site.btaSofia to Host EU Meets Balkans Forum

EU leaders, foreign ministers, prominent public figures and politicians will gather in Sofia on Tuesday for The EU Meets the Balkans Forum, which will discuss steps to enhance regional cooperation and integration in the EU, the office of MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Renew Europe) said. Kyuchyuk, who is also Co-President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), will open the event together with European Liberal Forum (ELF) Executive Director Daniel Kaddik and Atlantic Club of Bulgaria (ACB) President Solomon Passy.

The meeting will highlight the connectivity between the Western Balkan countries as a guarantee for resilience against risks and threats. It has been organized by ALDE in association with ELF and ACB.

The participants in the event are expected to be greeted in special messages from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration Olha Stefanishyna.

Federica Mogherini, Rector of the College of Europe and former EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, and Oliver Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, will be special guests.

In the first discussion panel, the foreign ministers of Turkey, North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina will talk about the advantages of integration.

Further discussions will focus on the promotion of regional cooperation and integration in the EU, cooperation between NATO and the EU in the context of the Ukraine war, and disinformation during the war.