Research Seminar of Bulgarian Club and International Laboratory with Elena Poptodorova

The Department of International Relations together with the International Laboratory on World Order Studies and the New Regionalism and the Bulgarian Club held a seminar on the topic “The EU and the US – What is the State of our Union” on Thursday, November 17, 2022 (17:00 MSK). The seminar was conducted byElena Poptodorova. She served twice as the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to the USA (from 2002 to 2008 and from 2010 to 2016.), and is the Vice President of the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA).

Ms. Poptodorova began with a brief overview of the historic relations between Europe and the USA after the Second World War, by mentioning the origins of the EU and the development of the postwar order. She emphasized on the uninterrupted relationship concerning the two sides of the Atlantic and the significance it has for the scientific, cultural and economic ties nowadays.

Elena Poptodorova continued with the positive and negative features of the relationship by reviewing the Foreign Policy of the United States during the different administrations over the last years and assessing them to their European counterpart. Ms. Poptodorova highlighted the disagreements over climate, the visa regime for numerous European countries and energy policy. She touched upon the EU-US affairs during the Trump administration and later during the administration of the current president Joe Biden.

Another point of the conversation was the results of the Midterms and the consequences they have for both Brussels and Washington.