On the 8.11.2019 the 3rd DSS MUN took place in Sofia. The discussion was initiated with a distinguished opening word from four key speaker, including the German Ambassador Mr. Christoph Eichhorn.

With no discussion after a few speeches the second topic: „Measures to prevent the proliferation and to lower production capabilities of weapons of mass destruction through an active international political agenda“ was chosen. Due to the controversy of the topic it was clear that there are potential conflicts, which began to arise even in the first speeches.

The first conflict was formed during the moderated caucus on the topic „Peaceful usage of Weapons of mass destruction in Iran“. The main discussion was between the United States and Iran, who stated his disagreement of the withdrawal of the USA from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. On the other hand, the USA was concerned about possibly existing relationships between Iran and terrorist groups, as well as the eventual usage of Iran’s nuclear organization for reasons different from security.

Even though the United States suggested a second moderated caucus on the extremely vital topic „Terrorism“ the delegates chose to vote against this motion, not recognizing it’s importance.

In the course of the debate many groups with similar interests were formed, however after some intense discussion the delegates divided themselves into two Blocks. The first one, including The Russian federation, Iran, Peoples Republic of China and the United Kingdom calls for immediate ratification of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) by all nations and would also like to encourage the investment in programs for the civil use of nuclear power rather than for military purposes.

The second Block consists of all the other delegates. Suspicious is the unordinary cooperation between North and South Korea, Turkey and the USA. Furthermore, the probability that more than 30 delegations share the same interests and goals is very low. There is no doubt that many delegations have misunderstood their position and are not working with the right countries. The second Block would like to prevent the development, production and the manufacture of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices if the country does not already possess them and encourages the formation of a nuclear, chemical and biological weapons-free zone in areas of conflict, like the Middle East.

In addition, the USA, North Korea and Portugal were invited to the Press conference that was held. There the United States clarified again their position and commented on the goals they would like to achieve. However, the delegation of North Korea was not aware of their position. Firstly, they support a working paper, that contradicts with their position and wills. Moreover, they stated that they welcome a cooperation with the United States and are ready to destroy their nuclear weapons, something that won’t happen in the near future and is completely against the position of the North Korean government.

By the end of the day the working papers were submitted and now the delegates are waiting the working papers to be accepted as a draft resolution.

The debate is developing in a very interesting direction and we are very eager to see how it will go on tomorrow.

Blaga Popcheva, representing Fox News on the first day of the
DSS MUN conference 2019

About terms you might not know, regarding MUN:

  • The Key speakers open every MUN conference and are often politically involved in real life
  • The Moderated caucus is a mode of the conference specifying the general topic, during which delegates may raise their placards and if granted to speak by the Chair they hold a speech regarding the specified topic for a certain amount of time.
  • Placards are paper signs, on which the name of the country of a delegation is written.
  • The Chair moderates the whole conference and organizes it.
  • Motions are „raised“ (introduced) by delegates when the Chair asks if there are any motions to be raised by the delegates. A motion could suggest a moderated caucus and many others.
  • A Working paper is a not yet complete resolution and it is in process of becoming a Draft resolution.
  • A Draft resolution is a not yet accepted resolution by the Chair.
  • A resolution is a UN document written by the General Assembly with a non binding and mandatory character, but suggests changes in politics of member states and their measures for fighting a particular problem.
  • The General Assembly is the committee of the UN, in which all member states can participate and mostly solve world problems.