Stijn started his academic career with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and International Organization at the University of Groningen. Afterwards, he pursued a master’s degree in Public Administration at the University of Twente and moved to Stockholm for a master’s in Political Science, Security Studies and Crisis Management at the Swedish Defence University.
Alongside his studies, Stijn gained experience as a Committee Member for the Dutch social liberal party D66 within the Municipal Council of Losser and as Head of Safety and Security for Student’s Nobel NightCap, where he was responsible for the security of the afterparty of the annual Nobel Banquet in Stockholm. Stijn also gained hands-on EU policy experience during his internship at the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the EU, where he followed Council working parties and worked on topics related to European foreign policy and defence.
Stijn speaks Dutch and English fluently and has elementary proficiency in French and Swedish.