14 June 2019
June 14th, an international conference “140 years of Establishing Diplomatic Relations between Russia and Bulgaria” was held at MGIMO.
MGIMO Rector Anatoly Torkunov, the Bulgarian Ambassador to Russia Atanas Krastin and the Director of the Institute of Slavic Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences Konstantin Nikiforov greeted the guests and gave introductory talks.
Anatoly Torkunov related the history of bilateral relations between Russia and Bulgaria, highlighting the different obstacles, which complicated their interactions. The Rector underlined the fact that despite all the difficulties, the civil societies of both countries are in constant interaction at many different levels, with academic cooperation and tourist flows rapidly developing. The speaker recalled the meeting of the presidents of Russia and Bulgaria at the SPIEF forum, their commitment to developing full-fledged relations, and also the Bulgarian Prime Minister’s and President’s recent visits to Moscow. The Rector expressed hope that this high level impulse would lead to a rapid expansion of bilateral cooperation and introduced the following speaker, the Bulgarian Ambassador to Russia, MGIMO Graduate, Atanas Krastin.
The Ambassador conveyed his thanks to all those involved in organizing and hosting the conference, remarking that MGIMO is a place of choice to hold such an event. “I am very proud that I am an MGIMO graduate and that I am participating in this forum,” he noted. Atanas Krastin then gave a talk on the history of Bulgaria since the end of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-78, and on bilateral relations with Russia. The guest also encouraged the conference participants to visit the exhibition held at MGIMO and remarked that the University of National and World Economy of Sofia had expressed the desire to participate in the conference through a conference call. Then, the Ambassador informed the audience about the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry’s decision to create a Facebook page dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between Russia and Bulgaria.
Last of all, Atanas Krastin emphasized the idea that history should be correctly analysed and remembered, noting that facts should not be replaced with myths. Concluding his speech, he recalled the Bulgarian President’s address at SPIEF-2019, during which he said that Russia had received its writing, Christian faith and Church Slavonic language from Bulgaria and that Bulgarians still remember 1878, the year Bulgaria became independent from Russia and the thousands of Russian soldiers who lost their lives.
Evgeny Kozhokin, MGIMO’s Vice-Rector for Research, moderated the discussions. Presentations were made by Ambassador Krastin, representatives of the Bulgarian embassy, the Institute of Slavic Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, the University of National and World Economy of Sofia, Moscow State University and MGIMO.
— See the MGIMO web-site for russian version
