| Short profile: | The European Initiatives Institute is a non-governmental, non-partisan organization dedicated to fostering the common values of the Euro-Atlantic community.
Mission
• Originally formed around the pro-NATO lobby in the first post-Cold War Bulgarian Parliament, and officially established on 4 April 1991, the Institute has grown to include members from all walks of life: government, academia, military, business and media. The Institute works to promote Bulgaria’s integration with and role in the Atlantic Alliance, and all Euro-Atlantic political, security, economic and other structures. Within Bulgaria, the Institute serves the broader purpose of supporting democracy, human rights, free market economy and rule of law.
Public lectures
• The European Initiatives Institute’s activities focus primarily on raising public awareness about security and international affairs.
• The European Initiatives Institute initiated a national committee that organized the visit of Pope John Paul II to Bulgaria in 2002, and also co-hosted the mass rally for U.S. President Bill Clinton who visited Sofia in 1999, and another one for US Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2003.
Research and policy promotion
• In its think-tank capacity The European Initiatives Institute sponsors round tables, seminars and conferences on a wide variety of topics, and is a leading partner in the Security Sector Reform Coalition formed by Bulgarian NGOs to develop strategic reports on key policy issues in the field of foreign and security policy, and defense reform and modernization.
• The European Initiatives Institute has contributed greatly to initiating and carrying out the public debate, opinion making and policy advocacy in times of crises, starting with ensuring of Bulgarian support for the Allied liberation of Kuwait in 1991, through the wars and post-war reconstruction in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Other activities
• The European Initiatives Institute is active in other fields like sustainable development, aerospace and Antarctic research, as well as market economy studies, respectively as a co-founder of the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute, and the Economic Policy Institute, Sofia.
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