On Tuesday 9th March 2021, we had the honor to have an online conversation with Ivan Krasyev moderated by Victoria Martín de la Torre. Below you can find a description of the topics discussed and a short bio of both participants.

The Covid-19 has opened our eyes to the world we are living in. We have started to realize the fragility of things that we used to take for granted.
This pandemic challenges our society in apparently competing ways. We are physically isolated,
but virtually interconnected.
We see fear and distrust, but also solidarity.
We experience a visible clash between public safety and individual rights and freedoms.
Finally, Covid-19 questions the assumptions upon which the European Union was founded.
Could this lead to a major transformation
of the European project?
Will it lead to a more united or a more
divided Europe?

Ivan Krastev is the chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, and a contributing opinion writer for the International New York Times. He is the author of acclaimed books (among others): After Europe (2017), The Light that Failed: A Reckoning (2019). His latest book Is it Tomorrow, Yet? Paradoxes of the Pandemic (2020) was published in more than 20 languages. He is the winner of the Jean Améry Prize for European Essay Writing 2020.
Profiled by Politico in 2019 as one of the 28 people most likely to shape Europe, you can find an introduction to Ivan here:
https://www.politico.eu/…/politico-28…/ivan-krastev/

Moderator:
Victoria Martin de la Torre
Spokesperson in the EP, journalist, and author of the book: Europe, a Leap into the Unknown:
A Journey Back in Time to Meet the Founders of the European Union.