Romanian politician and former presidential candidate George Simion, along with Poland’s former Prime Minister (2017–2023) Mateusz Morawiecki, will travel to Bulgaria as special guests of the Bureau of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group in the European Parliament. The ECR Bureau is set to hold an external meeting in Sofia between 1 and 3 October.

The gathering will be hosted by Bulgarian MEP Ivaylo Valchev from the party There Is Such a People, who is also a member of the ECR Bureau. The meeting will be chaired by ECR co-presidents Nicola Procaccini of Italy and Patryk Jaki of Poland.

Both Simion and Morawiecki are scheduled as keynote speakers at the event, representing the ECR’s political family. The agenda in Sofia will include discussions on the future role of nuclear energy in Europe’s energy system, the prospects of EU enlargement with a focus on the Western Balkans, and pressing matters of security and migration along the Union’s external borders.

Simion, who previously ran for the Romanian presidency, has remained a controversial figure in European politics. Earlier this year, he spearheaded a campaign collecting signatures for the resignation of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Romanian daily Adevărul also recalls a March incident in which Mihail Neamțu, an MEP from Simion’s party Alliance for the Unification of Romanians, caused outrage by publicly referring to EU leaders, including Commission President von der Leyen, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, as “witches.”

The Sofia meeting is expected to place Bulgaria in the spotlight of European conservative debates, with participation from some of the most influential figures of the ECR Group.