King Juan Carlos I of Spain to visit Russia to launch the Year of Spain in Russia

[News_Editor]

King Juan Carlos I of Spain to visit Russia to launch the Year of Spain in Russia

2011-02-24 04:58:42 GMT+7 (ICT)

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (BNO NEWS) -- Russia on Wednesday announced that King Juan Carlos I of Spain will visit St. Petersburg next Thursday to emphasize bilateral ties upon invitation of President Dmitry Medvedev.

King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia will join Medvedev on Friday at a ceremony to announce the official start of the Year of Russia in Spain and the Year of Spain in Russia. The royal couple will be in Russia from February 24 to 25.

The two year-long celebrations will include more than 350 events involving world-renowned artistic groups, musicians, major exhibitions, conferences, investment forums and symposiums.

St. Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum will exhibit artistic masterpieces from the National Museum of the Prado consisting in 66 paintings representing all the major genres from the collections of the Museum of Madrid.

The exhibition will include works from El Greco, Velazquez, Goya, Titian, Rubens, Moreau, Luis Melendez, Pantoja de la Cruz, Watteau and others. It will be open until May 29.

In addition, Medvedev and King Juan Carlos I will discuss prospects of further development of bilateral cooperation in various fields, as well as key aspects on the most pressing regional and international issues.

The two leaders are expected to give considerable attention to the economic component of Russian-Spanish relations such as ways to expand cooperation in energy, transportation, high technology, tourism, major infrastructure projects.

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