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The Dole Institute of Politics, 2350 Petefish Drive, at the University of Kansas is pictured March 12, 2020.

The University of Kansas’ Dole Institute of Politics announced Monday that a foreign ambassador will deliver the annual Dole Lecture.

Jean-Arthur Régibeau, the ambassador of Belgium to the United States, will discuss the 2020 U.S. presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic. He will focus on Belgium, the European Union and the role the United States will play in future European relations. The lecture will take place on May 5 at 7 p.m. on the Dole Institute’s Youtube channel.

“Ambassador Régibeau is only the second seated ambassador to be a guest at the institute,” Dole Institute Director Bill Lacy said in a press release. “As the world begins to emerge from the COVID pandemic, he will bring a unique perspective on what lies ahead for U.S. and European relations.”

Régibeau joined the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1998 and went on to serve in roles such as diplomatic adviser to the Minister of Defense, deputy commissioner for the commemoration of World War I and ambassador to the Russian Federation, Armenia, Belarus and Uzbekistan. He became the ambassador of Belgium to the United States on Sept. 17, 2020.

The Dole Lecture is held each spring and commemorates April 14, 1945, when native Kansan Bob Dole was critically wounded while serving in Italy during World War II. Dole went on to recover and serve the United States as a senator for over 25 years. The Dole Lecture is traditionally delivered by a national or international figure who discusses an aspect of current politics. Past Dole Lecture speakers include former President Bill Clinton, U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward.