The public discussion on “The Hague 2025: the horizon for NATO and the Bulgarian vision” was held on the occasion of the presentation of the specialised two-volume edition of the Diplomatic Institute “Living Archives. A National Archive of Memories of Bulgaria’s NATO Accession Process”. The publication was prepared by the Institute within the framework of the National Programme of Initiatives to mark the 20th anniversary of Bulgaria’s accession to NATO. Also, the date of the event itself, 25 April 2025, coincided with the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Accession of our country to the EU.

The first volume of the publication contains Dr Solomon Passy’s extended memoirs, where he shares the chronology of his efforts in contributing to our accession process and recounts many different historical events related to the topic raised and the current challenges facing us, Europe, NATO and the world at large. 

During an expert discussion, Dr. Passy was joined by Ms. Nadezhda Neynski, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1997-2001), Mr. Jordan Bozhilov, Chairman of the Sofia Security Forum, and Assoc. Velizar Shalamanov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the NATO Communications and Information Agency (2019-2021) and former Interim Minister of Defence (2014). They discussed topical issues on the development of global security and Bulgaria’s place, including the need to increase investment and the introduction of innovative technologies in the defence industry in Europe, the security challenges in the Balkans and the Black Sea region, and finding a pragmatic approach to transatlantic relations in the current geopolitical transformations. 

The two volume edition of “Living Archives. National Archive of Memories of the Process of Bulgaria’s Accession to NATO” can be downloaded via the following links:

Volume 1 – https://bdi.bg/data/pdf/la-nato-v1.pdf

Volume 2 – https://bdi.bg/data/pdf/la-nato-v2.pdf