Issue No. 20 of the Diplomacy Journal was published in late January 2018. The issue is dedicated to the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU and includes an interview with Minister Lilyana Pavlova entitled “The Priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency – Towards a United, Strong and Digital Europe”, as well as the following articles: “Introducing the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU” (Dr Monika Panayotova); “Writing ‘Euro’ in Cyrillic, or a Successful Achievement of Bulgarian Diplomacy during the First Year of EU Membership” (Bisserka Benisheva); “The Western Balkans Have the Right to Participate in the Debate on the Future of the EU” (Prof. Ingrid Shikova); “The Digital Revolution – A Challenge for the European Union” (Gergana Passy); “What Is the Sixth Scenario for the Eurozone?” (Assoc. Prof. Kaloyan Simeonov); “The Rise of Nationalist Parties and Euroscepticism in Europe: The Case of the Parliamentary Elections in Germany” (Assist. Prof. Ivo Tsekоv); and “Ukraine’s European Integration: The Breakthrough of 2017 and Other Challenges” (Nadiia Koval).

The second thematic focus of the issue is the international conference “The Black Sea Dimension of the Belt and Road Initiative”, organised by the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute. In addition to a summary of the conference (Dr Valentin Katrandzhiev), the issue features a selection of expert papers: “‘16+1’ Contributes to the Quality and Effectiveness of Bilateral Cooperation between China and 16 Central and Eastern European Countries” (Prof. Liu Zuokui); “The Potential of the Black Sea Region in the Synergy between China’s and the EU’s Strategies” (Dr Long Jing); “Critical Infrastructure Protection – Challenges and Opportunities for the Belt and Road Initiative” (Alexandru Georgescu); “The Potential of the Black Sea Region within the Framework of Eurasian Economic Connectivity: Azerbaijan’s Role along the Silk Roads” (Mahir Humbatov); “The Significance of Iran for the Belt and Road Initiative” (Dr Parisa Shahmohammadi); “The Economic Dimension of Bilateral Relations between Bulgaria and China” (Zheng Zhong); “The Bulgarian Tourism Sector in the Context of the Belt and Road Initiative” (Stiliyan Rakovski); and “Plovdiv and the Bulgarian-Chinese Association for Business Development – Strategic Partners in the Black Sea Region within the Belt and Road Initiative” (Irina Beleva).