Public Lecture on The EU: Lessons and Challenges, The Role and Place of Spanish Language in The EU and All over The World

At the invitation of the Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics Department Javier Valdivielso, Director of Cervantes Institute for Bulgaria delivered a public lecture on the EU: Lessons and Challenges, the Role and Place of Spanish Language in the EU and All over the World.   

The meeting was opened by Prof. Dr. Daniela Koh-Kozhuharova, Head of the Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics Department who pointed out that it had been the third visit for the Spanish guest at the UNWE and reminded important facts of his biography.

Prof. Koh-Kozhuharova (on the left) and Javier Valdivielso

The European Union is faced to a great international challenge, the citizens lose their trust in it and a process of renovation is required, outlined Javier Valdivielso. According to him the historical experience shows lots of positive features especially for Spain which is among the few countries having low European skepticism. The lecturer examined the reasons of it, assessed the impact of Brexit, explained the differences of migrant pressure and commented the new book by the Spanish political scientist and journalist José Ignacio Torreblanca entitled Who Rules in Europe.

In the Ceremonial Hall

Spain is an interesting country for Europe for two major reasons: its strong relations with Morocco in the political, military, cultural and other spheres as well as its impact on Latin America. The unity of European countries should strengthen and more value should be given to the community, declared Javier Valdivielso.

The lecturer

The Spanish lecturer examined the place and importance of Spanish language in Europe and all over the world as he outlined that the Cervantes language had been spoken in 21 countries and it had been the second most important language in the international communication after the English language. He commented the opportunities of Spanish language for becoming a working language in the EU especially after the Brexit and the prognostications for the decreasing impact of English language in the community.

During the public lecture

In response to questions Javier Valdivileso examined the Bulgarian-Spanish relations, issues of corruption, multi-speed Europe and opportunities for de-integration in the EU, etc.

Javier Valdivielso is a jurist. He was born in San Sebastian, Spain. He worked at the Cervantes Institute in New York, Rome and Casablanca. He has a command of Spanish and Bask languages as his native ones and speaks English, French and Italian.

Cervantes Institute is a public cultural institution in Spain and has 86 centers all over the world.  In 2006 it opened its center also in Bulgaria.