On 23 November, President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev personally attended a festive meeting held in the frames of the session of the Committee of Plenipotentiaries of the Governments of the JINR Member States. Thus, for the first time in a long period, the CP session was marked with the participation of a head of a state. Heads of diplomatic missions of a number of JINR Member States in Bulgaria took part in the event. The ceremonial meeting in Sofia was held within the framework of the CP session of JINR in Bulgaria dedicated to the celebration of the 65th anniversary of JINR and as part of the Year of Bulgaria in JINR.

In his welcoming speech to participants of the festive meeting of the CP JINR, Rumen Radev noted that for 65 years of the Institute’s existence JINR has proved by its achievements that modern science can develop only through joint efforts of different countries.

“The current session of the Committee of Plenipotentiaries of JINR is a vivid proof of the strength of modern science and wide technological development for the safety of peace on Earth. Organization of this event in our country proves Bulgaria’s significant contribution to the JINR scientific programmes. I am glad that Bulgarian scientists supported the initiative to declare 2021 the Year of Bulgaria in JINR. It is a great honour for our country to host the session of the Committee of Plenipotentiaries.

Many young scientists from not only Europe choose JINR to start their careers because of the significant scientific infrastructure, promising scientific programme, and deep contacts with leading scientific groups all over the world, including CERN. JINR provides an opportunity to expand their huge potential, bring results to the leading programmes worldwide. Bulgaria is grateful to JINR specialists for the efforts they make to show young people the way to science and preserve the scientific potential of our country,” Rumen Radev said.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov in his turn noted that the Institute is proud of the amount of JINR “students” who have become scientific leaders of the Republic of Bulgaria.

“The JINR-Bulgaria cooperation is based on rich traditions: at various times, outstanding Bulgarian scientists were heads of laboratories, large scientific groups in Dubna, and also organized science at the highest level in their countries. For 65 years of its work, the Institute has trained several thousands of highly qualified specialists for the Member States. Dozens of them have become heads of institutes in the Member States and large scientific groups, hundreds have headed scientific projects. Thousands of specialists have received high qualification during their work at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna and now, returning home they are developing scientific areas at the highest level in the Member States. JINR continues traditions and still focuses on extending innovation research and new scientific fields,” Academician Trubnikov highlighted closing his speech with an invitation to President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev to visit Dubna in the future.

Heads of the diplomatic missions of a number of the JINR Member States in Bulgaria took part in the ceremonial event: Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ms Eleonora Mitrofanova (Russia), Mr Alexander Lukashevich (Belarus) together with a senior adviser of the Embassy of Belarus in Bulgaria Nikolay Poznyak, Ms Sayana Lkhagvasuren (Mongolia), Ms Brandusa Brândușa (Romania), representative of the diplomatic mission of Egypt Mr Mustafa Hami. Diplomats of JINR Associate Members made speeches at the festive session: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Serbia to Bulgaria Zeljko Jovic, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of South Africa Mr Thabo Tahe.

СVice-President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Stefan Hadjitodorov, President of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology of Egypt Mahmoud Sakr, Plenipotentiary Representative of the Government of Bulgaria in JINR, Chairman of the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency Tsanko Bachiyski addressed the audience with greetings.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Scientific diplomacy has become the unifying leitmotif of the current CP session of JINR. In addition to the change in Egypt’s status up to the full-fledged membership in JINR, preparation work for the Republic of Serbia to join the JINR Member States started, and the parties signed a corresponding Action plan. One of the key outcomes of the session was the Sofia Declaration. The President of Bulgaria and representatives of the diplomatic missions of the Member States and Associate Members of JINR, CP Members, high-level guests of the event welcomed its signing.

On the one hand, the document includes particular achievements and the contribution to world science made by JINR throughout 65 years of its development. On the other hand, it confirms the effectiveness of the model of multilateral scientific cooperation chosen by the founding states of JINR as the basis of its cooperation. The Declaration also determines system principles and guidelines for the future development of JINR both in the scientific and international contexts. With an account of the notion of the value of international scientific and technical integration, the document appeals to interested countries and organizations to join the multilateral scientific cooperation being carried out within the JINR platform. The Sofia Declaration indicates a vector of the expansion of geography of JINR partners supported by the Regulations on Associated Membership in JINR adopted at the CP session, which documents the status of an Associate Member of JINR and provides a mechanism for joining JINR.

The completed visiting CP session became the central event of the Year of Bulgaria in JINR in 2021. The Republic of Bulgaria as a founding state of JINR has made a significant contribution to the scientific research of the Institute and continues to be one of the most active Member States of the Institute. In June 2019, President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) Julian Revalski noted at a meeting in the JINR Directorate during his visit to JINR that the Institute is a priority partner of the BAS.

At the moment, Bulgarian specialists are actively conducting scientific research at the laboratories of the Institute. By 2021, JINR has been cooperating with 20 scientific organizations in Sofia, Plovdiv, and Blagoevgrad in such fields as theoretical physics, nuclear physics, elementary particle physics, relativistic nuclear physics, condensed matter physics, radiation and radiobiological research, computing and computational physics, educational programmes. In addition, scientific conferences and events of JINR are annually held in Bulgaria. The International School of Nuclear Physics “JINR Days in Bulgaria” is regularly held. About one hundred Bulgarian scientists have business trips to the JINR laboratories.

In the frames of the Year of Bulgaria, a number of events, working and high-level meetings were organized. Cultural and social events were held both in Dubna and in Bulgaria itself. Anniversary publications were issued. The key event of the Year was the opening of the JINR Information Centre, the first in the European Union, at the Faculty of Physics of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in September of this year.