauty and diversity of the planet. In such a world, there is no place for racism, dictates, double standards and lies, and a person is free to speak his own language, follow the faith and traditions of his ancestors.

You are a young generation, you dream of what a safe, just world can and should be, and it is up to you to create it. The festival will give you the opportunity to discuss this with your peers. And I am sure that your discussions will be interesting and useful to the widest audience, as well as your impressions about the events that will take place at the festival venues, and, of course, about Russia itself, about the people who live here.

You can see for yourself that, for example, a smile for us is not a duty mask, but a sincere manifestation of feelings. That if we give our word, we always keep it. We believe in youth and are building Russia as a country of opportunities for young people. And of course, we are always open to dialogue.

I have no doubt that such a trusting, friendly atmosphere will prevail at the venues of the World Youth Festival. Moreover, it all happens in the spring, in the spring days. And in the cultures of the world, they symbolize not only the awakening of nature, but also new hopes, renewal, the brightest dreams, faith in success and in the future. And, of course, in love.

I am sure that at the festival you will get a huge boost of positive emotions and return home with love for Russia.

I declare the World Youth Festival open! [My Emphasis]

Of course, Putin’s words placed much weight on Russian participants. I see an extension of the words within Putin’s Address to the Federal Assembly. There are other Multipolar world events happening in Sochi for the older set that Pepe Escobar’s covering. Several events in Moscow preceded the Festival and are all too briefly covered by Pepe Escobar, and Raphael Machado, with the 3 1/2 hour video of the Second Congress of International Russophile Movement link provided by participant Larry Johnson.

“It is up to you to create it,” the “safe, just world” Putin said to those attending, the younger generation who will mostly be young teens. I seem to recall a similar question or goal being articulated in 1969 at a festival in upstate New York some will have heard about, although it wasn’t an international affair. That “dream” was beaten back by the Outlaw US Empire’s Deep State which then launched a more aggressive Super Imperialism campaign that also included the homeland for the first time. Fortunately for the world, Putin doesn’t have to contend with a domestic Deep State, has the vast majority of Russians on his side along with those of the Global Majority. 190 nations means most of NATO sent applications. Many youths from within that Bloc see its uselessness. Some will recall the vision that resulted in We Are the World from almost 30 years ago. Those that produced that are now mostly gone, and I question the ability of something similar to be done in today’s Outlaw US Empire. And that means as Putin said it’s up to the rest of the world to get together and solve the issue of hegemony that plagues Humanity.

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