A public lecture with a discussion on this topic was held on the 11^th of April in the 310 audience "Prof. Petar Mutafchiev" at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia.

H. E. Mr. Stavros Avgoustides, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cyprus to the Republic of Bulgaria, spoke to students and guests on the topic of "Cultural Diplomacy or Diplomacy for Culture - The Power of Creation". Moderator was Dr. Ivan Nachev, Head of the Department of Political Science.

"Learn, stick to your principles, love your family and culture and be creative. If you are creative, you will be happy. If you are happy, then the people around you will be too" said H. E.  Mr. Stavros Avgoustides to the students. An emphasis in his speech was "the quest for quality education, through which the world could become a better place".

The event is part of the University’s seminar "Diplomat of the 21^st Century: Getting to Know Diplomacy and Diplomats", which takes place under the auspices of H. E. Mr. Stefano Baldi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Italy in our country and Dr. Georgi Tekev, Executive Director of the NBU. The seminar is aimed at students that are in their bachelor's and master's programs in the Departments of Administration and Management, Economics, Political Sciences and many others; and it aims to acquaint them with some specific aspects of the international relations, in particular with the work and the role of the ambassadors.

The lectures and discussions included in the program allowed young people to exchange views and ideas on the activities and responsibilities of the diplomats in the 21^st century. Until now, besides H. E. Mr. Stavros Avgoustides, a lecture was also led by H. E. Mr. Stefano Baldi on "The Diplomat in the Internet Age". There are two more to come - H. E. Mr. Michael Forbes, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Ireland to Bulgaria, who will talk about "Political Analysis and International Relations in the Ambassador's Work" on the 30^th ofMay; and H. E. Mr. Dušan Štrauch, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic who will talk about the "Economic and Trade Diplomacy: the Ambassador's Role" on the 13^th ofJune.

Photo: New Bulgarian University