The event has been directed by the principal of Universitat de València, Esteban Morcillo, accompanied at the table by the vice-principal for International Relations and Cooperation, Guillermo Palao, and the vice-principal for Culture and Equality, Antonio Ariño. The interventions of the vice-principal Guillermo Palao and the professor Joan Romero, full university professor of Human geography in the Faculty of Geography and History, have precede the conference of the ambassador Yuri Korchagin. Romero has given the conference ‘Spain, Russia and the future of Europe’, during which he has called himself ‘europeist’ and he has bet on the creation of academic, economical, commercial and cultural bonds between Spain and Russia.

Several authorities have attended to the event. Some of them are the Delegate of the Governing Council for the EU, Joan Calabuig; the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Valencia, José Vicente Morata; and Antonio Aracil, honorary consul in the Russian embassy as well as a wide representation of the Universitat de València.

About Yuri Korchagin

Yuri Korchagin (1950, Vorónezh, Rusia) is graduate in History and Arts by the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. In 1977 he joined the diplomatic service and he assumed different posts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs such as advisor. Moreover he worked in diplomatic missions in the embassies of the Soviet Union and, afterwards in the embassies of Russia in Mexico and Peru.

Between 1995 and 1999 he was advisor minister of the Russian Embassy in Argentina, he worked in headquarters of International Organizations in Paris and Geneva. He was also member of the United Nations Observer Group for Mozambique. Since 2003, he has been the Russian ambassador in Colombia, Argentina and in Paraguay (by concurrence); and nowadays he is ambassador in Spain and concurrent in Andorra. He occupies this later post since 2012. He was also Director of the Department of Latin America of the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Korchagin has national medals from Russia, Argentina and Paraguay and he received the honour diplomas of the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The Escola Europea de Pensament Lluís Vives is a cultural project, boosted by the Office of the Vice-Principal for Culture and Equality of the UV, with the management of the General Foundation of the UV, which is configured as a space for reflection and open, participatory and critical debate about current issues at world level and also for the Valencian society.

Moreover, the Escola counts on the participation of other people from the Public administration and civil society: The President of the Valencian government, the City Hall of Valencia, the Valencian Department of Transparency and Education, Research, Culture and Sports, the Alfons el Magnànim Institute, the Escola Europea d’Humanitats and the Caixa Popular.