The Diplomatic Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the town of Sandanski opened the 15th Winter School of Diplomacy
21 March 2022 News
The Diplomatic Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs opened the 15th Winter School of Diplomacy, which will be held in the period 21-25 March 2022 in the town of Sandanski.
The event was organized by the Diplomatic Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the support of the Hans Seidel Foundation in Bulgaria. Petar Krajchev, Regional Director of the Hans Seidel Foundation - Klaus Fizinger, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Irena Dimitrova greeted the participants with a video address.
The main goal of the Winter School is to create an environment in which junior diplomats from Southeast Europe, the Black Sea region, and EU Member States to discuss the leading trends and directions of foreign policy, both in their countries and in Europe, creating in this way a network of contacts with each other.
At the opening of the event, the Director of the Diplomatic Institute Tanya Mihaylova referred to the common position of the 17 diplomatic institutes and academies around the world condemning the Russian aggression in Ukraine, calling for peace talks between the two countries, respecting Ukraine's right to independent democratic governance, territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence. "My message to you is to be united. Our profession allows us to find a solution in difficult situations", Tanya Mihaylova said. Deputy Foreign Minister Irena Dimitrova stressed that the military conflict in Ukraine has united the EU and NATO as never before. "With a decisive and united response, we continue to send a clear message to Russia that such aggression will not go unnoticed. "Bulgaria is a strong supporter of the continuation of sanctions against Russia and Belarus", she said in a video address.
Deputy Minister Dimitrova stressed that Bulgaria continues to accept refugees from Ukraine and supports the country's application for EU membership, as well as the European perspective of Georgia and Moldova.
"As young diplomats, you should know that now, more than ever, we must work together to counter this act of aggression", the Deputy Foreign Minister concluded.
The program continued the first day with an address by the Ambassador of France to Bulgaria - Florence Robin, who introduced the young diplomats to the current priorities of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU, and the Ambassador of Germany to Bulgaria - Christoph Eichhorn, who spoke more about the "turning point" in German foreign and security policy in view of the war in Ukraine.
Within the framework of the international seminar, junior diplomats will get acquainted with topics such as the Bulgarian presidency of the Central European Initiative (CEI), security challenges in the region, regional cooperation, energy and climate diplomacy, with experts and diplomats from Bulgaria and abroad being among the speakers.
For its 15-year history, the Winter School has been attended by a total of 403 people from 36 countries, as well as a number of high-level diplomats and experts.