I held a public lecture at The Red House in Sofia on EU soft power in the Balkans. Ever since the dramatic events in Kosovo in 1999, the European Union saw the EU membership prospect for the Balkan countries as a tool for stabilising the region. The “EU membership promise” has been perceived as an instrument of excercising soft power over a region that includes Turkey as well. With recent developments across the Balkans, is the EU soft power fading away?
