The Refugee Crisis and Its Implications for the European Union. Mapping the Right EU Policies

ECFR Sofia organises an international workshop on the possible responses to the refugee crisis.

Guests

Vít Novotny, Senior research officer at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies

Lyubomir Kyutchukov, Director of Economics and International Relations Institute

Daniel Smilov, Programmes Director at the Centre for Liberal Strategies

Nikola Kovacevic, Belgrade Centre for Human Rights

Radu Musetescu, Associate Professor and Head of Department International Business and Economics, Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest

Shaun Riordan, Senior Visiting Fellow, Clingendael

Boris Stanimirov, Deputy Chairperson of the Foreign Policy Committee, National Assembly

Mariyana Stoyanova, Bulgarian Red Cross

John M. Nomikos, Director of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS)

Marta Szpala, Senior Fellow, Central European Department, Centre for Eastern Studies, Poland

Ognyan Minchev, Executive Director at Institute for Regional and International Studies

Chaired by

Vessela Tcherneva, Programmes director and Sofia office director at ECFR

Jordan Bozhilov, Founding Chairman of Sofia Forum for Security

Krassimira Temelkova, Standart News

Irina Nedeva, Bulgarian National Radio

The international workshop “The Refugee Crisis and Its Implications for the European Union. Mapping the Right EU Policies” is organised in cooperation with the Sofia Security Forum, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, and Wilfried Martens Centre.

The refugee crisis is the most serious test for the EU and its member states.  It revived fundamental problems that seemed to have been resolved in the past like the question of European identity, European unity and solidarity or the issue of policy making at the EU level as well as the link between the EU level and national competences.It raises the questions of how Europe anticipates and manages complex crisesand how to overcome the rise of extreme nationalist sentiments in the Member States. The kind of integration policy that should be carried out is a key aspect of resolving the refugee crisis. The question is not only how to cope with the current refugee crisis but how Europe can come out of it even stronger. These topics will be at the core of the discussions during the workshop. 

The event gathers participants from European think tanks, the diplomatic corps in Bulgaria, representatives from government and non-government organisations. Our aim is to formulate concrete policy recommendations.