A new scholarship set up in honour of the late ALDE Party President Hans van Baalen, a staunch supporter of Taiwanese freedom and democracy, aims to strengthen EU-Taiwan relations and address the current geopolitical reality in East Asia.

Led by our political foundation European Liberal Forum and together with five other partner organisations*, the scholarship is awarded to a junior researcher.

The awarded candidate will delve into the dynamics of EU-Taiwan relations and propose a tentative roadmap for European foreign policy experts. After 12 months of work between Brussels and Taipei, the research findings will be jointly published and presented to the stakeholders by the European Liberal Forum and Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) of the VUB Brussels School of Governance.

Interested candidates can submit their applications until the 15 August on ELF’s website.

For more information about the scholarship, please get in touch with Alessandra Russo (general questions) at [email protected] or Matej Hruška (research proposals) at [email protected]

*Full list of contributing organisations:

• European Liberal Forum (ELF), foundation and think tank of ALDE party, with 51 member organisations across Europe.
• ALDE Party: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe
• LYMEC: the pan-European Liberal Youth of the ALDE Party with more than 60 members across Europe
• The Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium
• Taiwan Foundation for Democracy
• Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) of the VUB Brussels School of Governance

Notes to Editor:  

You can find partner logos and images from the launch, open to use for press purposes, here. 

The European Liberal Forum (ELF) is the official political foundation of the European Liberal Party, the ALDE Party. Together with our 51 member organisations, we work all over Europe to bring innovative ideas into the political debate, to provide a platform for discussion, and to empower citizens to make their voices heard. Find out more about ELF here. For press queries, please contact Toplak, Head of Communication, at [email protected].  

ALDE Party - The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party is a European political party composed of 60 national-level parties from across Europe, mainly active in the European Union. As of 2020, ALDE is represented in European Union institutions, with 70 MEPs and five members of the European Commission. Find out more about ALDE Party here. 

The Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) of the VUB Brussels School of Governance contributes to a better understanding of the key contemporary security and diplomatic challenges of the 21st century – and their impact on Europe – while reaching out to the policy community that will ultimately need to handle such challenges. Our expertise in security studies seeks to establish comprehensive theoretical and policy coverage of strategic competition and its impact on Europe, whilst paying particular attention to the Transatlantic relationship and the wider Indo-Pacific region. Read more about CSDS here. 

The European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) is a vibrant community of young liberals from all over Europe. Since we have been founded in 1976 our goal has been to actively work for a united liberal Europe but also to be present on issues impacting our continent and its citizens. Issues such as the war in Ukraine, Climate Change, Youth Unemployment and Digitalisation. Our goal is a Europe that cooperates more not less. A Europe that stands for freedom, peace, and prosperity. Find out more on here. 

The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) is the first democracy assistance foundation established in Asia and is devoted to strengthening democracy and human rights in Taiwan and abroad. Its primary missions are to further consolidate Taiwan’s democratic system, promote democracy in Asia, and actively participate in the global democratic network. Building on the strength of political parties and civil society, the TFD enables Taiwan to positively contribute to the worldwide movement for democracy. Read more about the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy here.