Today, October 2, the official opening of the Czech Centre has been held at the Institute of Philology and Intercultural Communication.
The Czech Centre is aimed to provide teaching the Czech language to Kazan students and introduce Czech culture and history. The centre has been opened under the cooperation agreement between Kazan Federal University and the South Moravian Centre for International Mobility, signed in June 2014.
Ilshat Gafurov, the KFU Rector, kicked off the opening ceremony cutting the ribbon and addressed to the attendees, “Opening this centre we are entering a new stage of relations between Tatarstan Republic and the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic”. The Rector continued that to know foreign languages and cultures was an undeniable advantage both for linguists and future businessmen. Ilshat Gafurov added that launching of the Czech Centre would also contribute to breaking the barriers created by the EU’s sanctions against Russia.
Miloš Šifalda, the Director of the South Moravian Centre for International Mobility, in his turn, expressed his hope that the Czech Centre would serve Tatarstan universities and enable them study peculiarities of Czech culture and traditions. He read the letter of Vladimir Remek, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to the Russian Federation, who believed that the Czech Centre would open opportunities to study in the Czech Republic for Tatarstan students.
Then the floor was given to Glogar Martin, the Manager of short-term intensive programmes of Masaryk University in Brno. “Last week Kazan University proposed to open the Russian Centre in Masaryk University. The idea was supported by our Rector. Thus, the university staff and students will have a chance to learn Russian”.
Let us remember that Tatarstan and the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic work closely together. In late September Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of Tatarstan, visited Brno, the Czech Republic, where two regions signed an agreement for multifaceted cooperation. “We are interested in close interrelations between the South Moravian Region in science, education, business, new joint enterprises and IT”, he said.