Dear Sir or Madam,

We are pleased to invite you to the next event of our European Café series, focusing on the changing image of the European Union, from within and beyond its borders.

Six months before the elections to the European Parliament, a heated campaign has already started in many countries. It is not only the Hungarian Prime Minister who is viewing the 2019 European Elections as a potential turning point in the history of the EU. A feeling of fatigue caused by a permanent crisis have undermined the appeal of the EU in some countries. Eurosceptic, EU-critical and outright anti-EU views compete with pro-European approaches and bold initiatives to further deepen the integration. Despite the disputes, the EU is still highly attractive beyond its borders: Serbia and Moldova are striving for accession regardless the inner problems of the EU, and Hungary is supporting their candidacy. How is the EU viewed from its neighborhood? Are EU-member countries perhaps overexaggerating their criticism when insisting on the permanent crisis and forget about the gains of the membership? What makes the EU still attractive for many countries? And what is the price to be paid for accession?

Our guests are:

Mr. Iurie Leanca, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, former Prime Minister (2013-2015), Chairman of the European People’s Party of Moldova

Mr. Vuk Jeremic, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), founder of the People’s Party of Serbia

Mr. Zsolt Németh, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Hungarian Parliament

The event will be moderated by: Ms. Edit Inotai, Senior Fellow, CEID

The Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy (CEID) has launched a series of discussions on current European issues, supported by Erste Stiftung. We aim to discuss vital challenges of the European integration from a Hungarian perspective. Our purpose is to organize constructive and open debates about our common European future by inviting politicians and experts from and beyond Hungary.

The event will be in English.

We would be delighted if you could accept our invitation. Since seats are limited, we would urge you to register. In case of questions related to this event,please contact our colleague Mr. Dániel Varga at daniel.varga@ceid.hu.

Yours sincerely,

Dániel Bartha

Executive Director, Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy

Organized by

Sponsored by