OPENING OF THE BUST OF GAGARIN IN RIJEKA (CROATIA)

The opening ceremony was attended by:

• Russian Ambassador to Croatia Anvar Azimov,
• Deputy Mayor of Rijeka Marko Filipovic,
• Representative of Rossotrudnichestvo in Croatia Natalya Yakimchuk,
• President of the Astronomical Society of Rijeka Dinko Brautovich,
• Representative of the Russian national minority in the Primorsko-Goranska županiia Natalya Marchela,
• Representatives of the Rijeka city administration, leaders and members of the Association of Technical Culture of the Primorsko-Goranska County, the Croatian-Russian Friendship Association, schoolchildren and students.

The special guest of the ceremony was Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot-cosmonaut Anatoly Artsebarsky, who arrived in Croatia to participate in the opening of the monument and the program for celebrating International Planetarium Day.

“We are very pleased that the monument to the first cosmonaut of the planet was erected in Rijeka, the cultural capital of Europe in 2020. It will be the first composition in the “Park of Heroes” on the territory of the Astronomical Center, which will be continued by sculptures of world-famous discoverers and explorers,” said the mayor of Rijeka, Vojko Obersnel, in his speech.