(l-r): International officer Saf Jeevanjee, Leonora Hristova, Rebecca Bunting, Lyubomir Kyuchukov, Charlotte Ayres-Hill, out-going student society president Petar Vuchev, and Zdravko Isaev
An enterprising student at the University of Portsmouth secured a visit to the city by the Bulgarian ambassador during European Local Democracy Week.
The ambassador was invited to take part in Portsmouth’s celebration of local democracy by Bulgarian university student, Leonora Hristova, who is in her third year studying international relations.
Leonora said: “We very much looked forward to his visit because for us, he is one of the figureheads of democracy in our country. When a country such as ours has only lived under democracy for a short period, it is highly prized and valued. I was so pleased when he agreed to come to Portsmouth as part of the Local Democracy Week celebrations.
Lyubomir Kyuchukov was welcomed to the campus by Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Rebecca Bunting, and senior international officer, Charlotte Ayres-Hill. The number of Bulgarian students at Portsmouth has risen from just two in 2007, to 174 this year.
Students performed a traditional Bulgarian dance in local costume for the ambassador and the incoming president of the Bulgarian students’ society Zdravko Isaev presented him with Bulgarian bread he had made himself.
European Local Democracy Week aims to celebrate human rights at local level and runs until October 16.
Among the many free activities is a public debate tonight at the university with experts discussing ‘Blagging and hacking’ on phone hacking and privacy
Mr Kyuchukov is a leading light in Bulgarian politics and helped ensure Bulgaria was accepted as a member of the European Union when it joined in 2007, in what was described by the country’s president as a ‘heavenly moment’ 17 years after the fall of Communism.
The Bulgarian society in Portsmouth is one of the biggest communities from the EU in the city. It aims to spread the Bulgarian culture and traditions to the UK as well as help Bulgarian students integrate into the university and Portsmouth communities.
The university has a strong relationship with the City Council-run week because it has myriad experts on politics; European law, society and economy; social inclusion and policy; and enterprise and development.
The programme for the week with details can be found at: http://portsmouthlocal.blogspot.com/p/local-democracy-week-10th-16th-october.html
