THE DIGITAL EURO: Unlocking its potential 
SAFE but Not Secure: The Challenge of a Common Defence and EU’s Unity 
Blind Spots in AI Governance: Military AI and the EU’s Regulatory Oversight Gap 
Selective Solidarity: The Desecuritisation of Migration in the EU’s Response to the Ukrainian Refugee Crisis 
Julia Blanken
Contact: netherlands.leiden@esthinktank.com
Julia is a third year Political Science: International Relations and Organisations student at Leiden University. Next to this, she is involved in the Honours programme at Leiden University in which she focuses on technology and sustainability. To bring the knowledge she learned during her studies into practice, Julia highly enjoys being active in different youth organizations that specialize in education, the European Union and the consequences of Brexit, and security and defense issues. In the past, she has been active in the working group of European Affairs for the National Youth Council in the Netherlands and recently she joined the West Wing, which is the youth thinktank of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands.
As an EST ambassador, Julia wants to encourage students to learn and gain more knowledge about the European Union. Especially in the current enhanced polarized political climate, she believes that informing our generation about the European Union is an important part of forming your own opinion about it and becoming aware of its value.