Julius E.O. Fintelmann

romania is the new poland. remember where you heard it first. we loved constanta and bucharest ❤️

russia is right behind me. incredible five day georgia trip with @johannes.skov who also took these pictures.

In Brussels, a well-funded Hungarian think tank is giving Europe’s far right an intellectual home just steps away from the European Parliament. MCC Brussels, part of Viktor Orbán’s wider illiberal network, hosts anti-migration events, pushes culture-war reports and argues that EU efforts to defend democracy amount to censorship. Backed by millions from Hungary’s state-funded Mathias Corvinus Collegium, whose wealth is tied in part to dividends from oil company MOL, the group has become one of the richest think tanks in the EU capital. �� Read the full piece by Julius E. O. Fintelmann on our website!

one year ago today, i stood on istanbul’s saraçhane square alongside millions of others – among them @ykpcn_ and @deniz_ekr – to protest erdoğan’s authoritarianism. in the morning of 19 march 2025, he arrested istanbul’s mayor ekrem imamoğlu on political charges. what followed were weeks of defiant protest, as turkey’s civil society fought for democracy under intense pressure. the protests did not bring political change. imamoğlu now faces 2,430 years in prison. the government replaced over 20 elected mayors with appointed trustees. and turkey’s inflation has remained above 30% for over a year, pushing ordinary citizens deeper into poverty. i’m sadly not in turkey anymore – forced to leave after being declared a threat to national security. but saraçhane never left me. the weight of those weeks, the defiance in the face of unbearable pressure and hopelessness, remains the most inspiring human thing i’ve ever witnessed.

youth in the western balkans and specifically serbia has shown europe what it means to defend democracy. we have to let these countries join the EU, we owe it to them. that’s what i talked about at @osf_western_balkans event in brussels yesterday.

february! - @munsecconf with this six foot three chad and many other cool people - showed @lauraviolagreta the swiss mountains (and raclette 🧀) - did the most awkward thing of filming myself in public at my first @europeanparliament plenary (but that video got a lot you here, welcome!) - europe’s michael jackson without abuse allegations @mikainstagram with @soffaxo - interviewed @avalaina_ua for @theeuropeancorrespondent on why she’s disappointed in europe’s response to russia’s invasion - found this epstein shelf in a bookstore - many flights but pretty sunsets - walked on thin ice in stockholm - went to europe’s last real monarchy liechtenstein and left immediately - cat. her name is essy.

How does the European Correspondent, a publication keeping Europeans informed on what’s going on, choose which stories to cover? Our editor in chief Julius Fintelmann explains.

After this year's Munich Security Conference, TEC editor-in-chief Julius Fintelmann outlines three ways in which Europe can apply leverage over the US.

The EU has paused its sanctions on Israel. A collection of human rights organisations wants to change that.

How is The European Correspondent funded? In today’s video, our editor in chief Julius Fintelmann breaks down our 3 sources of funding. It’s true: we depend on your donations more than you think!

2025, what a year! i wrote 30 pages of recap into my diary the last few days. here are some highlights: 1 - fell in love with @lauraviolagreta and had many beers and asian food around the continent 2 - secured two million euro in EU taxpayer money and started spending them with the best team to scale @theeuropeancorrespondent 3 - witnessed the end of democracy and an attempted revolution in turkey and was forced to leave the country #nationalsecuritythreat 4 - celebrated pride, the dutch king’s birthday, and much more with @soffaxo and @yasminbagheri 5 - moderated and participated in many panels, here in the @europeanparliament hemicycle 6 - moved to brussels and didn’t hang out enough with @viktoryamur 7 - covered the end of the transatlantic relationship at munich security conference with @kristentalman 8 - watched the german elections while eating varenyky on the anniversary eve of russia’s invasion of ukraine in lviv 9 - hung out in EU institutions 10 - made my parents proud because journalists wrote about what we’re building with @theeuropeancorrespondent 11 - and because i made it on a list for the first time (100 most influential heads of europe 2025, too much honour!) 12 - went to theatre shows with my dad @jcooiman … 13 - …concerts with my mom… 14 - and lviv’s open air park with @katya_botanova 15 - sat on talkshows 16 - democracymaxxed (read: travelled to) all across our beautiful europe, here in lisbon 17 - attended fun conferences like @forumalpbach with @kat.arza and @ana_alexov 18 - drank with @emma.neugebauer in strasbourg and brussels 19 - saw the new grand duke of luxembourg, guillaume, in person on his accession day 20 - sang karaoke with @simonemartuscelli and there’s so much more! thanks for everyone who made this year the most special yet ❤️

Last month, we celebrated our 3-year anniversary! We asked our editor-in-chief, Julius Fintelmann, to talk about what makes our journalism shine — and why having a team spread across Europe was important to him. And yes, we asked him to look straight into the camera when talking to you.