Peskov's daughter says it is harmful to have the children of Russian officials return from abroad
A commentary in response to Russian media reports regarding the Presidential Administration’s request for officials to have their children studying abroad returned to Russia was published on behalf of Elizaveta Peskova (daughter of Dmitry Peskov, the Press Secretary for the President of Russia) on her Instagram page. Peskova believes the initiative to be harmful and noted that her training abroad doesn’t contradict the idea of patriotism.
“We must strive to ensure that people want to live in their country but not to hold them by force. As the saying goes, love can’t be forced,” Elizaveta wrote.
“Even Peter the Great saw the benefits of foreign education compared with Russian education. Those who believe that patriots should study only in their country, either aren’t very familiar with the history or Peter the Great’s opinions do not matter to them. This tsar realized the importance of education abroad for the development of the State. As a result, Peter the Great implemented reforms to focus special attention on Europe, where thousands of young people went to study abroad. Sometimes people didn’t return to Russia, preferring to live their life in another country, and the same is happening in our time,” Elizaveta Peskova wrote.
“Having the experience of living in Europe and communicating with people from other countries, Russian nationals will have not only the innate Russian mindset, but also the European one. This will lead to the improvement of international relations and an understanding of the foreign vision of the world,” the statement also said.