Russia Could Serve as 'Source of Inspiration' in Solving Migration Crisis

Russia is an example of the peaceful coexistence of various cultural and national communities and can be a "source of inspiration" for countries struggling with the migration crisis today, UN Alliance of civilizations (UNAOC) High Representative Nassir Abdulaziz Nasser said on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko — Earlier in the day, Nasser met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. The meeting focused on migration, media and education, and culminated in the signing of an agreement with the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

"Russia is an example of harmonious coexistence of various nationalities and faiths, particularly between the Orthodox church and Islam. Russia's experience in this domain can be a source of inspiration for the rest of the world where identity tensions often lead to violence," Nasser said at the ceremony for the signing a the memorandum of understanding between the Alliance and the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies.

He stressed that integrating migrants poses serious challenges to both governments and civil societies and "[the] Russian experience needs to be learned [from]" to avoid and alleviate potential tensions.

Nasser's remarks come as Europe tries to cope with an enormous refugee crisis, which has seen hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants flee to Europe to escape violence and poverty in their home countries. Over 710,000 migrants arrived in the European Union during the first nine months of 2015, according to Frontex.

While Europe is grappling with the refugee crisis, a number of EU politicians have taken a radical anti-immigrant stance, which is building momentum among some local populations.

UNAOC, established in 2005, works towards a "more peaceful, more socially inclusive world, by building mutual respect among peoples of different cultural and religious identities, highlighting the will of the world’s majority to reject extremism and embrace diversity," according to the alliance's mission statement.

"We didn't discuss [the] Russian operation in Syria," the chief of the UN cross-culture mediating body told reporters after his meeting with Lavrov.

"Russia is a good partner of the Alliance," Nasser assured journalists. "We had a very fruitful discussion and I think the signing of the memorandum of understanding with the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies will boost our partnership," he added.

Russia has been conducting precision airstrikes at Islamic State militant group positions in Syria at the request of President Bashar Assad since September 30. Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed in September that the time frame for Russia’s campaign would be limited to that of the Syrian Army’s offensive and ruled out the participation of Russian armed forces in a ground operation.