By: Nikola Kirkov | ‘Beyond the Flags’

Eurovision – a cultural phenomenon that came into existence for the first time in 1956 as a means through which to unite Europe after the unimaginable pain that the last century inflicted on the continent. The contest has grown exponentially ever since, becoming the world’s biggest non-sport event, seeking to unify nations and people, despite borders and differences, through the universal language of music. Nonetheless, a key feature of the contest is the apolitical label it has given itself, despite the very premise and history of the competition being political in nature.

By Gabriel Panza

Data protection remains essential in a world where most organizations and institutions rely on digital platforms as a means to facilitate their operations. While it might just feel like an abstract technical issue, the protection of our personal data is what allows us to trust digital systems that we use every day, including university websites, social media platforms, and online learning tools. For students, this trust is fundamental because most of university life is facilitated through online spaces.

By Aurora Dagnino, reading time: 5 minutes

Migration has been for almost a decade, after the refugee crisis in 2015-2016, a very hot topic, and now it is even hotter than ever. In fact, in less than a month, after a transition period of two years, the New Pact on Migration and Asylum will be applicable.

By: Anneke Pelzer, Reading time: 3 mins  

It’s 10 am at the Great Hall of People in Beijing, where Donald Trump gets welcomed by a large military spectacle and flag-waving children. Xi Jinping greets the American President warmly, and it almost seems like their countries’ relationship has not been defined by rivalry and hostility for nearly a decade. 

When the Cold War ended, and the United States’ (US) dominance was nearly uncontested, the US tried to integrate China into its creation of a liberal international order. Most notably, China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. However, when Trump served his first presidential term, US policy towards China transformed drastically. A first trade war broke out in 2018, when Trump significantly increased tariffs and other trade barriers on Chinese products. This line of action continued through the Biden administration and well into Trump’s second term. After another escalation in the Sino-US trade war in 2025, the Supreme Court declared those tariffs as unlawful, forcing the Trump administration to reconsider its strategy. 

by Margaux Baudry, reading time 3min 

Imagine waking up to a silent world: no 5G signal on your phone, a “no connection” error on your laptop, and a darkened TV screen. You check the lights, but the switch does nothing. At the local supermarket, the doors are locked because the digital payment systems have crashed. This isn't the plot of a dystopian movie; it is a “silent” threat facin the EU. 

By Saul Gunning

On the 26th of March, the merger of Groenlinks (Green-Left) and the PvdA (The Labour Party), which had provisionally been known as Groenlinks-PvdA unveiled its long-awaited new name at a party congress in Halfweg: the union of the Netherlands’ largest two parties of the left will now be known as ‘Progressief Nederland’. 

Juliane Trabandt

Reading time: 4min

When we talk about wars, memes used to be one of the last things we thought about. Yet, the war in Iran has opened up the floodgates to a new era of war-time propaganda. But how did we get here?

By: Olaia Mujika Anduiza

Reading time: 4 minutes

As ordinary and essential as water may seem, it has been at the centre of major debates across Europe. It is one of those basic necessities most people rarely think about because it is simply expected to be there until questions of access, quality, or affordability turn it into a political issue.

From everyday concerns about safe drinking water at home to ongoing discussions on future EU water legislation, water shows how even the most fundamental resources can become highly controversial. With this in mind, today I would like to highlight three important developments surrounding water in Europe: one that belongs to the recent past (although perhaps somewhat forgotten today), and two that are unfolding right now.

33km That Could Strangle Europe

Implications of the Closure of the Strait of Hormuz on Europe

By Anneke Pelzer

What is 33km wide, 167km long, and has kept the global economy in a chokehold in the past two months?

The Strait of Hormuz dominated headlines around the globe since the US and Israel launched military strikes against Iran on February 28^th. As a response, the Mullah regime closed the waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. 

By: Lavinia Tacke 

Reading time: 5 minutes 

Usually, elections in a country with a population of around 9.5 million do not attract much international attention. However, this was totally different regarding the Hungarian elections on April 12th, which, for many, might have felt like the Super Bowl of European politics. Pictures from the parties in Hungary’s capital, Budapest, on the election night illustrate that this was not a “normal” election. 

By: Nikola Kirkov

Reading time: 12 minutes

While Peter Magyar’s decisive victory in Hungary earlier this month sparked relief and a sense of triumphalism across the European Union, that optimism has now been called into question following Radev’s crushing win in Bulgaria. The political situation unfolding in Sofia might prove to be a litmus test for the Union’s future alignment, as Bulgaria stands on the brink of transforming itself from a reliable partner into a new and potentially dangerous Achilles’ heel of the EU.

