Deffenain, Lucie

Lucie Deffenain was a Research Intern at UNU-CRIS. Lucie obtained a Master’s degree in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies at the College of Europe in Bruges in June 2022. Her thesis, which focused on the dynamics between counterterrorism and humanitarian aid policies in the EU’s external action with case studies on the Sahel and Syria, was awarded the prize for the best thesis on the EU and global governance by UNU-CRIS. Lucie also holds a degree in political science and a double master’s degree in European and International Affairs with a specialisation in migration issues from Sciences Po Lille (France) and the University of Szeged (Hungary). Lucie also conducted research at the Institute of Politics and Government of the National University of Public Service (Hungary) as part of her research on the evolution of Viktor Orbán’s use of the European Union in his speeches. Lucie speaks French, English and Spanish and has some knowledge of Russian, Hungarian and Arabic.

Her interests include EU foreign policy, migration, humanitarian, security and development issues. She is particularly interested in Africa - with a focus on the Sahel, the MENA region and Central and Eastern Europe. Lucie has worked in public administration in the Office of the Prefect of Vendée (France) in charge of security and in the Think thank EuroCréative as a project manager on the links between Central and Eastern Europe and France. She also worked as an intern at the NGO France terre d’asile as a Policy Advisor on European issues and advocacy. Finally, Lucie will join the European External Action Service at the European Commission in October 2022 as a Bluebook intern in the West Africa Division.

At UNU-CRIS, her research focused on the European Union’s external action and policy coherence in relation to effectiveness and compliance with international humanitarian law under the supervision of Philippe De Lombaerde.