Russia's first Council for Foreign Students' Affairs will be established under the St. Petersburg government and headed by St. Petersburg Vice-Governor Sergei Tarasov. The council will coordinate activities to protect foreign students' rights and interests. It will also be responsible for forming a "positive image" of foreigners in the eyes of city residents.

Representatives from universities, institutes and colleges hope that this organization will succeed in forcing policemen to crack down on skinheads, the Russian daily newspaper Izvestia reported.

The decision to establish the Council was made on Tuesday in Smolny, the city government's headquarters.

St. Petersburg hosts the largest number of foreign students in the country, more than 10,000, and they pay about $90 million a year for their education.

News source: www.en.rian.ru
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