Cultural programs such as the Russian Seasons international project, which is hosted this year by Italy, and strong humanitarian ties could become a basis that could help to revive the dialogue between Europe and Russia stalled by political disagreements, the mayor of the Italian city of Bari, Antonio Decaro, told Sputnik.
BARI (Italy) (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 15th October, 2018) Cultural programs such as the Russian Seasons international project, which is hosted this year by Italy, and strong humanitarian ties could become a basis that could help to revive the dialogue between Europe and Russia stalled by political disagreements, the mayor of the Italian city of Bari, Antonio Decaro, told Sputnik.
The Russian Seasons festival began in January and will continue till the end of the year. The program includes concerts, theatrical and ballet performances, circus shows, exhibitions, and film screenings in over 70 Italian cities.
"We have very strong cultural relationships with Russia, so we hope that the European Union and Russia make a step toward each other to try to resolve the problems of political nature that exist today, and on the basis of the existing artistic and cultural relationships and exchanges, we can rebuild industrial and commercial exchanges, improve political ties between Russia and the European Union," Decaro said.
The mayor recalled that, on October 7, he awarded conductor and the artistic director of the St. Petersburg State Music Hall Theater Fabio Mastrangelo with the highest city award of the Merito della Republica Citta di Bari for extraordinary achievements in promoting the Italian culture worldwide and for the significant role he played in the city's cultural life.
Mastrangelo was born in the city of Bari. The symphony orchestra of the St. Petersburg State Music Hall Theater led by Mastrangelo made a tour to Italy earlier in October as part of Russian Seasons, charming the local audience with excerpts from the works by Italian composers of the XVIII century played on the musical instruments that were gifted to the composers by Russian Empress Catherine the Great.
Russian Seasons comes amid the continued strain in Russian-EU relations over the Ukraine crisis, reunification with Crimea and the Salisbury poisoning incident. Recently, the relations have also been marred by a series of allegations of Moscow's subversive activities in various EU countries, most recently, in the Netherlands.
Moscow has strongly refuted all accusations as unsubstantiated, stressing that it did not interfere in other states' affairs, while the Crimean referendum during which over 90 percent of those who voted chose to rejoin Russia had been held in compliance with international law.
