First of all, the new SME Strategy needs to be for all SMEs, not only for those which are innovative, fast-growing, internationally active, but also for those that are providing our day-to-day needs, such as food, clothes, houses, cars, anything we sit on. We also need to show the added value of the Union to them. Secondly, we need to make sure that all these words that we have at EU level are turned into action, says Veronique Willems, Secretary General of SMEunited, in an interview to Europost.

How much longer is the EU going to present an encouraging view of the situation and at the same time remain passive regarding the region? Continuing this policy of positive messages without corresponding action will only contribute to a further deterioration of sentiments towards the EU and will discourage people who are truly pro-European, says Ilhan Kyuchyuk, ALDE Party Vice-President, MEP from Renew Europe Group, in an interview to Europost.

It is important to underline that the EU has the potential to become a major player in the provision of water-related technologies and services. In this respect, digitalisation can help to significantly increase the efficiency both of water resource management and of production and service concepts, says Simo Tiainen, rapporteur on the EESC's blue bioeconomy opinion. 

The use of social media in politics becomes a major player in building consensus. The new technologies have deeply affected the working methods of diplomats and their communication style, says H.E. Stefano Baldi, Ambassador of Italy in Bulgaria, in an interview to Europost.

Our work in the EU-funded DECODE project is being used by Facebook for its new Libra project, through an “acqui-hire” of some of our former colleagues. This choice is an attempt to gain a strategic advantage in this market and establish a monopoly exactly where we intend to create an open field of opportunities for Europe's digital single market, says Dr Denis Roio, a software artisan, CTO and co-founder of Dyne.org Think &Do Tank and software house, in an interview to Europost.

Bulgaria has met all the recommendations although some of them were changed on-the-go while others were contradictory. Somebody has to explain why in the last 12 years tens of millions of euro were spent to fund these procedures, and to show what results they have yielded, says MEP Emil Radev in an interview to Europost.

The Turkish military forces have crossed the border and gone into the sovereign country of Syria. That is a clear violation of international law and of the sovereignty of Syria's borders. This is an invasion and calling it something else would be a lie. If Erdogan release 3.6 million people, Europe has to deal with it, says Mick Wallace, MEP from GUE/NGL Group, in an interview to Europost.

Sofia will back a decision to begin accession talks, which will entail setting a date for their actual opening. However, Bulgaria's support will not be unconditional; it will have some requirements attached, which will be posed over the course of the long negotiation process. Bulgaria will insist that the Agreement on Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation signed by the two countries is observed, says Ass. Prof. Naum Kaychev, PhD, deputy co-chair of the Joint Commission on Historical and Educational Matters with North Macedonia.

I believe that eventually, quantum supremacy will be achieved by a private research lab outside of Europe. That is not to say that research in Europe will always be lagging behind, but European universities and research centres need to concentrate on ambitious and risky goals, and then invest wisely in achieving them, says Dr. Deyan Mihaylov, postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, in an interview to Europost.

The current Member States' military capabilities do not match the EU's level of military ambition, and several hundred billion euros would be needed to overcome this gap if Europe had to defend itself without outside assistance, says Juhan Parts, Estonian Member of the European Court of Auditors (ECA), in an interview to Europost.