A special guest in the rubric “30 minutes in the company of…” was the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr. Rosen Plevneliev. The main topic of his participation was on the terrorist attacks in Paris, which had happened yesterday evening. The president defined the terrorist attacks as an inhumane and barbarous act, directed against the principles and foundations of democratic societies. „The influence of populist and extreme nationalist organizations will increase”, forecasted Mr. Plevneliev. “It is dangerous to play with people’s fears. Extreme nationalism is the biggest enemy of the democracy and the good economic environment”, said the head of state. The president stressed that strong political leaders are those who believe that problems should be solved peacefully and through dialogue, not with huge armies. According to Mr. Plevneliev, solving the crisis should involve EU’s unity.

Earlier in the day program included a panel on teamwork, participation in debates and negotiations. Mr. Miroslav Mavrov, who is a Deputy Chair of the association “Debates”, illustrated the main participation rules in political debates. Under the guidance of Ms. Albena Komitova and Ms. Sevdalina Alexandrova, trainers in mediation and members of the National Association of mediators, the trainees took part in a series of simulations on how to convince the opponent to say “yes”.