[east meets west] most agree it worked

I've been a bit slow reporting on this, sorry.

The excitement on the weekend was because we were hosting a forum and annual meeting for an EU body for the first time but that was only part of the story.

The real story was that it was conducted on European, not Russian lines and this was duly noted, right down to the keynote address in English. Doesn't sound too exciting until you think it through.

You'd agree almost all international fora and other summits in the economic field are conducted in the local language, with simultaneous interpretation. We felt we were far enough advanced in our trade ministry to dispense with that and there were key reasons for this, some classified.

The Minister not only gave the keynote address but also conducted workshops and answered questions both in English and using EU protocols. Even more commendably, there was no back up whatsoever - he stood or fell by his own efforts [and so did I as one of the many instigators].

This was nothing short of a triumph and we're more than chuffed, I can tell you. It has to be fair to say that our region staked its claim as a serious player and this was noted with nodding heads by Europe and warily by Moscow.

Our relations with Moscow are always delicate but this must have been a boost for all parties and in stark contrast to the Samara meeting of a few days earlier which, to be fair, had a different agenda - and I'd put Ms Merkel in her place too if it were me.

It just convinces me more and more that open trade is the only sure-fire political way to stable relations between disparate parties and that religion has no place in politics. Now if only Hamas, Fatah, Syria and Israel could do this as well and leave off the gung-ho militancy.

It also convinces me that if there is a man of genuine talent at the helm who is not gung-ho, who doesn't stand on ultimata, who is easy-going and always seeking the common ground, not only does the region enjoy peace and prosperity but it filters down to all levels and things work better.

Well, all right. You're never going to satisfy everyone and that's in the nature of compromise but with a good leader there always remains hope. You always feel he can pull you through, find a way, stand firm when necessary and meet future demands.

And he'll embrace religious values anyway if he's halfway reasonable as a person. But that's just a bonus.