Medvedev, Merkel to attend final session of Petersburg Dialogue.

MOSCOW, July 15 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and
German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend the final session of
the forum of Russian and German civil societies, known as Petersburg
Dialogue.
This will be their third meeting within the framework of the forum.
According to presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko, "Cultural and
humanitarian cooperation between Russia and Germany is steady and
multi-level."
"Broad contacts have been established between public organisations,
parliaments and regions. This cooperation is a cornerstone of the
Russian-German strategic partnership," he said.
The Petersburg Dialogue will hold its tenth meeting on the sidelines
of the Russian-German Yekaterinburg summit and focus on the Russian and
German societies in the coming decade. There will be eight working groups
dedicated to politics, economy, civil society, education, science and
healthcare, culture, media and churches in Europe, Prikhodko said.
The first events of the forum began in July 13. On Wednesday, July 14,
its participants discussed the main topic of the session. The discussion
was started by First Vice Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, who is the
chairman of the Russian Coordination Committee.
Russia and Germany in the next millennium is the topic of this jubilee
session. Over 300 Russian and German politicians and businesses came to
participate in the forum.
"The event has become an important factor for the development of
partnership between Russia and Germany," Zubkov said.
"Globalisation removes borders between nations and countries, and
Russia and Germany share many joint interests," he said.
Misharin said that it had been Germany that became the Sverdlovsk
region's first partner back in the 1990s. He spoke about the cooperation
with Baden-Virtenberg and Saxony, about the partnership with German
enterprises in energy saving technologies, machine building and metal
processing.
The Petersburg Dialogue was organised at the initiative of Vladimir
Putin and Gerhard Schroeder after their meeting on September 25, 2000 in
Moscow. The purpose of the event is to bring closer the two countries, to
overcome existing prejudices and to develop mutual understanding between
Germany and Russia.
The representatives of the CIS, Russia and Germany take part in the
forum. Russia and Germany host the annual event in turn, and usually the
forums are timed to coincide with the German-Russian intergovernmental
consultations. Russia's president and Germany's chancellor usually take
part in the meetings (Vladimir Putin in 2001-2007, since 2008 - Dmitry
Medvedev; Gerhard Schroeder in 2001-2003, since 2006 - Angela Merkel).

.Scientists to specify Russia's continental shelf boundaries in Arctic.

ST. PETERSBURG, July 15 (Itar-Tass) -- The research flagship ship
Akademik Fyodorov will sail off from St. Petersburg to the Arctic on
Thursday, July 15, on a 75-day mission to "implement a big governmental
project".
One of the key tasks of the expedition is to "specify the boundaries
of the Russian continental shelf", the Arctic and Antarctic Research
Institute, the operator and the owner of the ship, told Itar-Tass.
Research in the Arctic is part of support to Russia's application for
an expansion of the external boundaries of its continental shelf.

.Federation Council approves law on foreign service in Russia.

MOSCOW, July 15 (Itar-Tass) -- The Federation Council on Wednesday,
July 14, approved the Law "On the Peculiarities of Federal Civil Service
in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation".
The document was submitted by President Dmitry Medvedev.
The law regulates specific aspects of foreign service and gives
additional social guarantees to diplomats, including those whop work in
foreign countries with a complex socio-political situation, in an
emergency or during armed conflicts.
Stringent professional requirements will apply to Russian diplomats,
but at the same time they and their families will be provided with
additional social guarantees. Both the requirements and the guarantees are
introduced by the law.
The new law was drafted, as the accompanying note says, in order to
"create a legal framework for effective operation of the Russian
diplomatic service".
The special law is needed because service in the Foreign Ministry
"differs substantially from work in other ministries and agencies" that
deal with domestic issues, State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman
Konstantin Kosachev said.
The specific nature of diplomatic work is connected mainly with "the
functions that diplomats perform abroad" because employees of diplomatic
missions and consulates "happen to be in a different legal environment".
Plus, it can be a country with "a special political situation (for
example, it can be in a state of civil war)" or with "an unusual climate:
heat and numerous infectious diseases".
Federation Council Committee on International Relations Chairman
Mikhail Margelov believes that some provisions in the law need to be
specified.
-0-zak/