Facts - CSDP Olympiad 2018 NMU

The 4th CSDP Olympiad – Residential Phase

held at Vasil Levski National Military University,

Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

21 - 25 May 2018

FACTS

 

     The European Union Common Security and Defense Policy Olympiad is organized within the framework of the Erasmus-inspired European Initiative for the Exchange of Young Officers. The main partners in the Olympiad were the European Security and Defense College - Brussels and the Implementation Group for the Initiative. The main objective of the Olympiad is to provide the cadets from  European military education institutions with basic knowledge of security and defense policies that will give them an incentive to write an essay and compete with that essay with cadets from other Member States in a Common Security and Defence Policy Competition.

     The 4th Olympiad was held from June 1, 2017 to May 25, 2018. This is the entire period including preparatory activities for self-preparation for essay writing, development of participation material, preparation of a special site of the Olympiad on the Emylio platform, conducting on-line courses with the candidates, and etc.

     An Internet – based Distance Learning Course (IDL), consisting of 4 Autonomous Knowledge Units (AKUs):

  • AKU1 - “History and Context of ESDP/CSDP development”
  • AKU2 - “European Security Strategy”
  • AKU3 - “Role of EU Institutions in the field of CFSP / CSDP”
  • AKU4 - “The Lisbon Treaty and its implications for CFSP / CSDP”

     After the successful completion of the training and the positive results of each module's final tests, the students had the right to choose topics for CSDP essay writing that were approved by the Implementation Group.

     Topics for the 4th CSDP Olympiad:

  1. Comment on the evolution of CSDP in light of the EU-NATO joint declaration.
  2. Comment on the rationale behind the EU’s CSDP engagement in the Sahel.
  3. In what ways is the CSDP becoming more supranational in nature? What are the consequences?
  4. The EU Global Strategy introduces “protecting Europe” as a priority and the concept of “strategic autonomy”: What could be the military implications?
  5. Cyberspace as new dimension of European security.
  6. The role of the European Union in maritime security.
  7. The current state of the European energy security supply.
  8. The role of CSDP in the EU’s integrated approach.
  9. The role of CSDP in border protection.
  10. CSDP public relations: How to promote CSDP to the European citizens?

     All essays were rated by an international panel of evaluators, whose members were representatives of all participating military academies and universities.

     38 cadets were admitted to the final phase, of whom 34 cadets registered for participation in the Residential Phase, held from May 21 to May 25, 2018 at the Vasil Levski National Military University in Veliko Tarnovo. Additionally, cadets from military academies in Romania and Portugal attended the Residential phase as observers. The Bulgarian participants were cadet Stilian Slavchev from Vasil Levki National Military University and cadet Dimitar Stoykov from  Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy.

     There were 33 representatives of the academic staff of the participating military academies - officers and civilians, together with representatives from the Ministries of Defence of Poland and Spain, who participated in the Olympiad.

     The official opening ceremony of the Olympiad on 22May 2018 at the Vasil Levski National Military University was attended by the Deputy Minister of the Bulgarian Presidency, by representatives of the Human Resources Management and the Defense Policy Directorates of the Ministry of Defense, the Deputy Mayor of the Veliko Tarnovo Municipality, as well as by the Head of the ESDP and the Chairman of the Implementation Group, all of whom addressed the audience. The Olympiad was officially opened by the Rector of the Vasil Levski NMU Brig. Gen. P. Bogdanov, PhD.

     In the first stage of the competition, the essays of all the cadets, divided into 6 groups, were presented and assessed by an international panel of evaluators. The top 10 presentations that received the highest number of points continued to compete in the second round in front of all participants - cadets and officers. A new panel of evaluators assessed these presentations and at the end of the round the winner in the "Best Essay" category was announced.

     On the next day, all the cadets took part in a Team Knowledge Competition and an Individual Knowledge Competition. After taking into consideration the final results of these competitions, the winner of the Olympiad was determined.

     On May 24, the foreign cadets and their Bulgarian counterparts participated in a festive procession on the streets of the Old Capital, which was part of the official program of the Veliko Tarnovo Municipality devoted to the Day of Slavonic Literature and Culture. In the afternoon, a cultural program was organized for all foreign guests and an introduction to the historical heritage of the town of Veliko Tarnovo and the village of Arbanassi.

     The winners in the different categories were awarded prizes during e the Olympiad closing ceremony on  25 May, 2018 at Vasil Levski NMU.

     The winners in the different categories are as follows:

  1. TEAM WINNER of the CSDP Knowledge Competition
  2. Winner of the Olympiad Cover Page Design Competition - Savic Nikola – Theresan Military Academy, Wiener Neustadt, AU
  3. Winner of the CSDP Paper Essay Competition - Matthias KERN - Theresan Military Academy, Wiener Neustadt, AU
  4. Single Competition Winner and the 4th CSDP Olympiad Winner - Kacper KASPRZAK – Military University of Technology, Warsaw, PL.

     A special website for the Olympiad was developed and is maintained on the web page of the а European Initiative for the Exchange of Young Officers Inspired by Erasmus Program.

     Website of the 4th CSDP Olympiad: http://www.emilyo.eu/olympiad_csdp

 

Colonel Assoc. Prof. Nevena Atansova – Krasteva, PhD

Vasil Levski NMU, Veliko Tarnovo,  BULGARIA

4-th CSDP Olympiad Director