Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday...

"Tens of thousands of graduates of the university now work in 170 countries contributing to stronger friendly ties and mutually beneficial cooperation of these countries with Russia," Medvedev said in a congratulatory letter posted on the Kremlin website www.kremlin.ru.

"[The university] not only offers quality education, but also nourishes respect and interest toward cultural traditions of different peoples," he added.

The institute was created at a time when the Soviet Union and the West fiercely fought for influence in dozens of Asian and African states freshly liberated from colonial rule and Latin American countries which were looking for their political identity.

The institution was intended to become a place where new political elites of these countries could receive free education and be politically indoctrinated to maintain close ties with the Kremlin in the future.

During its 50 years, the university has prepared over 70,000 specialists in various

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