The next meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, taking place in early September in St. Petersburg, Kizhi, Valaam and Moscow, will provide its foreign participants with a truly unique chance of “immersion into the Russian dimension,” Orietta Moscatelli, head of the New Europe project at the Apcom news agency, Italy’s irreplaceable representative at the event, told RIA Novosti.

“This year will be the fifth time I am taking part in the extremely intensive discussions of the Valdai Forum. Some of the previous events unfortunately coincided with dramatic episodes in Russia’s life, such as the Beslan hostage tragedy or the conflict in the Caucasus two years ago. I mean it often happens that the agenda of our meetings changes by force of real life,” Moscatelli said.

She said the focus of this year’s discussions is formulated very broadly – “Russia: History and Future Development.”

“We will effectively discuss the path modern Russia is following. In particular, we will talk about the nature and prospects of concentration of power in the country, the modernization strategy, the geopolitical orientation toward Asia and the East, and the relations with the European Union,” the journalist said.
Moscatelli pointed out that Russia’s modernization strategy is not widely known in the West at this stage, particularly in Italy.

“Two years have passed since the global meltdown hit, and one year since President Dmitry Medvedev issued his ‘manifesto’ in which he talked of the need to modernize the country; however, few know anything about it in Italy. Frankly speaking, the global recession has overshadowed all other political and socio-economic issues. They begin discussing Russia only when the news generates more fears,” she emphasized.

“Fears in Europe emerge anytime a gas crisis occurs or tensions grow in the Caucasus, or, paradoxically, when Russia and the United States begin talking of ‘resetting’ international relations. One has to admit that the Western public’s perception of Russia is that of a genetically imperial power; their suspicion of Moscow is largely automatic,” Moscatelli said.

This also happens in Italy, she said, despite the long-standing strategic partnership between the two countries.
In this respect, the panel discussion “Russia in the world: Can it become a country the world would like to see it?” is especially important, she said.

“I will be very interested in hearing the opinions of my colleagues from the United States, Britain and Eastern Europe, but I believe we can all answer yes to the question,” she added.

The Russian president has been attracting a lot of interest in Italy. “In July he paid a short working visit to our country, but even his short stay gave rise to a lot of discussion. He gave the impression of a leader with an unusual and very direct style combined with good inter-personal skills. A new term was invented, Medvedev-mania. We are witnessing a new phenomenon,” Moscatelli went on.

On the whole, she emphasized a high professional level of the Valdai Forum discussion.

“Personally, I see the days of joint discussions with Russian analysts and journalists as exceptionally productive. It is not just that we get information ‘from the inside.’ We also get interesting impulses that provide us with insight into various issues, and continue discussion and research. We take all the knowledge on board, go home and then continue extracting loads of useful things from it for a year. I would describe it as a ‘Davos effect.’ The Valdai Club functions in much the same way, and the store of ideas we have accumulated in Russia, proves quite useful afterwards,” the Italian participant said.

Speaking of her own priorities with regard to the upcoming meeting, Moscatelli cited the relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

“We will visit Kizhi and Valaam, places of rich spiritual traditions of Russian Orthodoxy. The tour of the holy ground will be followed by meetings in Moscow, some of them attended by the Russian Orthodox Church head. I hope this experience will help us look from a different perspective at Moscow-Vatican relations, where the two religious leaders are open to dialogue. I do not expect a meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill too soon, because there are still many obstacles to the dialogue. But the hope for a positive development of relations is growing,” Moscatelli concluded.