Round Table Conference on the Balkans in the 21st Century - the Bulgarian View
The International Relations Research Student Organization /IRRSA/ and the Student Diplomatic Club /SDC/ organized the 9th Youth Round Table Conference on the Balkans in the 21st Century - the Bulgarian View: the War in Ukraine and the Impact on Bulgaria".
The Round Table Conference included speeches of the participants within 10 minutes on topics related to the impact of the war on Bulgaria in all aspects of economy and politics. The thematic areas were defined in advance and the participants had to comply with them preparing their papers.
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| Dian Genov, Chairman of IRRSA, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Plamen Ralchev, Head of the International Relations Department and Denis Vasilev, Chairman of the Student Diplomatic Club /SDC/ at Climent Ohridsky University of Sofia |
Dian Genov, Chairman of IRRSA, explained the reasons for the choice of the Round Table Conference topic saying: "The war was, still is and will be for a long time a catalyst for drastic changes in the balance of power internationally", and Denis Vassilev, President of the Student Diplomatic Club (SDC) and a partner of the event, added that the round table gave young people the opportunity to express their opinion on what is Bulgaria's place in this conflict and what foreign policy it pursues.
The moderator of the event was Assoc. Prof. Dr. Plamen Ralchev, Head of the International Relations Department, who focused on the upcoming construction and reconstruction of international relations. "The battle for minds and hearts that Ukraine is waging is another expanded virtual theatre of warfare that is very active. And winning the virtual war, for psychological support, will also be very important for the post-war reconstruction of relations."
The first paper that was presented was by Daria Shvets, Ukrainian, first year student of speciality International Relations at the UNWE. She made an interesting presentation on Bulgaria's Economic and Political Options under the Prospect of Refusing the Russian Gas".
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| Participants in the Round Table Conference |
After her the papers were presented by Ekaterina Georgieva from Paisii Hilendarsky Universit of Plovdiv /Russian Propaganda and Its Influence on the Political Orientation of Bulgarian Citizens/, by Stylian Atanasov from St. Climent Ohridsky University of Sofia, specialty Law /Bulgaria Between the Hammer and the Anvil - the Place of Our Country in the New World Order/, by Ivan Nankov from the specialty International Relations, UNWE /The Impact of the War in Ukraine on the Political Crisis in Bulgaria/, by Simeon Simov from St. Climent Ohridsky University of Sofia /Causes of the War in Ukraine and Bulgaria's Position in the Conflict/ and by Alexander Savov from St. Climent Ohridsky University of Sofia, speciality Law /Bulgarian Foreign Policy in the Balkans in the Context of the EU Foreign Policy and the War in Ukraine/. The topics were developed in great depth with a personal attitude to the issues.
Members of jury were Prof. Dr. Dinko Dinkov, lecturer at the International Relations Department of UNWE, Dr. Lyubomir Kyuchukov, Director of the Institute of Economics and International Relations, Veselin Valchev, Member of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Society and Chavdar Minchev, President of the National Association for International Relations /NAIR) and Editor-in-Chief of the magazine International Relations. They listened carefully to the students to determine the three best papers whose authors will be awarded a diploma for excellent presentation.
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| The jury |
Depending on the quality of the presentations, at the discretion of the jury, one of the participants will get the opportunity to speak in front of the expert audience at the Conference on Bulgaria and the Regional Cooperationwhich will took place in the second half of April as well as to be published in the journal International Relations.
