Activities with the children from the Centre for Family Type Accommodation for the Children’s Day – 1^st June were discussed at a series of meetings between BSoP alumni and representatives of the local power in Velingrad. Irena Tahova from Class 2008, Vasil Avramov from Class 2007 and Zlatka Angelova from Class 2012 attended the meetings, which were held on 15^th and 16^th May. The alumni have been participating in the project “Young Leaders Assisting the Social Integration of Children from Institutions””, funded through the Bonita Trust and implemented by the Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza”. During the discussions, ideas for celebrating 5 years of joint activities between BSoP alumni and the Municipality of Velingrad, which have been partnering for implementing policies for social integration of the children from the care institution, were outlined.

The Charity evening of Class 2011 of the Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza” took place on 12^th May in Pravets. Donations for activities with children from the Social Institution for Children with Disabilities in Vidrare, the Center for Family Type Accommodation in Velingrad, “Nezabravka” Orphanage in Stara Zagora, and “Embrace Me” Atelier in Sofia, as well as for the cause of the Class 2012 were collected. A total amount of 8085 BGN was raised. During the evening, an exhibition with 12 items, made by the children from the care institutions, was organized. The items were then sold as part of the auction.

The last National Program course, which was dedicated to European policies, finished. The last session was on "Basic Principles of Preparing and Running an Election Campaign" and the lecturer was the PR specialist Mr. Armand Babikyan.

Then the Program participants received information about the Forum of Democracy, which will be held in Strasbourg.

"Bulgaria will have 17.1 billion BGN from the EU funds in the programme period 2014 – 2020. Adding the national co-financing, the country will have over 20 billion BGN," explained the Minister, in charge of EU funds management, Mr. Tomislav Donchev to the participants in the National Program "Governing skills". He added that the cities, which are the best performers in negotiating project , were Sofia, Bourgas and Gabrovo. In his lecture Mr. Donchev talked about the vision of Bulgaria for the next programming period. In the same panel, Ms. Asia Kavrakova, who is a Program Director at the Open Society Institute, presented the new aspects of the regulatory Framework of the EU Funds for the programme period 2014-2020.

“Challenges in front Europe” was the focus of the third day from the National program course dedicated to European policies. Special guests were Mr. Ivaylo Kalfin, Mr. Metin Kazak and Mr. Stanimir Ilchev, who are Members of the EU Parliament. The moderator of the discussion "How to avoid a two-speed Europe" was Ms. Violeta Simeonova-Stanichich, who is the Head of European Parliament Information Office in Sofia.

The morning session started with a lecture by Mr. Krassimir Mirev, who is the Head the Bulgarian delegation to the Committee of the Regions, as well as Mayor of Targovishte city. He explained to the participants the role of regions in the EU decision-making process.

"The leader is the one who takes the responsibility and creates the ethical standards. He must give personal example every day, because if the employees see the head of the organization in conflict of interest, they would also be tempted, " said Mr. Chris J. Matlon, who is a Member of the Board of Directors of the "America for Bulgaria" Foundation, to the participants in the National Program "Governing skills". He was a special guest speaker at the session "30 minutes with ...". The topic of his lecture was “Business ethics”. He gave for example the U.S. measures to prevent bad business practices. Mr. Matlon presented the basic rules of "Sarbanes-Oxley Act", which regulate the corporate audits. He highlighted that although it was expensive for the small and medium-sized companies to introduce some of the measures provided in the document that was the price, which business should pay for violating the ethical standards.

"Democracy should be learned but it is difficult to be imposed", said the former Prime Minister Mr. Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha to the participants in the National Program "Governing skills". The Program during the second day of the course started with his lecture.
Mr. Saxe-Coburg Gotha said that he was very happy to see how young people progress in their lives and careers in a completely different society. "For us, the elder people, democracy has no price", he said.
The former Prime Minister highlighted the importance of the institutions because without them there would not be a strong state system. In his opinion they should not been personalized because they symbolize the state.
Mr. Simeon Mr. Saxe-Coburg Gotha shared with the participants his memories about the Bulgarian School of Politics founder – Mr. Dimi Panitza.

"This program should include a new national cause and you, young people, should think about it," said Mr. Georgi Parvanov, who was the president of Bulgaria from 2002 to 2012, to the participants in the National Program "Governing skills". He was a guest speaker at the session "30 minutes with…” in the first day of the fourth course of the Program, whose topic is "Bulgaria in EU - principles of good governance."
Mr. Parvanov emphasized the need for good parliamentarians, for people who are good speakers and experts. He explained that this was important not only for the National Assembly, but also for Bulgaria in general. Mr. Parvanov said that he would include such people in his team, even if they were among his greatest personal critics. He also said that he has always been impressed when he sees such people among his political opponents.
Mr. Georgi Parvanov said that he shared the common concerns about the EU future, but he was sure that the centripetal forces would prevail. He admitted though that he was optimistic about relationships in the EU, because there is a trend for creation of different levels, of center and periphery in the Union and this could have economic impact in the future, which could not be good for Bulgaria.