By Tricia Pelser, reading time: 6 minutes

Reading time: 4 minutes 

On April 24th, it is the 110th anniversary of the Easter Rising, and Ireland returns to the forefront of European history once again. The events of 1916 are widely commemorated in Ireland as a moment of national awakening and an assertion of political will against the rule of the United Kingdom. However, beyond commemoration, it raises a much more difficult question regarding not how Europe remembers injustice, but rather how it takes responsibility for it. 

By: Lavinia Tacke 

Reading time: 4 minutes 

The European Schools are an intergovernmental education system that provides their students, who are mostly children of EU staff members, with “multilingual, multicultural, and inclusive education” grounded in European values. This is how the official website describes the vision of the 13 European schools, which are located in six EU countries. 

By: Gabriel Panza, reading time: 3 minutes

The Digital Field

In the past few decades, digital platforms have emerged, giving businesses access to platform-based business models. These platforms have transformed the digital economy by bringing users from all over the world together to interact and enabling them to offer services at lower transaction costs. This has led to major firms dominating, with Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft often referred to as “the Big 5” for their time. Since then, other major firms have expanded their influence over their industries.

One would think that the evolution of digital platforms would introduce new business models; however, this is not the case. In fact, digital platforms have optimized traditional forms by expanding business models to facilitate global interactions more easily. However, the EU has been cautious not to allow these major companies, such as the Big 5, to use these business models to dominate their industries. Naturally, this led to the adoption of the Digital Market Act.

By Tricia Pelser, reading time: 5 minutes

In 2018, Jackie Fox lost her daughter, Nicole, at the age of 21 when she died by suicide after years of abuse, both in person and especially online. Jackie then began to campaign for justice for Nicole, also known as Coco. However, due to Ireland’s outdated laws, this proved to be increasingly difficult. At the time, the existing harassment laws were written before social media became widespread, and therefore, it was difficult to apply traditional laws to digital behaviour. However, after years of sustained campaigning, public advocacy, and pressure on lawmakers, Ireland adopted the  Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020, widely known as Coco’s law. What began as a fight for justice in Ireland has since raised a wider question: could Ireland’s approach influence how Europe responds to online abuse?

Over the past decade, Viktor Orbán’s brand of illiberal politics has evolved from a domestic hegemony in Hungary into a transnational phenomenon shaping political discourse, particularly in Eastern Europe. Often framed as a model of ‘sovereign democracy’, Orbanism has come to represent a blend of democratic backsliding, strategic EU obstruction, and an increasingly unsettling closeness to Moscow. As Orbán’s ideology spreads across neighbouring states, from Slovakia and Czechia to Bulgaria, the region faces a critical question: whether Orbanism remains a temporary political trend or a deeper structural challenge to the EU project.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, chances are you have seen pictures of Macron decked out in Maverick-style sunglasses in Davos. Indeed, his take on the Top Gun look did not go unnoticed at the World Economic Forum, leaving the press (and social media users) wanting more. Whether the craze surrounding this fashion statement was intended or not, it signaled one thing clearly: Macron is leaning into a stronger, more assertive image on the world stage. As he navigates a second Trump term and positions himself as a critical mediator in the Ukraine conflict, a provocative question arises: Is Macron not only the President of France but also of Europe?

The rising tide of right-wing populist parties across the continent and the apparent ineffectiveness of the strategies deployed to combat them have led to a pervasive conventional wisdom that it is only a matter of time before the firewalls are dismantled or broken through by insurgent political movements such as Alternative für Deutschland or Rassemblement national in France. 

Military mobility via railways - Interview with Terk Felix Kraft Part II

By: Olaia Mujika Anduiza and Lavinia Tacke

Reading time: 7 minutes

In July 2025, the Commission proposed a Military Mobility Package that came as no surprise. For some time now, both the Commission and EU Member States have highlighted the lack of military mobility coordination among Member States as a serious issue that needs to be addressed. The package thus appears intended to provide a concrete framework for addressing these long-standing coordination challenges.

Epstein Friends in Europe : How the Files’ Revelations Overshadow Europe’s Elite

By: Anneke Pelzer, reading time: 3 Minutes

What do Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Mona Juul, the ambassador of Norway to Jordan, and Peter Mandelson, the British ambassador to the U.S., have in common? They all lost their jobs due to revelations about their connections to the sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein. The information being revealed with each publication of the so-called Epstein files has a sphere of influence that extends far beyond the borders of the U.S. When the former prince Andrew was arrested last week for suspicion of misconduct, it became clear that the revelations’ impact reached Europe.