This was the theme of the international conference held on the 14th of March in "East" Hall of the National Assembly on the occasion of the International Day of the Francophone.

Its organizers were the National Assembly and the Permanent Delegation of the National Assembly in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophone, in partnership with a number of francophone institutions and organizations. In such a way the rich program of the Francophone Week in Bulgaria, which took place from the 14th to the 21st of March, began.

The conference was opened by the Chair of the National Assembly - Mrs. Tsetska Tsacheva. More opening remarks were uttered by: the Ambassador of the French Republic and Chairman of the Group of Francophone Ambassadors in Bulgaria - H.E. Mr. Xavier Lapeyre de Cabanes, the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee and representative of the Permanent Delegation of the National Assembly to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophone - Mr. Boris Stanimirov, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs - Mr. Rumen Alexandrov, the director of CEE Bureau of the University Agency of the Francophone - Mr. Fabien Flory, and the head of CREFECO and representative of the International Organization of the Francophone - Mrs. Reni Yotova.

Thematically, the reports of the international conference were grouped into two parts: "Radicalization of the Youth in Social Networks" and "Humor as a Political Critique - performativity and ambiguity". In the first part the lecturer Alain Berto - professor at the University Paris 8, spoke about "Islamization of the radical" and Jean-Yves Camus from the Institute of International Relations and Strategies in Paris about "The Role of Social Networks in the Mobilization of Activists of the Extreme Right." The topic of Boyan Radoykov / UNESCO / was "The Young and the Internet: how to counter radicalization and extremism."

The second panel was more humorous. H.E. Ms. Anick van Calster, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Belgium in Bulgaria, spoke of "The Cartoonists: danger alarm or counter-power." Anton Staykov from Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski " talked about "Comics and Propaganda - heroes and superheroes at the beginning of the new century", Tony Nikolov from Portal Europe addressed the issue of "Youth in Social Networks: anti-elite criticism" and the cartoonist Chavdar Nikolov about "The Freedom to Ridicule ".

The discussion was attended by MPs, Bulgarian and foreign academics, diplomats and public figures. The lectures and debates were summarized by Camil Alexandru Parvu from the University of Bucharest with his statement – “Un/Ability of words to unite, convince and inspire” and by Anna Krasteva from the New Bulgarian University with "Critique of the Elites: from radical to ridicule".

Photos: "Diplomatic spectrum" magazine.

Above: At the opening of the international conference from left to right: The Deputy Minister of the Foreign Affairs - Mr. Rumen Alexandrov, the Ambassador of France in Bulgaria - H.E. Mr. Xavier Lapeyre de Cabanes, the Chair of the National Assembly - Mrs. Tsetska Tsacheva, the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee and representative of the Permanent Delegation of the National Assembly in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophone - Mr. Boris Stanimirov, and the Director of the CEE Bureau of the University Agency of the Francophone - Mr. Fabien Flory.

Bottom: participants in various modules of the conference