HSE Students Win European Universities Arabic Debating Championship

A team of students from the Bachelor’s programme ’Asian and African Studies’ at the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs—the only team from Russia—has won first prize at the European Universities Arabic Debating Championship (EUADC) (a QatarDebate regional championship), beating other teams from non-Arabic-speaking countries.

This year, the competition took place in Istanbul and featured three debate rounds. The Russian students defeated a Turkish team from Ibn Haldun University and an Arabic-speaking team from Austria. In the third round, they narrowly lost to a Turkish team from Fatih University.

The HSE team members received medals for being the best speakers in the championship. The judging panel praised the Russian students' high level of preparation and their outstanding command of the Arabic language.

The QatarDebate International Universities Debating Championship is held annually. This is the second time that students from the HSE School of Asian Studies have won the European stage of the competition. In November 2023, they were the overall winners of the European round.

Andrey Zeltyn

‘Our team consisted of experienced participants who had already competed in QatarDebate. Within a short period, our students progressed from their first competition to securing victory. With the support of the school, they became European champions and won two out of three top speaker medals. This once again confirms that the HSE School of Asian Studies is an undisputed leader in teaching the Arabic language—not only in Russia but beyond,’ emphasised Andrey Zeltyn, Senior Lecturer at the HSE School of Asian Studies.