Sofia Forum for the Western Balkans: Time to Rebuild Trust

With this forum due to be held under the theme “Time to rebuild trust”, we aim at bringing together head of states, decision makers, politicians, along with civil society organisations and journalists. The year 2021 was pivotal for the Western Balkan region and the enlargement was put on track on the Euro-Atlantic agenda. Despite the global pandemic, the EU-Western Balkans summit in Brdo, Slovenia, reconfirmed the unequivocal support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans and highlighted the ample financial package of support to the region. 

Therefore, this event would represent a great opportunity to hear participant’s perspective on the further development of the accession process and to elaborate together regionally relevant issues and policies. 

Programme 

18:00 – 18:30 Opening remarks and keynote speeches 

Speakers:  

• Ilhan Kyuchyuk MEP, Co-President of ALDE Party 
• H.E. Olivér Várhelyi, EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement 

18:30 – 20:00 Time to rebuild trust: EU’s input and lessons learned 

Speakers:  

• Moderator: Solomon Passy, President of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria 
• Prof. Vlado Buckovski, Special representative of North Macedonia to Bulgaria 

• Albert Musliu, Executive director of the Association for Democratic Initiatives 
• Bisserka Benisheva, Director for EU Affairs of PanEuropa Bulgaria 

20:00 – 20:10 Closing remarks 

20:10 – 21:00 End of programme and buffet dinner