Joveva advocated for a greater role of the European Parliament at the BSF

On 2 September 2025, MEP Irena Joveva participated in the panel Europe Chooses – creating unity or facing fragmentation at the Bled Strategic Forum, where she and other interlocutors discussed the future of the European Union in an increasingly divided world.

In her introduction, Joveva stressed that the work in this mandate is particularly challenging due to the rise of populism and the return of dangerous ideas that, she believed, belonged to the distant past. Although she agreed that a vision for the future of Europe exists, she is not convinced that it is truly shared.

”If that were the case, we would have enough political will to implement at least some of the necessary reforms within the European Union. But so, we see that even one member state or just one leader, and we certainly have at least one such leader, who does not share this common vision, can be enough to block or to a large extent stop or slow down positive changes.”

She thus highlighted the need for institutional reforms as one of the key challenges. “The paradox is that the European Parliament is the only directly elected institution among the three key ones, yet it has the least powers. If we want a Union that will function more effectively and democratically, a reform, that would give Parliament, as an institution where the majority rules, a greater role and weight in decision-making, is necessary.”

When asked about the power of young people, she pointed out that it is not necessary to choose between loudness and decency: “You can be loud, tell the truth decently and be heard.” She added that she is tired of the lack of transparency and when is not said how things stand and how much the European Union is concerned or how deeply it regrets a matter, as well as endless discussions without any real results. She criticized the EU’s passivity in the cases of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and the tragedy in Gaza: “If you proudly promote your values, principles and the rule of law on paper, but then fail to act when necessary, people rightly lose trust and the EU loses credibility.”

In conclusion, she emphasized that there is no better alternative than the European Union as such, but that it must prove that it defends its values ​​not only in theory, but above all in practice.

In addition to MEP Irena Joveva, the round table also included former EU Ambassador to the US Joao Vale de Almeida, former Foreign Minister of North Macedonia Nikola Dimitrov and ABP representative Aart Jan de Geus.