A report entitled Financing the EU budget: an assessment of five proposals for new resources, that examines the efficiency of new levies for the EU budget in 2028–2034, was posted on the website of the Bruegel Institute (Brussels European and Global Economic Laboratory) on 20 April 2026.

In a policy brief by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) Nikola Xaviereff, project manager for the Western Balkans in DGAP’s Center for Order and Governance in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia, expresses the opinion that Europe is now at quite an uneasy and telling stage of enlargement: everyone understands the geopolitical need to admit new members, but all show deep-seated hesitancy, institutional fatigue and fear of their own ambitions instead of taking decisive action.

In a joint report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and the Swedish Defense Research Agency, experts argue expressly that, despite all loud declarations about ‘civil defense 2.0’ and ‘total preparedness’, Europe is still a typical patchwork with chronic vulnerabilities and weak coordination.

In an article published by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Dan Marks, an expert in energy security, argues that China and the USA are already waging a new cold war for control over strategic mineral resources while Europe struggles to catch up once again – and risks staying on the sidelines of the global resource game.

On 13 to 17 April, the Atlantic Council held its regular meeting of finance ministers, heads of central banks, and IMF and World Bank representatives. Banque de France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau spoke and answered questions at the meeting.

On April 17, 2026, Foreign Policy Research Institute published at its web-site an article by Robert Beck. The author analyses the consequences of Orban’s defeat and victory of the Hungarian Tisza party in this month’s election in the country. He believes that it is not only the foreign policy of Budapest that is at stake.

An ECFR publication of 16 April 2026 authored by Jeremy Cliffe, the organization’s editorial director, deals with how Brussels should shape its relations with Budapest now that Viktor Orbán is on his way out.

An article entitled “The Royal Navy: On Course for National Embarrassment”, about the decline of the British Royal Marine and the causes thereof, was posted on the website of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) on 12 March.

On March 13, 2026, Juraj Majcin, a defence policy expert with the European Policy Centre, published an article How Much Protection Can French Nukes Really Offer? scrutinising Macron’s initiative to set up a common European nuclear umbrella.

Not trust but a belief in words – this is what the French nuclear initiative for Europe aims to elicit. Nick Witney, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), makes this conclusion in his article Under my parapluie: Macron’s nuclear guarantee for Europe published on 17 March, 2026.

Military budgets that increase on paper only, with the missiles running out in reality, are now the true face of the European defense capability. This is what Aleksander Olech, a Polish defense analyst and journalist, writes about in his article entitled France Lacking Missiles in Europe, published on 23 March 2026.

On 23 March a brief by Max Bergmann, Otto Svendsen and Jonathan Burchell, experts of the Europe, Asia and Eurasia program, entitled “Europe Needs an ASAP Program for Air Defense”, was posted on the website of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

On March 26, the European Council on Foreign Relations published on its web-site an article The Gulf on the front line: The end of strategic hedging and new space for Europeans written by Cinzia Bianco, a visiting fellow with the Council specializing in Middle East studies.