Lyubka Vasileva served as a quarter-final assessor. The first Bulgarian mediator competing at CDRC Vienna reached the Top 8.

At the beginning of July, CDRC Vienna - The IBA-VIAC Mediation & Negotiation Competition 2026, one of the world's most prestigious international student competitions in mediation and negotiation, took place in Vienna.

This year, Bulgaria marked a strong presence both among the assessors and the competitors.

For another consecutive year, attorney Lyubka Vasileva was part of the international panel of assessors. Following her work in the preliminary rounds, she was invited this year to assess one of the quarter-final rounds of the competition.

A particular highlight of this year's edition was the outstanding debut of the first Bulgarian mediator to compete in CDRC Vienna - Lilly Gancheva, a Psychology student at Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv. Following an impressive performance, under the guidance and support of her coach, Kristina Gorcheva, Lilly advanced to the Top 8 mediators of the competition - a remarkable achievement for both her and her coach, as well as for the Bulgarian mediation community.

Each year, CDRC Vienna brings together students, academics, mediators, lawyers and dispute resolution professionals from around the world. In addition to providing future professionals with an opportunity to develop their mediation and negotiation skills, the competition serves as a forum for exchanging knowledge, experience and best practices among established experts in the field.

For Lyubka and the other expert assessors, participation in CDRC is not only a professional commitment but also an opportunity to contribute to the development of the next generation of mediators and to strengthen the international mediation community.