British Ambassador to Russia Anthony Brenton, right, and Mikhail Kasyanov, leader of Peoples' Democratic Union, attend traditional tea party held at Britain's Embassy June 21 in honor of HM Queen Elizabeth II’s 81st birthday.
Photo: Valery Levitin
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Only the Opposition Celebrates Britain's Queen Birthday in Moscow
British Ambassador to Russia Anthony Brenton hosted June 21 a traditional tea party in honor of HM Queen Elizabeth II’s 81st birthday. Russia’s guests were traditionally joking that the Queen didn’t attend her birthday again. But some new traditions have apparently emerged in the British Embassy in addition to the old ones.
HM Queen Elizabeth II was born April 21, 1926. Her Birthday Party is celebrated in all Britain’s Embassies around the world on the nearest date to her real Birthday in April or to her official birthday in June.
When it comes to the British Embassy in Moscow, one of the trends that has survived for a year already is the general absence of the Kremlin envoys or pro-Kremlin policymakers at its parties. The general impression is that the bureaucrats were banned from attending receptions staged by embassies of the states with tough relations with Russia and Britain apparently tops the black list.
So, the political beau-monde at HM Queen Elizabeth II's birthday in Moscow was represented by the opposition, including communist leader and future president candidate Gennady Zyuganov, Yabloko chief Grigory Yavlinsky, Ms Khakamada and Mikhail Kasyanov, today’s chief of Peoples’ Democratic Union and former prime minister of Russia.
As to Mikhail Kasyanov, he spent the better part of the party standing near the entrance, as if in an effort to be noticed by every guest of the Britain’s Embassy. “Naturally, if any of policymakers loyal to authorities showed up, he would surely turn back and leave in no minute after spotting Kasyanov,” the guests were joking.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of June 25, 2007
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