Discours et allocutions de l`Ambassadeur

Ladies and gentlemen,

Dear guests,

It is my great pleasure to welcome you at the vernisage of the exhibition which commemorates the 50^th anniversary of the first manned flight into space.

Let me first express my deepest gratitude to Mr. Edouard Dayan, Director General of the UPU, for hosting our exhibition, which, I am sure, would be of great interest to the members of the POC (Postal Operations Council) delegations and to honorable guests. Numerous stamps that you can see on the frames were precisely selected from unique collections of the postal services of the Russian Federation, Switzerland and Liechtenstein as well as from the richest one of the UPU. Some of them are truly precious pieces of art. Apart from their original function, stamps help to keep track of history and to reflect its milestones. And there is no coincidence that we celebrate one of the brightest moments in our history here at the UPU-Headquarters in Bern, the universal home of stamps.

On April 12, 1961 a soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin launched a new era in the history of humanity, an era of space exploration. His flight was not just a triumph of technology, it was a victory over the unknown. For decades people had been tempted by space journeys. By the middle of the 20^th century a vast scope of theoretical knowledge had been gathered, but no one could guarantee that the first manned flight would be a success. It turned out that a risk was worth a stake. Today, we pay tribute to all the brave and courageous pioneers of cosmonautics, and of course, to our compatriot who was predetermined to be the first man in space – Yuri Gagarin.

He was a simple man, very easygoing, with an unforgettable smile. At the same time he was a top-class pilot whose example afterwards encouraged many boys and girls to enter flight schools and strive for their dream of space. For some of those kids dreams did come true and we have seen them on board the “Mir” - Station, or later on board the ISS. Modern cosmonauts and astronauts spend at least a couple of weeks on the orbit, in some cases up to a year and a half. This is hardly comparable to 108 minutes of Gagarin’s flight and illustrates the progress we have reached. Apropos, you can, figuratively join the soviet cosmonaut on his orbital tour by watching the film “First on the Orbit”, played on the flat screen in the exhibition hall.

Nowadays space exploration has evolved from merely a beauteous idea into an alternative environment to test high technologies, develop unique drugs and invent new means of communication. It has brought out multiple examples of a successful cooperation between different countries, including Switzerland. The authentic exhibits in the show cases, kindly provided to us by the Science Faculty of the University of Bern, have successfully accomplished or are about to complete their missions in the outer space.

In conclusion, let me share with you one idea that I have recently come across. Space travel is not only technological phenomenon, it is also a cultural one. A society requires high cultural standards in order to realize its potential by going a long and difficult way towards progress. In this regard, I am very proud that the jubilee that we celebrate today by opening this exhibition has become an integral part of the Festival of Russian culture in Switzerland that started in February in Lausanne and will last for the whole year.

Thank you very much for your attention.