The AEJ UK
The AEJ UK is part of a professional network of journalists and specialists active across Europe, independent of any institutional or political group and recognised by the Council of Europe, the OSCE and UNESCO. We connect the newsmakers who shape our political and economic world with journalists, broadcasters and writers on European affairs. Meetings are open to journalists, academics and Europe specialists and guests. Pre-registration is necessary for all meetings by email to cas.jenkins@gmail.com. A £25 fee is charged to cover the cost of a light lunch and drinks, £10 for under-25s, and free admission may be extended to students. […]
Europe facing the hardest choices over Ukraine – so what next?
The AEJ UK explored the tough choices facing the UK and EU member states in view of Russia’s continued military aggression in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump’s questionable attempts to broker a ceasefire and promised end […]
Time to change our view of the world – Baroness Valerie Amos
Report on the AEJ UK journalists meeting at Europe House on 19 March 2025 – from Peter Norman Baroness Valerie Amos, formerly a minister in the UK Labour government of Tony Blair and United Nations under-secretary-general for […]
Ukraine – a strategic review
The AEJ UK got an insider's updated view of Ukraine at a lunchtime meeting on November 28.Olena Sotnyk, an advisor to Ukraine's deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration and senior representative in Kyiv of geopolitical […]
Alternatives for Germany
What are the alternatives for Germany – and Europe?Recent unprecedented election gains in regional elections in eastern Germany for the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland party have shocked Germany’s political establishment and observers around Europe.But should they really be […]
Information wars and the “endless” conflict over Gaza
At an AEJ lunch on June 13, two experts examined the rival national narratives, political messaging, and information controls which shape public understanding of the Israeli-Gaza war.The meeting included two presentations and a discussion on the information […]
Europe’s “nightmare scenario” as elections near
With the European Parliament elections of June 6 – 9 predicted to show a turn to the right and ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, it's actually energy security that is likely to become a major issue […]
Putin’s war in Ukraine – and at home
Vranyo – Russian for I’m telling lies and you know I’m telling lies but I’m going to tell them anyway.That was veteran Russia watcher Mark Galeotti's judgment on the recent Russian election in which President Vladimir Putin […]
Artificial intelligence and democracy: friend or foe?
Report by David Worsfold, AEJ-UK Treasurer, on an AEJ meeting with Professor Ciaran Martin at Regent's University on 21 February 2024 on the theme of 'Artificial Intelligence and Democracy: Friend or Foe?' Artificial intelligence is here to […]
How to end the war between Israel and Hamas
How to end the war between Israel and Hamas and make it last is a most difficult challenge that was examined by Alistair Burt, the UK’s former minister for the Middle East and North Africa, at an […]
Lord Patten of Barnes on China and the World Order
Lord Patten, the Chancellor of Oxford University and the last British governor of Hong Kong, says it's important that the rest of the world engages with China on major issues such as climate change and health – […]
What future for the Wagner Group?
