Seventeen reasons why International Women’s Day exists and an invitation to European men to get into action mode. TW: This article contains information about sexual/domestic violence, sexual assault, rape Since the early twentieth century, International Women’s Day has been celebrated annually on March 8. On this day, the social, economic, and political achievements of women…

An Analysis of the Clean Industrial Deal. On 26 February 2025, Ursula von der Leyen, together with European Commissioners Teresa Ribera, Stéphane Séjourné and Wopke Hoekstra, presented the Clean Industrial Deal in Antwerp: a plan that combines climate and competitiveness in one single growth strategy. The European Commission Von der Leyen II, which was installed…

How European initiatives are shaping the future of young people across the continent. This article is part of our project on European identity Every year thousands of young Europeans pack their bags, excited to study, work, or volunteer abroad. How can they do that? Through the mobility programs of the European Union (EU). Maybe you…

The EU and the future of natural disaster management. Floods, forest fires, droughts and storms; humans have always battled natural disasters. Despite great technological advances in predicting and protecting against natural disasters, it remains impossible to prevent them entirely. Europe is no exception. This became evidently clear during the floods in Germany and Eastern Europe…

Opportunities, Challenges, and Perspectives. In the first month of the new year, it makes sense to discuss the priorities on the table. The European Union (EU) has long pursued a policy of enlargement, meaning adding new member states, as a cornerstone of its strategy to promote peace, security, and prosperity in Europe — all ideas…

Analysing the implications of the EU-Rwanda raw minerals deal on EU’s sustainability leadership. Since its introduction in 2020, the European Union (EU) Green Deal has become a buzzword in EU (and international) politics. With this deal, the continent embarked on a mission to halve CO2 emissions by 2030 and even aim to become the first…

Caught in a political dilemma. It was a striking news item in late 2024: Estonia is considering opening one of its prisons to foreign inmates. Perhaps even, Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta spoke, as a kind of “Airbnb system”. Several countries soon showed interest, such as the United Kingdom (UK) and the Netherlands, both struggling with…

The vulnerability of Baltic Sea infrastructure. Over the last few months, the Baltic Sea has become the stage of a series of incidents involving undersea cables that connect several European Union (EU) Member States in the region. This sea, with an average depth of about 52 meters, hosts a complex network of telecommunication lines, electricity…

On Iceland’s elections and the question of European Union membership. On Saturday 30 November 2024, amid a serious snowstorm, the Icelandic people went to the polls to elect a new parliament. The weather is precisely why elections normally take place in the warmer summer months in the North Atlantic country. However, the elections were much…

Between European liberal democracy and Russian imperialism. Recent elections in Georgia and Moldova resulted in mixed outcomes but illustrated a shared issue. Despite the current governments’ vocal commitments to EU memberships, the countries are far from unanimously in favour. The situations of Georgia and Moldova have stark similarities: former Soviet republics, recent EU candidate members,…