Centre for Liberal Strategies Chairman: No Alternative Is Better for Western Balkans than EU Membership

Konstantin Kostov

Ivan Krastev of the Centre for Liberal Strategies at the EU Meets the Balkans forum, Sofia, April 17, 2025 (BTA Photo/Hristo Kasabov)

Sofia,

17.04.2025 14:06

(BTA)

No alternative to EU membership is better for the Western Balkans, the Chairman of the Board of the Centre for Liberal Strategies, Ivan Krastev, said there Thursday. He was among the speakers at the EU Meets the Balkans forum in Sofia.

The event is organized by the European Liberal Forum, the ALDE Party, and the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria. Among the speakers were Vice President Iliana Iotova, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev, representatives from Turkiye, Romania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and Montenegro. Bulgarian MPs and policy experts were also present.

Krastev said that the EU must see the opportunities it is offered by what is happening in the world, and ask itself how it can gain from this situation. How fast it makes its decisions matter a lot nowadays, he added.

/NF/