Andreas Krieg, an expert in surrogate warfare and the growth of private military companies, has assessed the Kremlin’s efforts to re-mould the notorious Wagner Group after the death of its charismatic leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. He spoke at […]
Understanding Ukraine’s “350-year war” for independence
William Horsley reports on the AEJ’s meeting on 5 June 2023 with researcher and political scientist Jaroslava BarbieriJaroslava Barbieri is an Italo-Ukrainian political scientist whose research focuses on Ukraine and the former Soviet Union https://bham.academia.edu/JaroslavaBarbieri . She […]
Brexit – an audit of UK-EU relations
Anand Menon, director of UK in a Changing Europe, predicts that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Windsor Framework agreement resetting trade rules for the island of Ireland will remain the formal template for relations with the European Union […]
The UK economy – not as bad as you might believe
Simon French, chief economist at British investment bank Panmure Gordon and former senior civil servant, says the UK's economic performance and outlook are both broadly in line with other G7 economies despite pessimism from some in business, […]
The world’s response to covid – what went wrong and right
For two years the covid pandemic dominated our news, shocking us with the impact of its spread and the variation in policy responses from different governments.Now there's an argument that many of us are tempted to see […]
AEJ Guests 2023
The AEJ opened 2023 with a return to two of the biggest issues facing the UK and much of the rest of the western world – the economy and the ongoing covid epidemic. […]
AEJ guests on Brexit 2016-2023
For seven years since the UK referendum on leaving the EU, the AEJ UK has invited a range of guests to discuss many aspects of Brexit. […]
Russia’s disintegrating neighbourhood
Thomas de Waal, senior fellow with Carnegie Europe, brought his expertise on Russia, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus to an AEJ UK lunch on November 23.He examined the impact on Russia's neighbours of the war in Ukraine […]
Unity in the face of increasing threats
Preserving and extending media freedom has never faced greater challenges, and collaboration between professional journalists and international bodies committed to defending democracy and the rules-based world order is going to be more important than ever in that […]
The view from Palestine
Dr Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK since 2018 and former adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, was strongly critical of western hypocrisy towards Palestine when he spoke at an AEJ UK lunch […]
Holding Russia accountable
International human rights lawyer Aarif Abraham argues that the only legal way to make Russia accountable for a crime of aggression in the Ukraine is to establish a special tribunal. At an AEJ UK lunch meeting on […]
Sanctions on Russia – an assessment
International economic strategist and sanctions expert Timothy Ash assessed the impact of international sanctions on Russia’s ability to prosecute the war in Ukraine at an AEJ UK lunch meeting on July 4.A senior strategist at BlueBay Asset […]
Sanctions on Russia – reflections after Timothy Ash
A commentary from Anthony Robinson, AEJ member and former FT eastern Europe and Russia correspondent 5 July 2022 Everybody got it wrong. Most Western governments didn’t think Putin was daft enough to mount a full scale […]
Ukraine invasion will have biggest strategic impact in 30 years
Russia's invasion of Ukraine will have larger and longer strategic impacts than the 2001 Al Quaeda 9/11 attacks in the USA, says Ed Arnold.It will change European security more than any other event since the end of […]
Keir Giles on Ukraine – 6 ways on how the war ends
Keir Giles, an expert on Russian security issues, predicts the war in Ukraine will most likely end when Russia declares victory on the basis of its latest amended aims – control of Ukraine's eastern provinces.The founder and […]
Macron will win election says Vincent Martigny
French President Emmanuel Macron will probably be re-elected and French politics especially on the right are likely to be changed says Vincent Martigny – largely because of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The professor of political science […]
UK law will not fix asylum system
The head of the UK Refugee Council warns that the UK government's imminent Nationality and Borders bill will make things worse for asylum seekers and will not fix a broken asylum system.Enver Solomon predicted the proposed legislation […]
AEJ Guests 2022
The AEJ returned to regular in-person meetings in 2022 after nearly two years of online dialogue due to the covid pandemic. Most of the meetings examined the war in Ukraine. […]
AEJ Guests 2021
The AEJ UK moved to virtual online meetings for all of 2021 due to the covid pandemic as our guests looked into the future for the UK, Germany, Russia, Afghanistan and the whole planet at COP 26. […]
AEJ Guests 2020
The AEJ UK continued to hold meetings through the 2020 year of covid, switching to virtual online meetings after the March lockdown. […]
AEJ Guests 2019
In 2019 the AEJ UK moved its lunchtime meetings from Europe House, London home of the EU Commission and European Parliament and host for AEJ UK gatherings for many years, as Brexit complicated the EU's diplomatic and […]
View from Scotland
Three members of the Scottish Parliament, three different parties, three differing perspectives on Brexit’s impact north of the border. […]
AEJ Guests 2018
In 2018 Brexit dominated AEJ UK lunchtime meetings just as it did for most of the year's news agenda. […]
