St. George ribbon campaign starts at UN headquarters

NEW YORK, May 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's annual St. George Ribbon campaign was officially launched at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Tuesday.

The St. George Ribbon campaign, a symbol of people's memory about Russia's heroic past, is being run at the UN for the second time. Ribbons will be distributed by pupils from a school at the Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN before a seminar devoted to WWII.

WWII veterans, who fought for the Soviet Union and U.S armed forces, as well as UN Secretariat staff, diplomats and representatives of non-governmental organizations, are expected to attend.

The participants will discuss the issue of Nazi glorification and look at ways of overcoming the rising trend in the region, including Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine. The event will be held by the Moscow bureau for human rights and the World Congress of Russian Jewry.

The United Nations has named May 8 and May 9 as a Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation.

In the run up to Victory Day, May 9, people attach ribbons with black and orange stripes to their car antennas, jackets, backpacks, or hospital beds for veterans. Some people keep the ribbon for the entire year.

In Russia, the campaign will be run for a fifth year. It was started by RIA Novosti and the Student Community youth organization. More than 45 million ribbons are distributed throughout the world, including in Ukraine, Estonia, Germany, Britain, the United States and China.

Orange and black are the traditional colors of Soviet and Russian awards for military achievements. The black and orange stripes symbolize smoke and fire.




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