Is HYDEF, the EU’s Hypersonic Interception Programme, Still Making Progress?
Russia perpetrated yet another heavy attack targeting Kyiv on May 24th, firing some 600 drones and 90 missiles including hypersonic Kinzhal and Zircon missiles. As EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said, “Russia hit a dead end on the battlefield, so it terrorizes Ukraine with deliberate strikes on city centres.” A tactic made easier by Ukraine’s lack of air defence systems that can reliably intercept hypersonic missiles – Europe has the same problem. Could the EU’s Hypersonic Defence Interceptor Programme (HYDEF) help to solve this challenge?
The EU Keeps Insisting It’s Not a State. It Keeps Building One Anyway
From a coal and steel pact to an €800 billion defence plan, seven decades of crisis management have quietly assembled something Europe refuses to name.
Draghi’s Report and the EU Response: Year to Date
A first year of EU early-stage response.
From Farmers to Brussels: How Dutch Domestic Protests Shaped EU Environmental Politics
How resistance to nitrogen regulations quickly turned into a larger challenge to EU environmental goals, demonstrating the power of domestic unrest in influencing larger policies.
Towards Simplification: Evaluating the EU’s Efforts to Streamline Tech Regulation
The EU is trying to simplify tech laws to support innovation—but risks weakening key protections.
Debunking the Myth of Net Contributors and Net Beneficiaries in the EU
Why merely looking at direct financial transactions creates a misleading picture of how EU funds are distributed across Member States
Poland’s Security Priority and Its Implications for the Netherlands
Poland began its presidency of the Council of the European Union in January with inter-EU tensions in the horizon and on the verge of Donald Trump entering his second term in office but what could this presidency mean for the Dutch nation?
From Brussels with Power: Von der Leyen’s Defining Role in the EU of 2025
How Ursula von der Leyen has strengthened her power with the assumption of a new Commission, setting a precedent for the future.
Can the EU’s New Housing Commissioner Truly Address Europe’s Housing Crisis?
Does the European Commission have any tools capable of enacting change or will it be a moot portfolio?
The Threat is Real: The Main Challenge of the Polish EU Presidency
In the lead-up to January 20th, when Donald J. Trump takes over as the 47th POTUS, some are seizing Biden’s final days to wrap up their affairs, while others are looking forward to the power shift, or just the contrary — bracing for impact
Filling the Niche: Orbán’s Political Opportunism in Light of Hungarian EU Presidency
With Hungary’s term at the Presidency coming to an end, we will analyze Hungary’s impactfulness, outline Viktor Orbán’s political proceedings and discuss how the future may look for the Hungarian PM, and if there is any value in being an outcast.
The Reduction of International Students in Dutch Higher Education
How the Dutch government wants to reduce international students and what it means for the position of its knowledge economy.
