The Liaison Office of the European Parliament in Bulgaria is organizing a discussion on “The Road to Ukrainian Refugees in Europe and in Bulgaria”, which will be held on Friday, April 29, 2022, from 11.00 to 13.00.
The aim of the discussion “The Road to Ukrainian Refugees in Europe and in Bulgaria” is to discuss the main challenges posed by the huge wave of refugees from Ukraine across Europe, as well as short- and medium-term solutions. The event will take place in three parts. In the first part, we will discuss European policies and instruments in support of Ukrainian refugees, highlighting some of the good practices and outlining possible approaches to refugees in different scenarios for the development of the conflict. In the second part of the event, attention will be focused on the problems of Ukrainian refugees and the organizations that help them, at the national and local levels. In the third part, we will discuss what has been achieved so far in the regulatory framework in the service of refugees and the challenges facing institutions to meet the needs of refugees in access to social support, health care, work, shelter and education.
The discussion will be opened by Teodor Stoychev, Head of the Liaison Office of the European Parliament in Bulgaria and Kalina Konstantinova, Deputy Prime Minister for Effective Governance. The first part of the event will include MEP Elena Yoncheva and the representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for Bulgaria Narasimha Rao.
The participants in the second panel are Olena Shopova, activist of the Association of Ukrainian Organizations in Bulgaria “Mother Ukraine”, Dr. Nadezhda Todorovska, Deputy Director General of the Bulgarian Red Cross and Kina Sabeva, Chairperson of the Bulgarian Council on Refugees and Migrants (BSBM). . In the third panel we will discuss the challenges facing the institutions with Andrey Novakov, Member of the European Parliament (EPP), Valeri Rachev, Head of the National Crisis Staff, Stoyan Temelakiev, Deputy Minister of Interior and Mariana Tosheva, Chair of the State Refugee Agency. The moderator will be Nadezhda Tsekulova, Campaign and Communications Program Director of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee.
The event will be held in Bulgarian, with simultaneous translation from / into English and Ukrainian for those present in the hall and the audience in zoom. All other viewers will be able to follow the live broadcast on the page of the EP Bureau in Bulgaria on Facebook and on the YouTube channel, only in Bulgarian. Sign language interpretation will also be provided for the hearing impaired.
If you want to join the event in zoom, you can register until April 28, 2022 at the following link.
You can send your questions to the participants in advance in a slido with the hashtag #UKR. During the discussion, questions will be asked during the chat in zoom or through comments on the broadcast on Facebook and YouTube.
Programme of discussion “The Road Ahead for Ukrainian Refugees in Europe and Bulgaria” (pdf 254KB)