01/02/2026 - A new Centre for European Energy Policy and Security
A new research centre is being established at MUP to complement the Centre for Security Studies and other regionally focused research centres – the Centre for African Studies, the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies and the Centre for Ibero-American Studies. It will operate under the Department of International Relations and European Studies and the leadership of Dr. Lukáš Tichý.
The issue of energy security in the form of ensuring a stable and uninterrupted volume of energy supplies at affordable prices has long been an intensively discussed topic in the world. The European Union is no exception in this respect. In response to more than a decade of war in Ukraine, the bloc has adopted a series of proposals and legislative measures to strengthen energy security. At the same time, the EU has negotiated and concluded a number of agreements with existing and potential energy suppliers to diversify energy supplies and reduce import dependence on Russia. By the end of 2027, the EU plans to completely end its dependence on energy from Russia by stopping imports of Russian gas and oil and phasing out Russian nuclear power, while ensuring stable energy supplies and prices across the Union.
We are therefore pleased to welcome our University’s agreement to establish a research centre focused on European energy policy and security. It will operate under the Department of International Relations and European Studies and the leadership of Dr. Lukáš Tichý, who has long-standing expertise in energy security. The Centre for European Energy Policy and Security is a scientific centre focused on interdisciplinary research on the internal and external dimensions of the European Union’s energy policy and security and on identifying the main issues related to this topic. For its initial focus, it has defined three themes: 1) the internal dimension of the European Union’s energy security and policy, 2) the EU's external energy security and relations with key suppliers and world regions, 3) the EU’s energy discourse on security and political issues. You can read more on the website of the Centre for European Energy Policy and Security.
This year, the Centre for European Energy Policy and Security is completing the project VVZ 110-3, on the European Union as a framing actor and its influence on the energy policies of member states, from which several outputs have been published, and for the second year it is successfully working on the project GAČR 25-15980S on the transformation of the EU neighbourhood and related changes in energy interdependence. The Centre also plans to organize activities for both students and the broader public. In this regard, the Energy Security course taught at MUP will include a series of lectures during spring 2026 (March/April) focusing on the geopolitics of oil, EU energy security and natural gas, nuclear energy, cyber attacks on energy infrastructure, and EU environmental policy and security. More information can be found on the websites of the Centre and MUP. Last but not least, at the end of 2026, a presentation of an English-language book by Lukáš Tichý and Zbyněk Dubský on the EU–Russia energy discourse and their mutual energy relations in 2014–2024, to be published by Springer, should take place at MUP.
Student (in PhD and Master’s programmes) are welcome to apply for internships within the Centre. If interested, please contact the Head of the Centre.
