Event Backgrounder: President Bush and Mrs. Bush Participate in A roundtable on Free-Market Democracy, Sofia, BulgariaOffice of the Press Secretary (Sofia, Bulgaria) ________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release June 11, 2007 Event Backgrounder: The President and Mrs. Bush participate in a Roundtable on Free-Market Democracy BACKGROUND The President and Mrs. Bush will participate in a Roundtable on Free-Market Democracy with students in Sofia, Bulgaria. Bulgaria is the final stop on a six nation tour of Europe for the annual G8 Summit. This is the President's first visit to Bulgaria. The students are studying in, or have recently graduated from, a high school or business-focused university program in Bulgaria, which is modeled on the curricula and teaching style of American schools and universities. Most have studied at the American University of Bulgaria (AUBG), the venue for this roundtable. Students from Bulgaria, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, and Afghanistan will be in attendance. The American University of Bulgaria (AUBG)offers an undergraduate liberal arts education with English as the language of instruction. AUBG was established in 1991 to provide an American-like university environment for top students from the American College of Sofia and from outside Bulgaria. AUBG is a multicultural institution, with 40 percent of the student body from countries other than Bulgaria. BIOGRAPHIES OF PARTICIPANTS Stanko Stankov (Bulgaria) Stanko Stankov graduated from the American University in Bulgaria earlier this year with a degree in business. Stanko was a trainer for AUBG's Diversity Awareness Team, which brings together students from countries such as Albania, Serbia, and Mongolia to represent aspects of their own cultures in order to foster mutual understanding. Prior to attending AUBG, he was a high school exchange student in Ohio.
Nemanja Gruicic (Serbia) Nemanja Gruicic is a senior studying business at the American University in Bulgaria. Nemanja is an active debater and a member of the American football club as well as a trainer for the Diversity Awareness Team. He has been a summer exchange visitor to the United States twice. Katya Georgieva (Bulgaria) Katya Georgieva graduated from AUBG earlier this year with degrees in business and European Studies. She organized international debate competitions based at AUBG. Katya will be attending the University of Michigan Law School in September. Hristina Jordanova (Bulgaria) Hristina Jordanova graduated from AUBG in 2003 with a business degree and soon after started her professional career with Colliers as a Residential Property Consultant soon. Two years later, she joined Kraft Foods Bulgaria and continues to work there today. Nita Gojani (Kosovo) Nita Gojani graduated from AUBG earlier this year with a degree in journalism. She worked with an NGO program in Kosovo on AIDS awareness and prevention. Ms. Gojani recently won a fellowship from the Kosovo-American Education Fund to pursue a master's degree in International Affairs in the United States. Dilyana Mincheva (Bulgaria) Dilyana Mincheva is currently a student in the Arabic Studies Master's Program at the University of Sofia. She lived in Libya as a child, an experience which strongly influenced her interest in intercultural differences and the integration of Muslims in Bulgaria. From 2003 to 2004, she was a visiting student at Dowling College in Oakdale, New York, where she specialized in Sociology-Anthropology.
Filjor Broka (Albania) Filjor Broka graduated Summa Cum Laude from AUBG with a mathematics degree. He was a member of the Diversity Awareness Team. This fall he will begin a Ph.D. Program in Mathematics at Vanderbilt University. Hawa Ansary (Afghanistan) Hawa Ansaray graduated from the American College in Sofia. Hawa was secretly home-schooled by her parents in Kabul during Taliban rule. She lived in New Jersey in from 2003 to 2004 as a high school exchange student, and is currently choosing a college to attend in the United States this fall. Stanislav Andreev (Bulgaria) Stanislav Andreev graduated from American College Sofia earlier this year. He plans to attend Connecticut College in the fall to study economics. In 2006, Mr. Stanislav participated in a summer program on leadership and business at the University of Pennsylvania. Bilyana Hristova (Bulgaria) Bilyana Hristova is a second year economics student at Sofia University. She is a young entrepreneur, and started her own marketing services company in April. She is a graduate of the National High School of Finance and Economics in Sofia. # # # |
 | |||
|
