(September 29 and 30, 2022), place: PU P. Hilendarski Meeting hall and via online
link (link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j )
Zoom Meeting ID: 897 2452 5818
Passcode: 124435
Starting time: 10.00
Organizer: “Jean Monnet” Center of Excellence at the University of Plovdiv “P.
Hilendarski”;
Form of implementation: hybrid (direct participation/remote participation);
Only a month after the beginning of Russian aggression and the attack on Ukraine, “Jean
Monnet Center of Excellence” at Plovdiv University was one of the first organizations to
propose a forum ("The war in Ukraine and European (dis)integration: possible axes of
change" 1 ) to make sense of this radical event. Then, in March 2022, Bulgarian and foreign
scientists and researchers met in an attempt to outline the key vectors of the change taking
place and their overt and hidden effects on the processes of European integration and
disintegration, including Bulgaria‘s place in these processes.
Today, half a year later, it seems that the shock of the ongoing war in Europe is becoming
commonplace and going into a hibernation phase. Despite the surprising heroism of the
Ukrainian resistance to many, there are fears not only of a hibernation of the military conflict,
but also of a hibernation of the “spiritual form of Europe” that threatens the melancholic
modern liberal democracies.
On September 29 and 30, the Jean Monnet Center once again brings together leading and
established thinkers and researchers who will discuss the crises of identity, values and
morality caused by the war, the looming economic, energy and food crisis, disinformation
policies and propaganda, the humanitarian crisis and the challenges facing the European
Union.
The conference will conclude with a round table and a panel on the fate of Ukrainian refugees
and communities through the eyes of civil activists and discuss on the topic “Bulgaria at the
crossroads”.
The distinguished Bulgarian sociologist Prof. Dr. Georgi Fotev, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Krasen
Stanchev and the Ukrainian economist Vladimir Dubrovsky will be special guest speakers at
the conference.
Program
29.09.2022 10.00-16.30
Opening by the head of the Jean Monnet Center at “Paisii Hilendarski” University of
Plovdiv
Welcome speech by the Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and History Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Stoyka Penkova – 10.00-10.15
Panel 1 Crisis of values, identity and morality; the roots of Russian popularity in
Bulgaria, the role of propaganda campaigns, disinformation and fake news – in two
separate but related sessions. 10.15-12.45
• The deep moral and value consequences of the ongoing war (the death of Gorbachev as a
symbolic end of an era, also the British Queen Elizabeth II) 10.15-11.15 h.
10.15 – 11.00 – “Russian exceptionalism and the origin of Racism” – Prof. Dr. Georgi Fotev
11.00 – 11.30 – “War and the politics of death. Questions for the post-heroic mentality” –
Associate Prof. Dr. Svetlana Sabeva
Discussion: 11.30 – 12.00
Lunch break – coffee break, catering – 12.00-12.30
Panel 2 Economic, political, technological crisis. The behavior of the European Union.
13.00-16.30
• Economic (economic-political) foundations of war.
13.00 – 13.30 – “The Sanctions: what do we know when we know nothing at all” – Associate
Prof. Dr. Krasen Stanchev
13.30 – 14.00 – “Russia has gone all in: what is at stake?” – Vladimir Dubrovsky.
Discussion: 14.00 – 14.30
14.30 – 15.00 – “Bulgaria's military production, its importance for Ukraine and missed
opportunities” – Dr. Tihomir Bezlov
15.00 – 15.20 – Energy security and independence of the EU. New horizons, behavior and
strategic positioning of the union- PhD student Yavor Gospodinov
Discussion 15.20-15.50
• EU facing challenges in the autumn of 2022
16.00 – 16.30 – “European integration in the field of defense on the threshold of a new Cold
War – lessons from the past and a look to the future” – Prof. Dr. Irena Ilieva, PhD student
Dimitar Angelov
Summarizing discussion: 16.30-17.00
30.09.2022 10.00-16.30
Panel 3 Energy crisis. The behavior of the European Union – 10.00-11.00
• The war in Ukraine: disinformation, fake news and „hate propaganda“ in the struggle to win
the minds and hearts of Bulgarians and Europeans 11.30-11.50
10.00-10.30 – Disinformation narratives about the war in Ukraine in the Bulgarian media and
their use for local political purposes – Dr. Todor Galev
10.30-11.00 – Nina Nikolova – „The new type of wars“
Discussion: 11.00-11.30
Panel 4 Humanitarian crisis. Ukrainian refugees and communities in Bulgaria and
Europe. 11.30-13.00
• Ukrainian refugees and communities in our country half a year later.
11.30 – 11.50 – “Short-term and long-term life plans of refugees from Ukraine” – Dr. Plamen
Nanov, expert at “Caritas Vitania”
11.50 – 12.10 – Manol Peykov (entrepreneur, social entrepreneur, civil activist)
12.10 – 12.30 – Vera Rabitskaya (Russian anti-war activist, volunteer at a center for
Ukrainian refugees in Poland)
12.30-13.30 – Discussion (Theses: Bulgaria at a crossroads – the anti-democratic and
authoritarian tendencies in Bulgarian society, the roots and dynamics of the support of a part
of the Bulgarians for Vladimir Putin’s regime: the legacy of communism, the influence of
Russian propaganda and subversive actions, the resentment and aggressiveness of the “failed”
in a deformed market economy).
Lunch break – coffee break, catering – 13.30
Reports and speeches will be recorded on video and then published both on the centre’s
website and in the electronic media.
