King Salman

:: King Salman will be granted an honorary doctorate on Saturday by the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), which is operated by Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

“MGIMO is proud to welcome the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques during his truly historic visit to Russia, and we are proud to include His Majesty among MGIMO’s honorary degree-holders,” the institute’s Rector Anatoly Torkunov told Arab News.

Its honorary doctorates acknowledge recipients’ roles in strengthening relations between their country and Russia, and their contribution to global stability and prosperity.

Previous recipients include Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Jordan’s King Abdallah, former French President Jacques Chirac, former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali, and Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, former secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

In 2016, MGIMO signed a cooperation agreement with the Prince Saud Al-Faisal Institute for Diplomatic Studies at the Saudi Foreign Ministry.

MGIMO, founded in 1944, prepares diplomats for the Foreign Ministry. “Despite its proximity to political elites, MGIMO has always maintained the spirit of intellectual freedom, encouraging independent thinking in its students,” its website says.

The Guinness Book of World Records acknowledged MGIMO for the number of languages it teaches — 53.