International Seminar “Winter School of Diplomacy” in Park Hotel Pirin

On March 16, 2015 in Park Hotel PirinSandanski opened the tenth edition of the international seminar “Winter School of Diplomacy” organized by the Diplomatic Institute in cooperation with the Hans Seidel Foundation, Germany. The theme of the seminar is “EU and NATO Policies in Southeast Europe and the Black Sea Region: Foreign Policy, Security and Energy”. The event was attended by 24 young diplomats, representatives of 15 countries from Southeast Europe, the Black Sea region and several EU member states.

This year's international forum was opened by Mrs. Tanya Mikhailova, Director of the Diplomatic Institute and N. H.E. Mr. Detlef Lingeman, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Bulgaria. The opening was also attended by Mr. Bogdan Mirchev, representative of the Hans Seidel Foundation for Bulgaria, as well as Prof. Eckart Stratenschulte, Director of the European Academy in Berlin, Germany. Mrs. Gemma Grozdanova, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy of the National Assembly, sent a congratulatory address to the young participants and wished them success in this seminar.

During the first two days of the Winter School, the participants presented the policies on the topic of the seminar to different countries. Prof. Stratenschulte was the moderator of this exercise for the eighth year in a row. During the five-day seminar, speakers were experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Diplomatic Institute, as well as from non-governmental organizations.

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