How international visits of heads of states have been conducted over the past quarter century.
An international visit of a head of state is an incredibly regulated procedure (no wonder three hundred years ago Peter the Great traveled incognito – partly to save time).
Visits are divided into working and official. While the protocol for a working visit is rather democratic and involves a fitting welcome at the airport, an official visit entails an honor guard and a military band, a formal reception by the head of the host country with a mandatory luncheon and exchange of gifts.
However, the mandatory protocol allows room for variations and improvisations by the host country, aimed at displaying the level of diplomatic relations between countries. We’ll discuss a few such variations in this article.
Vladimir Putin’s Voyage to the Middle East
Last week’s visit by Vladimir Putin to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia was of the highest level. The presidential plane was escorted by the Russian Knights aerobatic team on Su-35S fighter jets armed onboard – a quite unique event in contemporary history.
Usually, near the state border, the head of state’s aircraft is escorted by the host country’s Air Force, while the escort of its own fighter jets turns around and returns to base. Well, the current global political-military situation justifies such increased security measures.
In Abu Dhabi, the Russian delegation was welcomed with a grand reception featuring artillery salutes. The local Air Force made a unique gesture – a squadron of Emirates Knights training-combat aircraft colored the sky in the colors of the Russian flag. There was also some local exoticism – the Russian president’s limousine was accompanied by riders on camels and Arabian horses.
Germany’s President “Tea-Drinking” in Qatar
A striking contrast to the grand reception in the UAE was the recent visit of Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Qatar. Steinmeier had to wait for the host country’s Foreign Minister for half an hour. The situation seemed anecdotal: a red carpet, an honor guard – and the lonely president of Germany at the top of the aircraft stairs.
Cynical German journalists suggested that Steinmeier was offered time to have tea, but a more likely version is a conscious diplomatic move triggered by sharp words from the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, previously accusing Qatar’s authorities of sponsoring terrorism.
Relations between Russia and China are traditionally strong
The magnificence of receptions for top leaders generally indicates the level of diplomatic relations between countries. For instance, one can recall Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia in March 2013, which was his first foreign trip as President of China.
At the Kremlin Palace, the head of China was met with a ceremonial cavalry escort for the first time in modern Russian history. However, in Moscow, the host side, presumably for reasons of time-saving, limited the visit to a motorcycle escort.
Xi Jinping became the first foreign leader to visit one of Russia’s most secretive facilities – the Center for Operational Control of the Armed Forces. Meanwhile, the wife of the Chinese leader, Peng Liyuan, delighted Muscovites by singing the Russian folk song “Oh, the Viburnum is Blooming.”
The visit by the Chairman of China concluded with the signing of several important Russian-Chinese intergovernmental agreements, and since then, Xi Jinping has visited Russia seven more times.
Kim Jong-un at the Vostochny Cosmodrome
Relations between Russia and another Far Eastern country – North Korea – are also thriving. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un regularly visits our country, but this September, he visited an unusual place – the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur Region.
Following in the footsteps of his father, Kim Jong-il, and grandfather, the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-sung, the North Korean leader traditionally travels to foreign countries in a specially equipped olive-colored armored train. The first Russian stop was at the Hasan station, where Kim Jong-un was greeted by the Minister of Natural Resources Alexander Kozlov and the Governor of the Primorsky Territory Oleg Kozhemyako.
However, the main ceremonies took place at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, where Vladimir Putin awaited the North Korean leader. A red carpet, an honor guard, a military band – all the necessary formalities were observed.
Before the negotiations began, the honorary guest was given a tour of Vostochny. It could be said that the tour was conducted personally by the President of Russia, who showed Kim Jong-un the launch pad for the “Soyuz-2” rocket complex and the stages of assembling the “Angara” carrier rocket. The North Korean leader showed genuine interest in inspecting space technology and even left a note in the Guest Book of the cosmodrome: “The glory of Russia as the country of the first conquerors of space will never fade.”
A little later, behind closed doors, a meeting was held where Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un discussed military-technical and civil cooperation between our countries. According to domestic and foreign sources, the negotiations were successful.
Barack Obama at Buckingham Palace and the British Parliament
The first presidential term of Barack Obama was a time of great hope. One can recall the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the 44th U.S. president for, presumably, achievements unknown even to himself.
Barack Obama was warmly welcomed in May 2011 in the United Kingdom. The first presidential couple was first visited by the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles (now Charles III), who introduced Barack and Michelle Obama to his wife Camilla, son William, and daughter-in-law Catherine.
Next, the American president (with his wife) was received by Queen Elizabeth II (also with her husband). This was followed by a ceremonial reception and a military parade accompanied by artillery salutes. The next day, Barack Obama became the first of the American presidents to address the British Parliament. The main theme of his speech was the situation in the Middle East and Africa and assistance to democracy in the region.
Since then, not so many years have passed, but the dreams of the Obama era have long turned to dust. The U.S. military and NATO policies could not bring prosperity (and could they, in principle?) neither to Libya nor to Iraq nor to Afghanistan.
In 2010, Dmitry Medvedev was welcomed by the royal family in Norway
Not so long ago, meetings of Russian leaders in now unfriendly NATO countries also took place in a “warm and friendly atmosphere.” It is enough to remember April 2010 when Dmitry Medvedev visited Norway on a state visit. President of Russia and his spouse Svetlana were greeted by the heir to the royal throne – Crown Prince Haakon.
On Palace Square in Oslo, the Russian guests were welcomed by King Harald with his wife Sonja. An official reception ceremony took place with the participation of royal guards and a military orchestra, accompanied by artillery salutes, and the gathered residents of Oslo chanted “Russia, Norway, friendship!” The high-level parties exchanged gifts, and a solemn reception took place at the royal palace in the evening.
In 2023, presenting such a level of relations between Russia and a NATO country is difficult.
The Pope in Cuba
At the same time, the living political process implies not only a cooling and rupture of relations between states but also mutual reconciliation. An interesting event occurred in 1998 when Pope John Paul II (also the head of the Vatican state) visited revolutionary Cuba – an unimaginable occasion for the previous decades.
Tens of thousands of people, lined up in a 15-kilometer human chain, holding portraits of John Paul II and pictures depicting the patroness of Cuba, the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, greeted the head of the Roman Catholic Church with enthusiasm. On Havana’s skyscraper, next to a portrait of Che Guevara, an image of Jesus Christ was displayed.
At the solemn service held on Revolution Square in Havana, Cuban leader Fidel Castro stood in the front row. Later, John Paul and Fidel cordially conversed in the presence of journalists about Christianity and revolution.
Since then, successors of John Paul II in the post of the Roman Pontiff have repeatedly visited Cuba during trips to Latin America. They did not succeed in contributing to the lifting of more than sixty years ago imposed U.S. anti-Cuban sanctions. However, Cuba’s relations with European countries have definitely improved over the past twenty-five years.
Let’s also recall the historic meeting of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, with Pope Francis in 2016 – it took place in Havana, at the airport named after the poet and revolutionary José Martí.
By Alexander Averin