Vienna – ESI at round table on "Europe at risk"

Kristof (4th from the left) with his co-panelists Jakub Wisniewski (Globsec Policy Institute) and Joris Van Bladel (Associate Fellow at the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy AIES). Further right former EU Commissioner Franz Fischler and Georgy Ganev (CLS Sofia). Photo: Kreisky Forum

ESI deputy chairman Kristof Bender participated at a round table on "Europe at Risk - New Players in the European Union" organised on 5 and 6 December 2019 by the Centre for Liberal Strategies (CLS) from Sofia, the Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue and the Austrian Ministry for Defense in Vienna. The event was conducted following Chatham House rules. Kristof spoke about risks and challenges for Europe in the Aegean and in the Western Balkans. He presented ideas how to better implement the EU-Turkey Statement and how to turn the EU accession process into a true mobiliser for reforms for the Western Balkans. 

Other participants included Clément Beaune, Europe adviser to French President Marcon, Zoltan Martinusz, Director at the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU, Federico Fubini, editor-at-large of the Corriere della Sera, Ulrike Guérot of the European Democacy Lab, German Ambassador to Austria Ralf Beste, former European Commissioner Franz Fischler and several members of the European Parliament: Eva Madell (EPP), Andreas Schieder (PES) and Michal Simecka (Renew Europe).

• ESI newsletter: Coup de grâce – Delors and squaring the circle – Norway in the Balkans (25 October 2019)
• ESI core facts: The EU-Turkey Statement three years on (15 April 2019)
• Roundtable agenda
• List of participants

Clément Beaune, Europe Adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, and Ivan Krastev, chairman of the CLS in Sofia. Photo: Kreisky Forum

Photo: Kreisky Forum