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What do Bulgarians think of transaltantic relations?

ECFR Senior Policy Fellow Nick Witney travelled to the Bulgarian capital to present the findings and recommendations outlined in the report "Towards a Post-American Europe: A Power Audit of EU-US Relations" that he co-authored with Jeremy Shapiro last year.

In their report, Witney and Shapiro argue that the EU needs to adopt a more collective approach if it is to have any hope of becoming the effective partner the US wants, and that individual member states must shake off illusions about the transatlantic relationship if they want to avoid irrelevance on the world stage.

In his Sofia presentation, Witney likened the current situation in transatlantic relations to family problems: What happens when the parents don't love each other anymore? The metaphor ran throughout the discussions. See: http://www.euinside.eu/en/news/time-to-strike-a-balance.

Nikolay Mladenov, Bulgaria's Foreign Minister and ECFR Council Member, appeared on the panel alongside Witney. Minister Mladenov argued that the EU and US often see the world differently - making Witney and Shapiro's call for a coherent European approach all the more urgent if the EU wants to be taken seriously and not have its position bypassed in international decision making. Minister Mladenov went on to say that the main hurdle in achieving a common European stance is the fear in some European capitals that this would fail to acknowledge member states' differing political and economic realities . It is this fear that leads to compromises between member states, which often merely follow the lowest common denominator. Minister Mladenov also stated that EU-US relations should be expanded through relations with other global players, including the BRIC countries.

The event attracted a large crowd, including officials from the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence, members of parliament, European ambassadors and NGO representatives. Interventions from the audience supported the Witney and Shapiro's idea that Washington is less inclined to listen to individual European countries, reiterating the need for a coherent EU approach to the US.