The Chair of the Brexit Steering Group tweeted: “Russia and Turkey, Hungary and Poland, Moria and Minsk. European values are beleaguered on all sides and the EU is late to act. The Conference on the Future of Europe is needed more than ever.
“What does the EU stand for and how do we stand stronger together?”
Mr Verhofstadt, an advocate for the federalisation of the European Union, is referring to unrest and political crises across Europe.
Yesterday Greek police fired tear gas at migrants who were protesting in the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos.
Many of the 13,000 migrants in the camp were left homeless after their camp burned to the ground on Wednesday.
The camp was set alight during riots between migrants and police.
In the Belarussian capital, Minsk dozens of female protestors have been detained after attending demonstrations to demand the release of opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova.
Now the 38-year-old is in jail in Minsk on a charge of undermining national security.
Vladimir Putin has firmly backed Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko’s crackdown on any opposition to his position.
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During last month’s election campaign, Polish president Andrzej Duda said the promotion of LGBT rights was an ideology more harmful than communism.
And then there is the ever-present eye of Vladimir Putin in Russia who sees eastern Europe as within Russia’s ‘rightful’ sphere of influence and dominance.
Because of Russia’s history of being invaded by European powers, Mr Putin and Russian governments, in general, will always seek a buffer zone in Eastern Europe.
Mr Putin still has some political and economic leverage over former Warsaw Pact nations in Eastern Europe.
This is particularly controlled through the natural gas that Russia supplies to Europe through pipelines that run through Poland.