An international seminar on digital diplomacy was held in Durrës, Albania, as part of the European Digital Diplomacy Exchange (EDDE) – a network of public communications professionals from the government sectors of Central and Eastern European countries, supported by the U.S. Department of State and the Centre for European Perspective of Slovenia.

The Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute was represented by Mr. Nikolay Krumov, Chief Expert at the Public Affairs and Cooperation Department, who participated in the seminar alongside more than 40 participants from 15 countries. Ms. Natali Dimitrova from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Boris Tsenov from the Ministry of Defence also took part in the seminar on behalf of Bulgaria.

The seminar was opened with welcoming remarks by Ms. Nancy VanHorn, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Albania, and H.E. Mr Jakob Štunf, Ambassador of Slovenia to Albania. The programme featured a series of lectures and interactive sessions focusing on public and digital diplomacy, strategic communications in the public sector, the use of social media and artificial intelligence in government communications, nation branding, and reputational security in contemporary international relations. A special guest lecturer was Prof. Nicholas Cull, one of the world’s leading scholars in the field of public diplomacy.

The Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute has been actively involved in the European Digital Diplomacy Exchange since 2023, through the participation of its experts in the network’s training programmes and the organisation of joint specialised seminars for the Bulgarian public administration.