Several cultural events dedicated to the 300-year anniversary of presence of Charles ХII in Bendery were held today in Pridnestrovie under participation of diplomats and scientists. The Swedish delegation was headed by Ingrid Tersman, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden in the Republic of Moldova. The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Moldova Matthias Meyer, Turkish Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Moldova Mehmet Selim Kartal participated in the events. Pridnestrovie was represented by Yuriy Gervazyuk, the Head of Public Administration of Bendery city, Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs Vitaly Ignatiev and Igor Shornikov, Deputy Minister of Education, Culture and Arts Vyacheslav Dolgodvorov.
It is to be recalled that these events have been arranged by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden in the Republic of Moldova together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the PMR, the State Service for Communication, Information and Mass Media, GUP “Marka Pridnestrovya” (Postage Stamp of Pridnestrovie State Unitary Enterprise) supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR.
The visit of foreign guests began at the Military Historical Memorial Complex in Bendery where Russian, Swedish, French, Romanian, and Hungarian soldiers of different days have been buried. Guests laid flowers on the memorial slab in honour of soldiers and officers of the King Charles's ХII army and visited chapel built at the memorial place in honour of the Acheiropaeic Image of Christ the Saviour as a patron symbol of the 55-th Podolsk Infantry Regiment. “It is a great honour for me to visit the Memorial Complex where our nationals have been buried, to pay the tribute to the memory of them and to lay flowers,” Ingrid Tersman said.
The focal point was visit to the Bendery fortress where opening of the exhibition of the Swedish Royal Armoury as well as presentation and special cancellation of the Pridnestrovian postage stamp dedicated to the 300-year anniversary of presence of Charles XII in Bendery took place.
Opening the exhibition senior curator of the Swedish Royal Treasury Per Sundin Dr. emphasized that scientists are particularly interested in the influence of Charles's presence in Bendery on civil population and reforms carried out by the King during his stay on the territory that is now known as Pridnestrovie. “This exhibition is a result of collaboration between Swedish, Pridnestrovian and Moldovan colleagues. Study materials will be published in two books. One book will highlight the history of Pridnestrovie as a part of the European history for a wide range of readers. Results of study madder by specialists will be compiled in the second book,” the Swedish guest said.
Ingrid Tersman stressed in her welcome address that the opening of the exhibition was prepared for 10 years. “I expect that this study will provide with new results that will be interesting to younger generation of Pridnestrovie and other countries. Charles XII had made a great contribution to the development of the kingdom. Many of his ideas were originated here, and they form the government of modern democratic Sweden,” the Ambassador told. She highly appreciated the organization of events and thanked representatives of the Pridnestrovian party for their work.
Vyacheslav Dolgodvorov expressed his hope that this project would attract not only Swedish researchers but also other foreign experts to Pridnestrovie. “We hope that our cooperation with the Swedish Embassy will be developed in different areas including cultural issues,” the Deputy Minister concluded.
The exhibition of the Swedish Royal Armoury will be opened in the Bendery fortress during next five weeks.
