site.btaPlovdiv Hosts International Event under the European Parliament Ambassador School Programme

An international event under the European Parliament Ambassador School Programme (EPAS) with the participation of the heads of the European Parliament Liaison Offices from Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, takes place in Plovdiv between March 21 and 23.

The event began on Saturday with a video address by Nicolae Stefanuta, Vice-President of the European Parliament from the Greens/European Free Alliance group. He shared that over 100 schools from Romania are participating in the EPAS programme. He noted that the topics of the event are very important and include climate change, social media, disinformation and freedom of the media, civil rights. He noted that the participants are in fact shaping Europe for the future.

The heads of the European Parliament offices in Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, Teodor Stoychev, Madalina Mihalache and Constantinos Tsoutsoplides also addressed the participants.

A congratulatory address was also read by Plovdiv Mayor Kostadin Dimitrov. He noted that such international meetings unite young people and their teachers and encourage not only active civic participation, but also contribute to the in-depth understanding of European policies and processes by the younger generation. These meetings motivate young people to be active citizens, engaged in the development of the European community, Dimitrov said in his speech.

Stephen Clark, Director of the Liaison Offices Directorate at the European Parliament and moderator of the event, also greeted the participants in the forum. He said that EPAS is one the best things that the EP does, and that one of the goals of the event is networking and meeting people from different countries. Clark also highlighted the current topics and pressing issues of the time. He noted that these are issues that interest everyone. In his words, if young people want to have an impact on these processes, they need to be familiar with them, to avoid disinformation.

The participants from Bulgaria are teachers (senior ambassadors) and students (junior ambassadors under the programme) from the Ivan Vazov Language School in Plovdiv, the Chernorizets Hrabar High School in Plovdiv and the Ivan Vazov  High School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences in Dimitrovgrad. Students from schools in Romania (Bucharest) and Greece (Alexandroupoli, Komotini) that work on the same EP program are also participating. A total of 100 students and 20 teachers are participating in the international meeting.

The afternoon part of the program is scheduled to include Bulgarian MEPs Andrey Kovachev and Kristian Vigenin.

The aim of the event is to provide an opportunity for young people to discuss various European topics with experts, members of the European Parliament and its staff, in order to deepen their understanding and increase their interest in European policies and processes. The program includes topics such as: climate change and sustainability, disinformation and media freedom, the influence of social media and civil rights in the digital age.

EPAS  gives students the opportunity to understand their rights as citizens of the European Union and learn about the role of the European Parliament.

The network includes around 2,000 certified schools, European Parliament Ambassadors from across the EU, as well as teachers designated as Senior Ambassadors and 35,000 students designated as Junior Ambassadors. The programme offers schools a great opportunity to exchange best practices and collaborate in the implementation of the programme. The network of Ambassador Schools is part of a wider community that cooperates with the European Parliament, in particular through the zaednoza.eu platform. The network enables schools to participate in a wide range of activities organised by the European Parliament, its liaison offices and its institutional partners, as well as to network with various European, national and local authorities and civil society organisations, the organisers said.