We just launched our European Tour. Two stops, two very different registers, one throughline: conviction without slogans.
Networking for Pragmatic Idealists – European Forum Alpbach
We spent the end of August proving that taking Europe seriously and having a good time are not mutually exclusive.
The European Tour started in Alpbach, Austria where we did what pragmatic idealists do best – argue in public. Inviting a mixed crowd of pro-Europeans to our Networking for Pragmatic Idealists, we put three of our members on the spot for them to pitch ideas for the future of Europe. Alberto Alemanno, Hanna Shelest, and Oksana Forostyna chose ideas connected to innovating European democracy and supporting Ukraine. All participants could express their support for one or several of their pitches. The audience ended up showing great interest in building Europeans’ capabilities to participate in European policy-making via established tools, such as the European Citizens’ Initiative.
Move Faster, Hope Louder!
Then we turned up the volume in Alpbach: We invited to a concert open to all, and everyone loved it. On stage: the Balkans brass band Trubači Munich and Austrian-Mexican singer and flutist Tamara Flores, with DJ Anna Ullrich. People danced until 1 a.m. under the motto: “Move Faster, Hope Louder!” Because it is important to keep your spirits up when you are fighting a difficult fight.
Bled Strategic Forum
The tour continued in Bled, Slovenia, where EFI joined the 2026 Bled Strategic Forum as an institutional partner. EFI president Alexander Schallenberg joined a panel titled “The New Frontlines of Power: Europe’s Security in an Age of Dependence and Coercion,” while EFI member, and former Foreign Minister of North Macedonia, Nikola Dimitrov spoke on “Counting the Cost: Demography, Power, and Europe’s Strategic Choices” – two panels asking the same underlying question: What kind of continent Europe is choosing to become?
Together with our partners Think Europe, we also convened a closed-door working lunch on Western Balkans EU enlargement. Gradual integration as both reform path and workaround for unanimity constraints in the Council, the EU’s growing focus on Albania and Montenegro as accession frontrunners, Iceland’s referendum on resuming accession talks, and the shifting U.S. posture reshaping the region’s strategic environment.
