SIXTH NATO SUMMER SCHOOL IN BULGARIA

The youth organization of AKB – Youth Euro-Atlantic Society (MEAD), organizes for the sixth consecutive year a one-week international NATO Summer School. The topic of the seminar was “NATO at 70 and the way forward”. The event took place from 3 to 9 June 2019, in Smolyan, Bulgaria. The event was supported by NATO, the Representation of the European Commission in Sofia and the Office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Bulgaria.

The seminar focuses on numerous and diverse topics, such as the NATO @ 70 campaign, the then international crisis, NATO-EU cooperation, cybersecurity and NATO’s challenges and challenges in 2019. This wide variety of important topics created a forum where young people from different nationalities and circles had the opportunity to meet with representatives of NGOs, media and government representatives, and to participate in discussions, workshops and debates presented by experts, lecturers and various speakers, and last but not least, to discuss and exchange ideas about the current and future role of NATO in ongoing international threats and challenges.

The seminar included a one-day discussion between participants on “What is NATO to me”. This discussion provided an opportunity for each participant to make a brief presentation on what NATO is for their country and how they see the future of the Alliance from the country’s perspective and from an international perspective.

Participants had the opportunity to participate in meetings with students from local schools (about 500 students) and share with them their experience and knowledge. During the one-week seminar, participants also made videos sharing what NATO means to them. These videos were distributed in their countries and on the NATO network to reach more people.6