Who we are

In the beginning, there was nothing. The void in the European media landscape was vast – only a few media outlets focusing on Europe as a whole, reflecting on the continent's economic, financial, and political intertwinement and integration. Imagine America without The New York Times! We are convinced: it is high time for European journalism.

In November 2022, we launched The European Correspondent. Now, over 170 journalists and organisers are voluntarily part of this project. Read our manifesto, check out today’s newsletter here, and make our work possible with a donation.

Are you interested in an exchange? Contact us!

  • Carla steers the organisational development of The European Correspondent with a specific focus on business model development.

    She previously worked at EURACTIV in Brussels, for the Swiss digital magazine Republik as well as for a political campaign start-up. She is elected co-president of the Cooperative Council of Project R, the main shareholder of Republik AG. Carla is deeply committed to advancing the cause of independent and quality journalism, striving to create an environment where journalistic integrity thrives and serves the public interest.

    [email protected]

  • Julius leads The European Correspondent's editorial team and is responsible for all journalistic production. On top of that, he spearheads the development of our network of journalists and organisers across Europe.

    He also worked at Germany’s leading finance and business newspaper, Handelsblatt, and has written for multiple international media outlets. He has a background in international law and Middle Eastern studies. He has contributed to and helped set up various media projects, and currently serves on the advisory board of the European media association European Youth Press. Julius was a fellow of the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation and currently lives in Istanbul.

    [email protected]

  • Philippe is responsible for The European Correspondent's reader-centric strategy. He continuously develops the product, including improving the design and infrastructure.

    He previously worked for the foundation for direct democracy and coordinated regional and national campaigns in Switzerland. He has continuously developed new strategies to involve particularly young citizens in the democratic processes. One example is "Crowdlobbying", a digital platform for citizens to lobby with national parliamentarians. He built up the largest school newspaper in Switzerland and served as vice-president of the Cooperative Council of the Zurich-based online magazine Republik (elected mandate)

    [email protected]

  • Klara Vlahčević Lisinski, originally from Croatia, is a journalist, editor, and project manager working between Germany, Ukraine and other conflict zones. She writes for various US, European and Middle Eastern outlets, and specialises in conflict zones, international relations, human rights issues, culture, and science. Klara has a bachelor’s in Journalism and Multimedia, a master’s in EU and International Relations, and is currently pursuing her second master’s in Global Security and Strategy at SOAS London. She was one of the initial founders of a successful Croatian newspaper, on the forefront of the media digital revolution and a Hubert H Humphrey fellowship recipient. She’s wildly passionate about films, sailing, and tennis.

  • Viktorya Muradyan is responsible for the editorial production at THe European Correspondent. She also works as Communication Officer for the Brussels-based think-tank European Liberal Forum. She holds an MA in Communication from iaelyon School of Management and an MA in International Relations and Diplomacy from the College of Europe. Viktorya is also an Advisory Board member of the European Youth Press.

  • Jasper Bennink is an experienced freelance journalist mostly covering the topics of education, international politics and police affairs. While currently finishing a master's degree in education, journalism has always been one of his passions. Jasper likes to get involved in different formats, as outside of the correspondence for Germany, he is also a video editor for the European Correspondent. His strong belief in the European idea of cooperation motivates him to present the best stories from European in multiple ways.

  • Sara holds a video game design degree, a plethora of interests and a strong passion for the Balkans. Born and raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sara completed numerous projects, be it social media campaigns, protests or labour-intensive hands-on work, all with the goal of making a substantial change in her home country.

    During university, she started working as a copywriter, which further sparked her interest in journalism. That’s when she realized the true power of the written word and its effect on people. Now, combining her deep newfound interest in media and her project management background, she’s creating her own NGO, ready to battle the stigma around the Balkans through art, media and culture.

  • Nathan Domon is a freelance journalist based in Amsterdam. He works for NL Times, an English-language media in the Netherlands. Born in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, he speaks English, Dutch, and German, with French as his mother tongue.

    He holds a master’s degree in political science from the University of Amsterdam and is pursuing a second master’s degree in European studies, specialising in identity and integration. His primary interest is understanding how politics, culture, identity, and globalisation shape contemporary Europe.

  • Born in Germany to a very Turkish family, Hazar Deniz has been fascinated by intercultural communication from a young age. He got his start in writing through accounts of Turkish immigrant experiences and local newspapers.

    Leaving for the Netherlands for his bachelor’s in International Relations and Media Studies, he worked for the NGO Free Press Unlimited, became a freelance writer, and developed a strong passion for the cheese alley in Dutch supermarkets. Now based in Brussels, he studies a master’s in Journalism and Media in Europe and works as a student research assistant for Reel Borders, analyzing the contemporary history of the Turkish-Syrian border.

