Slavs of the world celebrate the Day of Friendship and Unity on June 25

June 25, the Slavs of the World celebrate the Day of Friendship and Unity. Most commonly this day is celebrated by three eastern Slavic countries – Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

The Slavs are the largest linguistic and cultural community of the world. The total number of the Slavs in the world is 300-350 million. There are Western (Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Kashubians and Sorbs), Southern (Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Macedonians, Slovenes, Montenegrins) and Eastern Slavs (Belarusians, Russians, Ukrainians, Ruthenians).

The Slavs form the main part of the population of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, they also live in all post-Soviet countries, Hungary, Greece, Germany, Austria, Italy, in the Americas and Australia.

The idea of ​​the unity of the Slavic peoples goes deep into the history, to the creation of a common written language of Saints Cyril and Methodius, who are revered in Russia as well as in several other Slavic states.

The joint celebration of the Days of Slavic Written Language and Culture, which are connected with the celebration of educators of Cyril and Methodius, is contributed to the strengthening of ties of the Slavic peoples and the preservation of the spiritual community of the Eastern and Western Slavs.

A great contribution to the unity of the Slavs is made by the regional national-cultural associations.

Annually, on the border of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine at the Monument of Friendship is held festival “Slavic unity”, dedicated to the Unity Day of the Slavs. The festival program includes a meeting of official delegations of three republics of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, participation of leading creative collectives and performers, craftsmen fair, arts and crafts. In 2012, the 44th festival will be held in the Gomel region of Belarus.