Press releases

MINSK, 10 July (BelTA) – As many as 52 countries will participate in the 19^th World Congress of Russian Press. The congress will focus on modern civilization priorities as part of partnership for the future, Belarusian Information Minister Lilia Ananich said in BelTA’s press center on 10 July.

The 19^th World Congress of Russian Press is scheduled to take place on 11-15 July. Foreign guests will start arriving in Minsk on 11 July. According to Lilia Ananich, representatives of mass media of 52 countries, including Belarus, will take part in the congress.

Lilia Ananich reminded it will be the second time Belarus will host the congress: the country hosted the 15^th World Congress of Russian Press in 2013. “We are thankful to the World Association of Russian Press for the interest they show in our country, for the opportunity to discuss such an important media agenda on such a large scale,” noted the official.

Lilia Ananich went on saying that this year the traditional media forum Partnership for the Future will be held in addition to the congress. “We believe it is necessary for all our guests to work at the same venue because mass media know no borders and the topics we would like to discuss are common for everyone,” explained the Belarusian information minister.

The plenary session of the 19^th World Congress of Russian Press will take place in Minsk on 12 July. Two panel sessions will be held to discuss “Challenges and opportunities: sovereignty, integration, and globalization” and “Mass media in digital revolution conditions”. Both panel sessions are supposed to enable a large-scale discussion of the agenda of pressing interest for the mass media community, Lilia Ananich was convinced.

Speaking about digital revolution, the minister pointed out that in current conditions mass media should work out common approaches to counteract challenges and threats, to make the information space safe for people and the society.

According to Lilia Ananich, the panel session on integration and globalization will allow Belarus once again to voice the messages the country has been generating throughout its independence period by promoting good neighborhood principles and the multiple-vector foreign policy.

Lilia Ananich said she was confident that the forthcoming congress will become a good platform for communication. It will help expand the information space between countries and build up their potential.

The 19^th World Congress of Russian Press is organized by the World Association of Russian Press (WARP), the Belarusian Information Ministry, and the World Russian Press Foundation.

The World Association of Russian Press (WARP) was established on 24 June 1999. It is an open international non-governmental association of printed and digital mass media, news agencies, publishing houses, television channels, and radio programs. According to the WARP Council, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, radio and television broadcasts in Russian are now available in over 70 countries across the globe. A significant number of them are represented in WARP or cooperate with the association.