  • Belle de Jong is a freelance journalist based between Brussels, the Netherlands, and Malta who studied Communications and International Relations in Malta and Melbourne. She worked at several online news media, among which The Brussels Times, and did a communications traineeship at the European Parliament.

    Currently balancing her work as an online journalist at De Morgen with a master’s in Journalism & Media in Europe, her heart lies in reporting on things that matter: international affairs, social justice and mental health. Whenever she isn’t diving into stories, you can find her scuba diving in the Mediterranean and hiking with her rescue dog.

  • Aren Melikyan is a journalist, currently doing his Master’s studies in Journalism and Globalisation at Aarhus University in Denmark. He specialises in studying journalism and media under authoritarian rule.

    Previously, Aren worked as a journalist in Czechia, Georgia and Armenia, bylined in several regional and international media outlets, including CNN, BBC, and Deutsche Welle Academy, RFE/RL.

    He is the author of three award-winning podcast series covering conflicts, social issues, and the relation between power and people.

  • Amalie Holmgaard Mersh is a journalist based in Hamburg specialised in EU affairs.

    She is currently working as a health reporter for EURACTIV. Previously she was a trainee in the European Parliament's press unit and a researcher for the Danish political TV-series Borgen.

    Amalie has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the Danish School of Media and Journalism and an master's degree in European studies from Aarhus University in Denmark.

  • Blerta is the co-editor for the Balkans at the European Correspondent. She previously served as the managing editor of Prishtina Insight, a publication of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, and as a correspondent for Balkan Insight. Hailing from Kosovo, Blerta currently resides in the Netherlands. Her career and academic pursuits have taken her to Italy, Austria, and Belgium.

    Blerta has an academic background in European Union studies and international relations, with a particular focus on European politics and the EU’s enlargement towards the Western Balkans.

    She brings this knowledge and passion for Balkan issues to her current editorial role, contributing valuable insights and perspectives on the region’s ongoing developments.

  • Sofiya Tryzub-Cook is a student at the University of Amsterdam, where she is studying Politics, Psychology, Law, and Economics. She discovered her love for journalism while working as the External Commissioner for the student policy incubator, European Horizons, in Amsterdam. Since then, she has worked as an interviewer for Room for Discussion, where she has interviewed a range of economists and politicians. More recently, she has completed a passion project with a friend in Ukraine, conducting interviews with city officials and local civilians in various cities, including her hometown. An op-ed based on the material from this project has been published in the Dutch media outlet, Het Parool. That said, Sofiya is deeply interested in subjects concerning criminal justice, foreign policy and transatlantic affairs.

  • Elisa Volencová is a young journalist based in the capital city of Czechia, Prague. She studies journalism at Charles University and International relations and diplomacy at the Prague University of Economics and Business. She worked for the Czech presidency of the EU Council and multiple smaller magazines. Her main area of interest lies in the international sphere, but she believes in the tight connection between local, regional and global levels.

  • Sebastian is a German-South African data visualisation designer currently based in Amsterdam. Sebastian has previously published data visualisations for digital media outlets and also under the pseudonym DataForAfrica on social media. His passions lie in geopolitics, data analytics and journalism. He is especially interested in uncovering stories from regions of Europe with less media coverage and in exploring the complex relationship between Europe and Africa.

  • Angelos Apallas is a freelance editor and book reviewer from Greece, currently based in the Netherlands. He did his bachelor’s in English language and literature at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, followed by a master’s in literature and publishing at Utrecht University. His master’s further fueled his passion for books and the desire to understand how literature resonates with the society it is born into. Aside from editorial roles, Angelos has also worked as a translator and an ESL instructor.

    Currently starting over and looking for more career opportunities in the Netherlands, he joined The European Correspondent to explore the dynamics of European entanglement through journalism. Just like literature, he believes that journalism is a powerful medium that can unearth impactful stories and help people shape their own narratives. Whenever he is not working on texts, you’ll catch him writing poems or reading books.

  • If curiosity killed the cat, I’ve surely exceeded my nine lives – each one driven by a desire to understand more, explore deeper, and connect the dots.


    Curiosity has always been at the heart of everything I do – whether it’s exploring the world, understanding people, or learning about myself. It’s what drove me to study psychology and cultural anthropology, dive into sales, travel, and experiment with entrepreneurship.


    I bring my curiosity to The European Correspondent, where it fuels my dedication to independent journalism. I believe that reliable, high-quality journalism is essential for our civil society to make informed decisions—both near and far. By forging meaningful partnerships, advancing our communication services, and nurturing strong client relationships, I strive to expand our reach and help build a more informed and connected European community.


  • As a project manager in the Audience Development team at Deutsche Welle (DW), Erika coaches journalists to connect with new audiences on digital platforms, through social media strategies and engagement initiatives.

    She consults journalists seeking to connect with audiences to foster healthy dialogues and develop online communities.

