site.bta35 Intellectuals from 10 European Countries to Attend Conference in Sofia

Thirty-five intellectuals from 10 European countries will participate in the international conference-discussion In the face of war: European dialogue, focused on the theme focus on the theme "From the Balkans to the Black Sea: Legacies, Identities, and European Trajectories”, said the French Institute. The event will take place from June 12 to 15 in Sofia and Plovdiv.

The participants will include Frédéric Martel, writer, sociologist and journalist in France Culture; writer Mathias Enard (2015 Prix Goncourt for Boussole (Compass)); philosopher Konstantin Sigov; geographer Michel Foucher; writer Ahmet Insel; political scientist Una Bergmane -, Sylvie Kaufman, editor of the French daily Mond; professor of political science Dimitris Christopoulos; poet and writer Tomasz Rozycki; writer Igor Stiks, cultural expert Dejan Ubovic.

From the Bulgarian side, Vessela Tcherneva, Deputy Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations and head of the Sofia office, journalist Boyko Vasilev; journalist and philosopher Toni Nikolov; professor Mari Vrina-Nikolov; National Gallery Director Yara Bubnova ; writer Maria Kassimova-Moisset.

What European history do we share? What are the cultural characteristics and political narratives that shape and sustain the project of a united Europe in Sofia and Paris, in Kyiv and Bucharest, in Warsaw and Riga, in Budapest and Belgrade, in Sarajevo and Chisinau, and in all other European capitals? These questions require an urgent answer after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the organizers added.

In order to find an answer to these questions, in the autumn of 2023 the French Institute in Paris launched a series of public discussions in Europe entitled "In the face of war: European dialogue”. The program started in Prague and continues in Vilnius, Warsaw and Amsterdam before moving to Sofia and Plovdiv in Bulgaria.

Through reflections, discussions, artistic and literary events, the meetings in Bulgaria will provide an opportunity to discuss the transformation of Europe in conditions of war and, more specifically, South-Eastern Europe, questions of heritage and identity, space and territory, rupture and renewal in this a part of the continent that is generally destined to become part of the European Union, commented the French Institute.