On the 30^th of October, an international conference "The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries in the Multipolar World: Its Role in Maintaining and Promoting International Peace and Security" was held in the Aula of the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski".

The organizers of the event were the Embassies of Venezuela and Azerbaijan in cooperation with the Institute of Economics and International Relations (IMI). The event marked the celebration of the 63^rd anniversary of the Bandung conference in Indonesia (1955) and the 57^th anniversary of the first Belgrade Summit (1961).

The conference was attended by Mrs. Iliana Yotova, Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela - H. E. Ms. Orietta Caponi /her country is the current chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement/, the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan H. E. Dr. Nargiz Gurbanova /her country is the next President of the Non-Aligned Movement/, the Rector of the Sofia University - Prof. Anastas Gerdjikov, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the academic community in Bulgaria and others.

The Ambassador Lyubomir Kyuchukov, Director of IEMO, was the moderator. In his opening speech, he pointed out that the conference aims to recall the past, to discuss the present but to think about the future of the Non-Aligned Movement all the time. This was confirmed in the opening speeches to the participants and the audience of the ambassadors-organizers and the rector of the University. The keynote speech was delivered by the Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria - Mrs. Iliana Yotova.

The conference continued with a panel discussion "The Movement of the Non-Aligned Countries as a Political Platform representing the Developing Countries in Multilateral Forums: From History to the Future". Reports and discussions on the history, present and future of the organization were presented on it.

The Movement of the Non-Aligned countries was created in 1961, and in the Cold War years it was an important  for a global reunification union, especially for the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, that refused to join military units and that wanted to defend the world peace, national sovereignty and independent development. 120 countries, which have 55 percent of the world's population as citizens, are members of the Movement. They are not members of military units; they represent 2/3 of the UN members and are an important factor in solving issues in the world organization.

The photos are provided by the Department of "Information and Public Relations" of the Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski

Above: The Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria - Mrs. Iliana Yotova pronouncing the key speech at the conference.

Below: The Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan H. E. Dr. Nargiz Gurbanova; the Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela H. E. Ms. Orietta Caponi and the Rector of the Sofia University Prof. Anastas Gerdjikov delivering their greeting addresses to the participants; the Ambassador Lyubomir Kyuchukov, director of the IEMO, leading the conference.