13 April 2023
On April 13th, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Dominican Republic to the Russian Federation Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos visited MGIMO University.
The Ambassador and the Counsellor of the Embassy Nelson Ortega met with the MGIMO Rector Anatoly Torkunov and the Vice-Rector for Students’ Development and International Affairs Stanislav Surovtsev.
The parties discussed a wide range of issues related to the academic, cultural and tourist ties between the countries, the interaction between MGIMO University and Dominican universities. They also touched upon the cooperation of the Embassy with the Spanish Language Department and the MGIMO Spanish theater as well as possible organization of a tour of the theater to the Dominican Republic.
Ambassador Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, who had worked for many years in the hotel and tourism business and served as Deputy Minister of Tourism of the Dominican Republic, proposed to organize internships for the students specializing in Spanish in the best hotels of the Dominican Republic during the so-called “high season”.
Following the meeting with the Rector, the Ambassador delivered a lecture and a presentation to the students and faculty of the University. The event, celebrating the 179th anniversary of the Dominican Republic Independence Day was held in Spanish and partly in English. It was moderated by the Head of the International Office Egor Andreev.
At the beginning of his speech, the Ambassador drew a parallel between Russians and Dominicans, stressing how close the two peoples are in their adherence to family traditions and values, similar characters and emotional make.
The lecture was a summary of 78 years of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Dominican Republic. The speech was also devoted to the current geopolitical situation in the world and the confident and pragmatic character of Russian foreign policy, which, according to the Ambassador, helps to defend national interests in rapidly changing international relations. Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos told the students how important it is for diplomats to upend stereotypes about countries and peoples. He also highly appreciated the professionalism of diplomats from Russia and CIS countries with whom he worked and noted that if he had had the opportunity to go back in time by 20 years, he would have certainly chosen MGIMO University.
The Ambassador answered numerous questions concerning various areas of economic and cultural cooperation between the two countries, stressing the proficiency in Spanish of our students.
At the end of the meeting, a popular Dominican bachata style melody was played. Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos expressed his wish to visit MGIMO University again and give a lecture to those studying tourism business, and also invited students and faculty to hold a friendly meeting at the Embassy of the Dominican Republic in Moscow.
