"North Korea-US Relations from Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un", a book written by Dr Ramon Pacheco Pardo, KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Institute for European Studies, has been rated as one of the top 10 books reviewed in 2020 by International Affairs.

The editorial team of the International Affairs journal wrote in their book review that “Ramon Pacheco Pardo does an absolutely brilliant job of outlining the North Korean perspective on its changing relationship with the US. Pacheco Pardo draws on discussions with US, Chinese North Korean and South Korean policymakers to demystify the North’s Strategy adding important detail to cursory accounts of the country as a rouge state.” A full book review is available here.

On 15 December, IES Researcher Marco Giuli spoke at the external panel debate “Azerbaijani gas in Europe and the role of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline”. The panel was held online and was organized by the Centre for the Analysis of International Relations in Azerbaijan. 

In his presentation, Marco focused on the core interests of the European Union in the finalization of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline and identified three main dimensions: material, normative and ideational.

Migration, Equality and Racism is the work of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) think tank POINcaré and was created under the direction of IES Prof. Ilke Adam, Tundé Adefioye, IES Postdoctoral Researcher Serena D’Agostino, Dr. Nick Schuermans and IES Prof. Florian Trauner.  

On 1 & 2 December 2020, IES professor Harri Kalimo, assisted by IES researchers Lea Mateo, Selçukhan Ünekbaş and Álvaro Herrero de la Fuente, organised a two-day expert training to the “SOLVIT centres” in the EU Member States.  SOLVIT is a service, which the EU law requires the administrations in each Member State to offer, with the aim to provide practical solutions to individuals and economic operators whose EU free movement rights may have been breached on the EU internal market  by measures taken by the national adminsitrations.

The European Commission has awarded a consortium involving VUB, led by Brussels-based consultancy company ICF and South Korea-based consultancy Ecosian, and also comprising three other partners the €2.4million project EU-Republic of Korea Dialogue Support Facility. The KF-VUB Korea Chair will lead management of the VUB's involvement in the project, in particular with regards to security- and connectivity-related activities. 

As a final step towards renewing the agreement between the Flemish Government and the VUB concerning the Institute for European Studies, the IES prepared a new vision for the next five-year agreement period. The Strategic Plan 2021-2025 sets out the main objectives for the next five years, in which it wants to further strengthen its established reputation as a top research and higher education institution dedicated to excellent, policy-relevant research and involved in post-initial education and academic service provision.