The founding conference of the Council of Young Diplomats took place today in the foreign office of Pridnestrovie. Participating in the conference were heads of structural units of the MFA, young officials of the Ministry, as well undergraduates of T.G. Shevchenko State University of the profiled specializations.
Opening the conference, Deputy Foreign Minister of the PMR Vitaly Ignatiev marked that the need to create a youth wing of the Pridnestrovian diplomacy emerged quite a long time ago. Republic does not prepare professionals specializing in international affairs, so preparation of the qualified cadres should be concern of the Pridnestrovian MFA. Major objectives of the Council of Young Diplomats include improvement of professional qualities of its participants, fostering corporate ethics, maintaining traditions of the foreign political office of the PMR, as well as providing the public with more information about basic aspects of the MFA's work. According to Vitaly Ignatiev, in the framework of the Council's activity it is planned to develop primarily scientific-practical, research and communication skills of young people, stimulate the search for non-standard solutions, inter alia of those topical issues that can be in demand in current work of the foreign political office.
According to existent practice of the work of such associations, members of the Council are free to independently define areas where they can apply their efforts. During the conference young diplomats determined three major directions of the Council's further work. According to the general opinion, priority is given to scientific-educational activity; a separate area of work should become sphere of public communications and cooperation with mass media. Also, young diplomats expect to gain significant experience within cultural-educational activity. Heads of separate departments of the Ministry will be in charge of work in these areas.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR intend to render as much assistance as possible to the participants of the Council in issues concerning individual plans and programs aimed at improving professional training of the members of the Council, including outside the Republic.
The nearest plans of the Council include organization of a scientific-practical conference arranged to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Pridnestrovian MFA, involvement in the creation of a permanent TV press-club dedicated to topical problems of the PMR's foreign policy, particular website, as well as advanced study of foreign languages using the potential of the Pridnestrovian State University and international partners of the PMR. Among other perspectives is skills upgrading of young Pridnestrovian diplomats at MGIMO and Diplomatic Academy of Russia.
The Council will start to directly implement the set goals in coming days. The next working meeting of the Council is scheduled for the first half of May this year during which Presidium of the Council will be elected, participants of sections will be defined, and general plan of activities will be approved.