    Her background is in modern languages, European studies, and global journalism

  • Léonce Aklin, a Basel-based entrepreneur and multimedia enthusiast, is actively shaping the world of production and technology. Driven by a passion for creativity and innovation, he founded "Zebra & Pig," a multimedia production business. Through his company, Léonce has brought numerous video productions to life, crafted engaging landing pages and digital experiences, developed webshops and implemented functional software projects.

    In addition to his entrepreneurial endeavors, Léonce participates in various non-profit initiatives, such as the development of the mobile app for The European Correspondent. He is proud to lend his skills to projects that create positive impacts.

Correspondents

From Lisbon to Kyiv and from Tbilisi to Reykjavik: over 140 correspondents write about and contextualise the most relevant news from their country for you.

Our correspondents come from diverse professional backgrounds, with some working for renowned media outlets like Deutsche Welle, The Guardian, or prominent national newspapers, while others are aspiring journalists.

Language team

Behind the scenes our language editors meticulously ensure the correctness and clarity of all texts we publish.

Social media team

Our social media managers transform stories from our daily newsletters for our social media channels: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

OSINT team

Open source intelligence journalism refers to using publicly available data for investigative projects – and our OSINT team does exactly that.

Data visualisation team

Here to help you not lose focus on the bigger picture, our data visualisation team creates everything from graphs to heatmaps to explain Europe.

Special thanks

Special thanks to Sara Curic, Philippe Kramer, and Max Ernst for the production of newsletter visuals and Gerda Krivaite for organising internal masterclasses.

Our Advisory board

Our advisory board consists of experienced and renowned media professionals from across Europe. They advise us in strategic matters and help us shape the future of European media.

  • Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė is the Director General of the Lithuanian national public broadcaster LRT. She is also a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Executive Board for 2021-2022 and 2023-2024, as well as a member of the EBU Audit Committee and liaison of the EBU Executive Board to the News Committee.

    Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė has more than 25 years of journalistic experience working for Lithuanian regional and national media as well as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

    For almost 17 years, she worked as editor-in-chief and columnist at the largest Lithuanian digital news platform DELFI.lt.

    Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė was appointed director general of LRT in 2018, and then re-elected for the second term in 2023 through public competition.

  • Mick ter Reehorst (1992) is the director and founder of Are We Europe, a non-profit media collective founded in 2017. The collective takes on the complex issue of European identity by showcasing talent and storytelling from around the continent and beyond, also through its creative agency – Awe Studio. Mick studied journalism and international relations in Amsterdam and Paris. He now travels around Europe spreading the gospel of good design and cross-border collaborative journalism with his motto "Designing Europe's Media for All".

  • Peter Matjašič, originally from Slovenia but residing for over a decade in Barcelona, is the Executive Director of Investigate Europe, a unique permanent cross-border team and a journalistic cooperative from eleven European countries. Peter’s role is to co-lead the team, help its development in reaching broader audiences, enlarge its community outreach, represent IE externally, and keep its operations and finances in order.

    Prior to joining IE, Peter spent over eight years at the Open Society Initiative for Europe focused on grant-making as a tool to achieve change. His most impactful work was supporting an ecosystem of actors to advance whistleblower rights in Europe. Moreover, Peter had been active in the field of youth work for 12 years, starting with the Young European Federalists and finishing as president of the European Youth Forum (2011- 2014), advocating for the rights of young people and their organisations.

  • Francesca Dumas is one of the Co-founders of Contribly. Francesca is multinational - a European at heart. Fluent in French, Spanish and English. For the last decade, she has worked with leading media brands across Europe such as 20minutes.fr, The Irish Times, MediaHuis, and many others, designing and delivering successful, scalable audience growth strategies, with a key focus on UGC engagement.

    Francesca and her Co-founder Linda Broughton met at the Guardian where they worked with journalists to create a tech solution that would help engage directly with readers, at scale, through people powered stories. Tried and tested with millions of users, Contribly now supports local & national news brands who aren’t fully connecting with their readers.

  • Nilesh Pinto is a communications specialist with a decade of experience spread across journalism and civil society. Originally from India, he spent seven years in editorial roles at prominent media outlets including Hindustan Times and Scroll.in, before moving to Vienna in 2019 to study political science at Central European University.

    Since 2021, Nilesh has been combining journalism with digital campaigning tactics to help media organisations and NGOs across Europe build online communities and fundraise from grassroots supporters. Previously with the European Center for Digital Action, he conducted workshops on email writing, narrative building and community engagement, with a focus on empathy to generate meaningful impact.

The European Correspondent is supported by the foundation for media diversity (Stiftung für Medienvielfalt).

The foundation’s mission is to strengthen media diversity in favour of an open and tolerant society.

The European Correspondent is a member organisation of the International Press Institute and an observer member organisation of the European Youth Press.