In his first public lecture at the UNWE the new French Ambassador to Bulgaria H. E. Eric Lebedel commented on the future of the European Union and bilateral relations between Bulgaria and France. At the event organized by the International Relations Research Student Association (IRRSA) attended Assoc. Prof. Dr. Igor Damyanov, Dean of the International Economics and Politics Faculty, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Andrey Georgiev, Head of the International Relations Department, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Plamen Ralchev, Deputy Head of Department, Prof. Dinko Dinkov, Ilian Krumov, Chairman of IRRSA, lecturers and students.
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| During the opening of the public lecture. From the right to the left: Assoc. Prof. Georgiev, Prof. Dinkov, H. E. Lebedel, Ilian Krumov, Assoc. Prof. Damyanov, Assoc. Prof. Ralchev |
H. E. Eric Lebedel commented three major topics examining the following issues: what is Europe now, France and Bulgaria – in what Europe, what Europe will be. He assessed the community and bilateral relations in the past, present and future, reviewed even the times of Khan Krum and Carl the Great when Bulgaria had become a factor in the European political life and cited the words of Victor Hugo for Bulgarians at the defeat of the April Uprising: “The fact is that people were killed. Where? In Europe”. The Ambassador confirmed also the European presence of our country in geographical and political aspect as he outlined that during the 90s of the XX century for Bulgaria had begun a new era. H. E. Lebedel reminded that earlier Bulgaria had been presented as a country from the East Europe and in the current times – as a country from the Central Europe. He defined it as an interesting evolution.
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| In the Large Conference Hall |
The French Ambassador declared that Bulgaria had been “an important element of the front line” and formulated the major challenges to it: the migration, terrorism, relations with Turkey and Russia, the Black Sea region. According to him Bulgaria had been one of the few countries of the continent where the populism and Euro skepticism had been weak.
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| H. E. Eric Lebedel |
Europe is faced to lots of challenges more than ever, pointed out the Ambassador as he examined Brexit, the populist wave, relations with the new American administration “which seems very Euro skeptic”, relations with Russia, terrorism, migration wave, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and USA, etc. In response of the rhetorical question “How to impact on our common fate?” H. E. Lebedel featured three possible scenarios for the future of the continent. The first scenario - federal Europe which he defined as difficult and even impossible, the second one – “Europe of nations where the strong sovereignty is predominating” and the third one which he considered as the most acceptable – revival of the European idea.
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| Students |
According to the French Ambassador 2017 would be very important because of the elections in several European countries including also France and Germany. The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2018 could be a new chance for Bulgaria and Europe, declared H. E. Eric Lebedel. He appealed: “Do not misjudge! Look not only in the past but in the future too!”, reminding the poem by Ivan Vazov entitled Where is Bulgaria.
The lecturer was asked lots of questions by the attendees in the hall: about the relations with Turkey, forthcoming meeting of leaders from Germany, Spain, Italy and France on 6 March as part of the preparation for the summit meeting in Rome on 25 March on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the European Economic Community as well as for restarting the European project, etc.
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| During the event |
H. E. Eric Lebedel is an Ambassador of France to Bulgaria since October 2016. His professional career is exclusively rich: he was First Secretary of the French Embassy in Moscow, counselor at the French Embassy in the USA, Assistant Director for Strategic Issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Consul of France in Istanbul and he worked at the NATO International Secretariat in Brussels as well as at the General Secretariat for National Defence, etc. H. E. Eric Lebedel was Permanent Representative of France to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Vienna, Ambassador of France to Finland, Ambassador for strategic partnerships, etc. He has a command of English, Russian, Spanish, German, Turkish and Finnish language.