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Druzhba – Freundschaft: people’s diplomacy against Russophobia

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Druzhba – Freundschaft: people’s diplomacy against Russophobia

17.06.2018

Svetlana Smetatina 

On June 12 participants of the Friendship Train Berlin–Moscow 2018 project came back to Moscow having completed 9 different routes around Russian regions. They have been to Saint – Petersburg, Crimea, Sochi, Vologda, Nizhny Novgorod, the Baikal Lake and even Chechnya. The strongest impression of the trip is common desire of people from different countries to live in peace and friendship unshakable by anti-Russian propaganda.

 
We are All Alike, Though We Speak Different Languages 

A unique project in its kind of true people’s diplomacy was launched several years ago thanks to the initiative of the professor from the German city Lindau Rainer Rothfus. Having a speech at one of the internet channels, he proposed to organize a trip for ordinary people from Germany to Russia so that they could see the country with their own eyes and form an opinion about it. Back then, the informational war against Russia was in full swing in the fervour of the events in Donbass. That is why professor was able to express his idea of setting connections between the countries avoiding politicians only at the alternative television, so to speak, broadcasting through the internet. Federal channels would simply ban him.

Picture: Druzhba – Freundschaft: Friendship Train Berlin-Moscow 2018/Facebook

Professor was pretty quick to find followers – two German video bloggers. In a few months – in August 2016,  235 Germans were going by car through Kaliningrad to Moscow and Saint Petersburg. There were more candidates to take such a car trip next year, when 343 participants from 16 countries followed 7 different routes and visited 45 Russian cities.

This year the organizers abandoned the idea of using cars due to complicated logistics and preferred a train instead. A specialized Druzhba – Freundschaft train set off the Berlin railway station on June 4 carrying participants from 5 countries, the oldest of them being 85, whereas the youngest was just 7. They all had been divided into groups, which were to follow one of the chosen itineraries. 
Judging from stories of the project participants, the most important discovery for them in these trains is Russian people.

So, on June 12 – at Russia’s Day, all the participants gathered in Moscow to share their emotions from what they had seen. The most important impression is that we are all alike, though we speak different languages. Generally speaking, judging from stories of the project participants, the most important discovery for them in these trains is Russian people. All of them mentioned hospitality and warmth whenever they went as well as openness of our people, their readiness to answer all the questions and socialise. 


Sanctions Against the Dead

Looking at how easy and naturally people from different countries were setting friendly connections with each other, everybody had only one question: why politicians, on the contrary, strive for separating the nations making them hate and fear of one another.

Picture: Druzhba – Freundschaft: Friendship Train Berlin-Moscow 2018/Facebook

Speaking of anti-Russian propaganda, Rainer Rothfus gave another example: most respected German mass media sources made a point of ignoring to set up a studio at the Red Square in order to broadcast the opening of the FIFA World Cup in Russia. “TV channels of Costa Rica, Columbia, Peru opened their studios, but not Germany. May be, they ran out of money? Where did 8 billion euros all go then, budgeted for mass media? This is so natural for the journalists to be in the thick of the events. May be, they are afraid of something? Oh, yeah, the Russians sell Novichok vodka and soap now,’ Rainer Rothfus was joking, fetching a friendly laugh from the audience. “The truth is the German mass media sources do not want to support Putin’s show and refuse to broadcast the event of the world significance because of their Russophobe’s views.” Professor continued.

Sometimes, consequences of the Western sanctions are quite unexpected. Thus, the project participants having come back from Crimea where they attended the local cemetery, got to know that the German party stopped looking after the German soldiers’ graves due to the sanctions. Over these several years, local search team discovered remains of other 60 soldiers. However, they cannot bury them in accordance with the terms of the present agreement. These remains are kept in bags at the store houses. Here are strange sanctions in relation to the dead…

Picture: Druzhba – Freundschaft: Friendship Train Berlin-Moscow 2018/Facebook

Another participant of the trip by train named Marcus has confessed that he owes life to a Russian officer. Much time ago, Marcus’ father-to-be – a 17-year old German young man was nearly killed by the Czech soldier. Marcus said that he was already digging his own grave when a Soviet officer saved him from being shot. 

Istvan Georgey came to Vologda for the second time with a particular purpose to visit his friends from the search team. He spent with them 14 days in a camp where they were looking for remains of the Soviet and German soldiers together. “The search area was exactly at the defence line. I noticed so many bones… it was horrible and very hard to see,” Istvan acknowledged. The question of why he became fond of searching works already being a middle-aged person, he simply answers that it is his duty to the world. 


We are the People 

Several people reached Chechnya. As per one of the organizers of the trip, a member of the director’s board of the civil organization Druschba Global Konstantin Ermish, they wanted to see with their own eyes the region so negatively reflected in the Western mass media. They were very heartily welcomed there. So, now the organizers of the project will find ways to work out touristic routes to the Chechen Republic. 

Picture: Druzhba – Freundschaft: Friendship Train Berlin-Moscow 2018/Facebook

"That is why it is important for us to be here.  We are the people, not our mass media. We just want peace and collaboration developing between our countries," Rainer Rothfus summoned up.

Friendship Train Berlin–Moscow 2018  project participants laid flowers to the Memorial in the Victory Park on June 13. On June 14, they gathered at the Vorobyovy Gory to watch the FIFA World Cup opening game on the big screen. Friendship Train plans to reach Altai next year. Russia is a vast country, as you know.

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