The first interns from the Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, who are undertaking their practical internship at the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute, presented to our team a series of topics related to the Middle East. The Head of the Department, Prof. Simeon Evstatiev, and the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology, Assoc. Prof. Galina Evstatieva, were special guests at the event and took part in the discussions prompted by the students’ presentations.

The interns Dilyana Yacheva, Nikol Dimitrova, Sara Narmomen and Hatidje Isaeva presented the following topics: “Oman: Quiet Diplomacy”, “Qatar: The Small Big Player”, “Bidun in Kuwait”, and “Beirut and the Paradoxes of the Modern Middle East”. The presentations and the subsequent discussion with our team highlighted the specific characteristics of the Gulf countries, as well as the multilayered history of Lebanon.

The Director of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute, Ms. Tanya Mihaylova, highlighted Bulgaria’s longstanding relations with the countries of the region and touched upon some of the key elements in the preparation of young Bulgarian diplomats.