#13 - JRL 7206
TV1 Review
www.1tv.ru
Compiled by Luba Schwartzman ( luba_sch@hotmail.com)
Research Analyst, Center for Defense Information, Moscow office

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS,
Saturday, May 31, 2003

- International leaders who came to St. Petersburg to attend the celebration of the city’s 300th anniversary participated in the Russia-European Union Summit. At the Summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the introduction of a visa-free regime between Russia and the EU as soon as in November.

- The Russia-EU Summit, held in the Marble Hall of the Konstantinovskii Palace, in Strelny, suburbs of St. Petersburg, was broadcast live on television.

- After the Summit, the leaders of 45 nations attended a concert held in honor of the opening of the Konstantinovskii Palace. Other events in honor of the city’s anniversary include a fountain celebration at the Petergof Palace, the opening of the Amber Room at the Yekaterinburg Palace, a special exhibit at the Ermitage, a laser show over night-time St. Peterburg and various concerts throughout the city.

- The first ladies of 20 nations attended a fashion show by Russian designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev at the Konstantinovskii Palace.

- French President Jacques Chirac left celebrations in St. Petersburg a half an hour before the arrival of U.S. President George W. Bush, making the planned meeting impossible. The meeting was supposed to show reconciliation between France and the U.S. after the Iraqi crisis.

- Nikolai Kharitonov has been removed from the leading ranks of the Agrarian Party and may be expelled from the party. His colleagues accuse him of violating party discipline and having overly close relations with the head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennady Zyuganov. Agrarian Party leader Mikhail Lapshin announced that the party will run independently in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Lapshin strongly criticized the Communists, declaring that their leaders in the State Duma were unable to defend the interest of the Russian peasants.

- The city of Khabarovsk celebrates its 145th birthday. In these years it grown from a small military post into the center of the Far Eastern Federal District.

- 21-year-old Russian tennis star Anna Kurnikova will marry 28- year-old singer Enrique Iglesias.

Sunday, June 1, 2003

-President Putin and President Bush met at the Konstantinovskii Palace in the suburbs of St. Petersburg to discuss the situation in Iraq and questions of bilateral cooperation. The meeting was also attended by Deputy Administration Head of the Russian Federation Sergei Prihodko, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.

- The G-8 meeting is opening in Avian, Switzerland. Leaders of Asian, African and Latin American nations have been invited.

- International Day of the Protection of Children is celebrated on June 1st.

- Final preparations are being conducted in Baikonur for the launching of the Mars-Express spacecraft. With the help of the Soyuz missile carrier and the Fregat acceleration block, the spacecraft will enter the orbit of Mars in six months. The main goal of scientists is to determine whether there is organic life on the planet.

- The Zolotoi Vityaz’ Film Festival ended in Kaluga. About 200 films about timeless values relations between people and were submitted. The winning film was Nikita Mikhalkov’s two-part documentary “Otets” [Father] and “Mat’” [Mother].