A ceremonial reception dedicated to the 10th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of South Ossetia and the Russian Federation organized by the South Ossetian Foreign Ministry took place in the assembly hall of the South Ossetian State University on September 11.

The South Ossetian President, members of the Government and the Parliament, Russian diplomats - officers of the Embassy of the Russian Federation to the Republic of South Ossetia participated in the event.

After performing national anthems of the Republic of South Ossetia and the Russian Federation the President of the Republic of South Ossetia Anatolii Bibilov addressed the attendees. In his speech the President congratulated the audience with the jubilee date and marked that traditions of friendship, mutual respect and full trust to each other had been established between the two nations and states and increased greatly throughout the last decade. Alongside with this he emphasized the important role of the Russian Federation in maintaining security in South Ossetia, which people would always be grateful for the assistance to the Republic in difficult times as well as in times of peaceful reconciliation.

In his speech the South Ossetian Foreign Minister Dmitrii Medoev called it a remarkable day the day of establishment of diplomatic relations between South Ossetia and Russia. “The exchange of notes between Foreign Ministries of South Ossetia and Russia on establishment of diplomatic relations which took place on September 9, 2008 became a logical end to the stage of recognition of the independence of the Republic of South Ossetia by the Russian Federation and ushered in a new era both for the people of South Ossetia and the new state which appeared at the political map of Caucasus. It is the era of peace, creation, stability, development and expectations of peaceful future. More than 130 agreements and other documents covering all fields of the bilateral interaction have been signed by South Ossetia and Russia over 10 years since recognition of the independence and establishment of diplomatic relations. We in South Ossetia greatly appreciate the full Russian assistance and are grateful for the unfailing support and promotion of the position of the Republic at international arena”.

Marat Kulakhmetov, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to South Ossetia, noted a significant progress in the bilateral relations, which has been achieved over the last years, and emphasized that Russia would further provide South Ossetia with the assistance essential for strengthening of the South Ossetian statehood, solution of major economic and social problems and promotion of the positions of the Republic at international arena.

In framework of the event officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Ossetia were decorated by the South Ossetian President Anatolii Bibilov with a medal “In commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of the Victory of the Ossetian Nation in the Patriotic War”.

Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Grigoriy Karasin, State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Alexey Pavlovsky, the Director of Fourth CIS Department of the MFA of the Russian Federation, and Elbrus Kargiev, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to South Ossetia in 2009 – 2017, were honored with ministerial medals “For Contribution to International Cooperation”.

Ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Ossetia Murat Dzhioev was honored with ministerial medal “For Contribution to International Cooperation”.