Diplomatic Institute to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria

The Diplomatic Institute (DI) to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria was created on 23 September 2003. Its work meets the high demands and professional expectations pursuant to Bulgaria’s membership in EU and NATO, and displays continuity that allows the Bulgarian diplomatic profession to have the place it deserves in the large Euro-Atlantic family.

Its mission is to:

• Guarantee the high-level expertise and skills of the diplomatic staff and the public administration by applying up-to-date professional standards of training;
• Enhance continuity in the Bulgarian Foreign Service by promoting exchange of experience and good practices among generations of diplomats;
• Promote the diplomatic profession and Bulgaria’s foreign policy by reaching out to the general public;
• Provoke exchange of expertise on foreign policy issues by providing a platform for debate among government and non-government actors;
• Support the diplomatic profession and the foreign policy debate by research and publications;
• Develop national and international cooperation by implementing joint projects.

The Institute provides trainings for both Bulgarian and foreign diplomats and government officials, as well as experts from the NGO and private sector. They meet all demands of modern diplomacy and use the good practices of our counterparts from all over the world. To respond to the need of high-quality training, it focuses on interactive and practical sessions and have as trainers Bulgarian and foreign diplomats, university professors and other highly qualified experts, providing the benefit of a broad range of opinions and approaches.

To provoke public interest and debate on current foreign policy issues, DI holds public lectures by prominent public figures, leading politicians and diplomats. It also organizes conferences and round-table discussions with Bulgarian and foreign experts, to contribute to the exchange of expertise and to the foreign policy theory and practice. DI interacts actively with the young public by organizing essay competitions on foreign policy topics, visits of school and university students within our “Open Doors” programme, and by implementing a coherent internship programme. 

A strategic task of the DI is to provide comprehensive analyses by internal and outside experts on international topics to meet the needs of the MFA and to enhance the expertise in foreign policy theory and practice. As of 2013 the Institute also holds national contests for applied research projects. Among its publications, in Bulgarian and/or English, are the Foreign Policy Research Papers series, the Energy Diplomacy collection, books and textbooks on EU matters, security and environment issues, diplomatic skills and practice, as well as the long-established Diplomacy Journal which has already grown into an online platform for foreign policy analysis and research.