Tsvetanov briefs EPP leader Joseph Daul on his new thinktank
The president of the management board of the Euro-Atlantic Security Center (EASC) Tsvetan Tsvetanov and executive director Sofiya Petkova had a working meeting with Joseph Daul, president of the European People’s Party and member of the Executive Board of the Wilfried Martens Center for European Studies, the EASC said.
Tsvetanov presented the main priorities and project areas in the work of the enter, highlighting the European and regional dimension in counteracting hybrid warfare, fighting against trafficking in human beings, managing migration flows, counteracting corruption and money-laudering, de-radicalization and preventing radicalization, and rethinking the consequences of the totalitarian and communist past, the statement said.
He also underlined the need for more attention to be directed towards the development of economic and geopolitical processes in the regions of the Black Sea and the Western Balkans with the aim of preserving and improving the security and stability of Europe and the Transatlantic partners.
Tsvetanov expressed his hope to carry out many joint future initiatives and projects together with the Euro-Atlantic partners to the interest of the security of European citizens, the EASC said.
Tsvetanov and Petkova also met with Antonio Lopez, Secretary General of the European People’s Party and member of the Executive Board of the Wilfried Martens Center for European Studies.
Tsvetanov presented the main conceptual framework, values, and highlights in the work of the Center.
He underlined that the first projects of the organization will focus on counteracting fake news, fighting against trafficking in human beings, and creating a culture of remembrance for the consequences from the years of the communist regime.
Lopez expressed support for the value-based approach to security and said that counteracting hybrid warfare is particularly important because in the recent years it became clear that any European country can fall victim to hybrid attacks compromising its democratic processes. The two agreed that a major component of this counteraction is the close partnership among the Euro-Atlantic partners and allies.
In talks with Tomi Huhtanen, Executive Director of the Wilfried Martens Center for European Studies, topics of mutual interest in implementing joint initiatives by the two organizations were discussed.
Tsvetanov presented the main project areas of the Center and stressed the importance of work for stimulating cooperation on security topics in the region of the Western Balkans, as well as on generating more attention to the processes in the Black Sea region that block attempts at regional cooperation.
Huhtanen expressed a positive assessment of the aims and mission of the Center and noted that those coincide with the priorities of the Transatlantic partnership. The two agreed on the importance of the Western Balkans within the agenda of the European Union and the need for more work with partners from the countries in the region on issues of national and regional security.
