The war in Ukraine and European (dis) integration: possible axes of change
(22nd March), place: PU “P. Hilendarski”, Compass Conference Hall and online, duration:
10:30 – 17:30 hours
Link: Zoom,
Meeting ID: 267 980 0811
Passcode: 0bm0Li
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2679800811?pwd=S3d5K1dZUkdYcTJOb1A2Tm9XTnMvdz09
Organizer: “Jean Monnet” Centre of Excellence at the University of Plovdiv “P. Hilendarski”;
Form of implementation: hybrid (direct participation / remote participation);
Regulations: each participant in the round table will have 30 minutes to speak on their chosen
topic. At the end of each panel there will be 30 minutes for discussion. Presentations can be used
at the request of the participants.
Rationale: Ivan Krastev has described the war in Ukraine as the end of more than 30 years
of “peace in Europe” after the Cold War and a dangerous beginning of a new era in which it is
possible to change the very principles and rules of international relations and in some very
important sense – the very world in which we Europeans have lived so far. The past few weeks
have been too short a period for us to have a clear idea of the main dimensions of change, but the
beginning of its reflection has already been set.
“The Jean Monnet Center of Excellence” at the University of Plovdiv has decided to organize a
discussion forum at which the crisis and the military conflict in Ukraine will be discussed
through the focus of the main research areas in the center‘s specialization:
1) humanitarian crisis, welfare, social and youth policies in the context of European values and
identity;
2) democracy, law and the rule of law, including the prospects for EU enlargement,
consolidation and positioning as a global factor for the stability of the geopolitical map of the
world;
3) science, technology and innovation in the context of military opposition – the fate of the
“green deal” after the change in trade relations between the EU and Russia.
The purpose of the discussion is to make an initial attempt to shape these and other key axes of
the ongoing change and their overt and covert effects on the processes of European integration
and disintegration, including Bulgaria’s place in these processes.
Panel I: Humanitarian crisis, welfare, social and youth policies in the context of European values
and identity (moderated by Dr. Gavrail Gavrailov)- 10.30-12.30
Opening of the round table by the manager of “Jean Monnet” center – Prof. Dr. Ivan Tchalakov;
10.30-10.40
✔ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abel Polese, Dublin City University, The Ukrainian crisis and its
challenges to European values; 10.40-11.10
✔ Manol Peykov, social activist and entrepreneur, About a civic initiative (preliminary
title); 11.10-11.25
✔ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Irina Popravko, social anthropologist, The War in Ukraine as collective
responsibility or vulnerability: an account from within 11.25-11.40
✔ Veselin Stoynev, journalist, The war in Ukraine and existing divisions in Bulgarian
society; 11.40-12.00
Discussion: 12.00-12.30
Coffee break: 12.30-12.50
Panel II: Democracy, law and the rule of law, including prospects for EU enlargement,
consolidation and positioning as a global factor for the stability of the geopolitical map of the
world (moderated by Dr. Dimitar Panchev) – 12.50-14.30
✔ Prof. Dr. Georgi Dimitrov, Sofia University, The Bulgarian EU accession experience as
a prism for assessing the perspective of Ukrainian EU accession; 12.50-13.20
✔ Prof. Dr. Irena Ilieva, Plovdiv University, Legal dimensions of the “refugee crisis”
(refugees or persons seeking international protection); 13.20-13.40
✔ Dimitar Angelov, PhD student, Sofia University, EU’s and Council of Europe’s responses
to war in Ukraine – legal aspects and perspectives; 13.40-14.00
Discussion: 14.00-14.30
Coffee break: 14.30-15.00
Panel III: Science, technology and innovation in the context of military opposition – the fate of
the “green deal” after the change in trade relations between the EU and Russia (moderated by
Assoc. Prof. Tihomir Mitev) – 15.00-17.15
✔ Prof. Ivan Tchalakov and Bilyana Mileva, PhD student, Plovdiv University, Geopolitics
as a “style of thinking”: modern legacies and current constraints; 15.00-15.20
✔ Todor Galev, CSD, The impact of the sanctions on the technological policy of Russia and
its hybrid response; 15.20-15.40
✔ Konstantsa Rangelova, CSD, Tackling energy and climate security risks in the wake of
the war in Ukraine, 15.40-16.00
✔ Prof. Dr. Johan Schot, University Center for Global Challenges, University of Utrecht,
The effects of Russian-Ukrainian war on the EU and the process of (hidden)
integration/disintegration on the continent (preliminary title); 16.00-16.30
✔ Prof. Dr. Ivo Hristov, Plovdiv University, On the eve of a new era; 16.30-16.45
Discussion: 16.45-17.15
Closing of the round table: 17.15-17.30
