Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies

🌐 JOB ALERT: Communications Internship 🌐

We are looking for a Communications Intern to join our team in Brussels with a start date of September 2026. If you’re passionate about communications, social media, and European politics, this is your chance to make an impact!

Key Responsibilities:
✅ Assist in developing communications campaigns for research and events,
✅ Monitor traditional and social media impact and identify growth strategies,
✅ Help maintain and expand the Centre’s database of contacts.

What We’re Looking For:
🎓 University degree in Communications, PR, Political Science, Journalism, or related fields,
📱 Savviness and interest in social media tools and platforms,
🌍 Good knowledge of European and international politics.

How to Apply:
📩 Send your CV and cover letter to [email protected] by July 6th.

🔗 Learn more here: https://www.martenscentre.eu/vacancies/communications-internship/

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Europe’s New Security Architecture: Ukraine as a Strategic Pillar of the Continent’s Defence Future. 👇

Today’s discussion made clear that Europe’s security challenge is systemic, multidimensional, and inseparable from Ukraine’s role in the continent’s defence future.

A sincere thank you to our speakers and contributors,
Aliona Hlivco, Andrius Kubilius, Klaus Welle, Tomi Huhtanen.

📸 Photos from the event and 🎥 the full livestream replay are now available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m4ZB8F76Jg&time_continue=0&source_ve_path=NzY3NTg&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.martenscentre.eu%2F

Can Europe afford to stay on the sidelines in the Taiwan Strait? 👇

After the Trump–Xi summit, stability may look reassuring, but beneath it, core tensions remain unresolved. Taiwan is still at the heart of US–China rivalry, and what happens next will shape global trade, security, and Europe’s interests.

In her latest analysis, Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, PhD explains why:
▶️ US–China relations are being “managed”, not solved.
▶️ Taiwan remains a red line for Beijing.
▶️ Europe must deepen its engagement in the Indo-Pacific.

👉 What role should Europe play in preserving stability and protecting its strategic interests?

Read the full analysis: https://www.martenscentre.eu/blog/taiwan-trump-xi-and-europes-strategic-interests/

🎙 Young people are supposed to change the world.
So why do we keep getting in their way?

In this new episode of Thinking Talks, Peter Vesterbacka talks with host Théo Larue, and makes the case for easier company creation, better education, and an entrepreneurial mindset across Europe, especially in the age of AI.

From startup bureaucracy to education and role models, this conversation is a clear call for urgency, and confidence, in Europe’s future.

🎧 Watch now: https://www.martenscentre.eu/multimedia/why-europe-struggles-to-scale-startups-thinking-talks-ep-25-with-peter-vesterbacka/

🔴 Europe's security order is being dismantled, piece by piece. Are we responding fast enough?

Since 2022, Russia hasn't just been waging war against Ukraine. It has been systematically testing Europe's resilience, weaponizing energy, food supply, and critical infrastructure. This is not a regional conflict. This is a continental security crisis.

Join our event on June 9th on Europe’s new security architecture and the central role of Ukraine with:

▶️ Aliona Hlivco, Visiting lecturer, The Department of War Studies at King’s College.
▶️ Andrius Kubilius, Commissioner for Defence and Space, EU.
▶️ Klaus Welle, Academic Council Chairman, Martens Centre.
▶️ Moderated by Tomi Huhtanen, Executive Director, Martens Centre.

Find info and the registration link here: https://www.martenscentre.eu/event/europes-new-security-architecture-ukraine-as-a-strategic-pillar-of-the-continents-defence-future/

Lebanon is at war, but not by choice. 👇

In this first episode of Global Perspectives, Tomi Huhtanen speaks with Marwan Abdallah on how Hezbollah’s actions have dragged Lebanon into a devastating conflict.

From 1.2 million internally displaced people to blocked political institutions, Abdallah explains why Lebanon’s crisis is structural, and why Europe cannot ignore it.

🎙 “Without disarming militias, Lebanon cannot prosper.”

Watch the full episode here: https://www.martenscentre.eu/multimedia/what-is-europes-role-in-the-middle-east-crisis-global-perspectives-ep1-with-marwan-abdallah/

Over €450 billion a year. A decade of investment.
And Europe still gets more than 70% of its energy from fossil fuels.

Something isn't adding up, and this new piece from Dimitar Lilkov puts it plainly. The clean energy transition is real and worth pursuing. But it is slow, physical, and costly.

▶️ Electricity is just one-fifth of total energy usage.
▶️ Grid limitations are real. Intermittency is real.
▶️ 2030 targets are out of reach for most sectors.

The answer isn't to abandon the green agenda, it's to stop treating energy policy like a moral test. Europe needs gas in the short term, nuclear for reliable clean power, offshore wind for the long game, and enough honesty to admit that energy austerity is not a strategy.

🔗 Full article: https://www.martenscentre.eu/blog/decarbonisation-is-no-panacea-for-the-eus-energy-troubles/

Strengthening EU democracy starts at national level. 👇

On 28 May, we’re hosting an in‑person paper launch "Six Ways to Better Involve National Parliaments in EU Affairs" exploring how parliaments can be more effectively involved in EU affairs, drawing on concrete practices from across Europe.

The discussion brings together academic expertise and institutional experience, with contributions from Tomi Huhtanen, Cristina Fasone, Nicola Lupo, Olivier Rozenberg and Klaus Welle, moderated by Dr. Federico Ottavio Reho

👉Secure your seat!
https://www.martenscentre.eu/event/six-ways-to-better-involve-national-parliaments-in-eu-affairs/

An entire generation has become unwitting participants in the largest unregulated psychological experiment in human history: social media. 📲 ⚠️

In this new op-ed, Dr. Eoin Drea argues that adolescents spending more than three hours daily on social media face double the risk of depression and anxiety.

If we regulate ci******es and alcohol to protect developing bodies, why do we treat social media differently?

Europe has a reputation for precaution in public health. This is a test of whether that principle extends to the digital lives of under‑16s.

▶️ Watch the full video:
https://youtu.be/A7SV8Es4ImA

👏 "Clap if you think the European Union has an organised strategy on China."

🔇

It set the tone for a frank discussion at the launch of Made in China, Powered by Europe in Brussels.

The quotes were striking:
“The EU has become a dumping ground.”
“Europe must move from being a spectator to being an actor.”
“We urgently need a collective, coordinated EU approach.”
And a reminder: “If you have supply chains with partners you cannot trust, your citizens will suffer, as we saw during COVID.”

Thank you to everyone who joined us, and to our panellists for a discussion that didn’t shy away from hard truths.

👉 Swipe to see highlights from the event.