The Eurosceptic surge and how to respond to it?

Launch of ECFR’s latest report looking at the forthcoming European Parliament elections, followed by a round table titled “How serious is the Eurosceptic threat in Bulgaria?”

Guests

Dick Oosting, CEO of ECFR

Meglena Kuneva, leader of the Reformist Bloc’s list for the EP elections

Zornitza Stoilova, Capital weekly

Daniel Smilov, Centre for Liberal Strategies

Chaired by

Dimitar Bechev, Head of ECFR Sofia 

After years of crisis, opinion polls across Europe forecast sweeping gains for Eurosceptic parties at the EU elections in May 2014. They are especially likely to make gains in three large countries: France, Italy, and the United Kingdom, become a key political force in Greece, Czech Republic and the Netherlands and get quite a push in Denmark, Austria, Lithuania, Hungary and Finland. The euroscepticism is gaining strength in Bulgaria, too, since populist parties and public figures attack more and more frequently the pro-European consensus in the country and question the meaning and benefits from the EU membership.  ECFR’s latest report analyses the roots and dynamics of the euroscepticism as a political phenomenon, providing a helpful framework for debating the case of Bulgaria.