Surprise guest

Each month we will be introducing a surprise guest – a public figure who will give us their take on current affairs and bring us a breath of fresh air to broaden our horizons, inspire us and raise our awareness of today's world. For this February’s edition, we are delighted to welcome two personalities from different spheres — culture and the media — who can help us better understand what is happening around us and give us some inspiration. Hélène Theunissen, a stalwart of Belgian theatre and cinema, and Nicolas Gros-Verheyde, expert in and observer of European politics.

Actress, director and adapter of texts, Hélène Theunissen has, for more than thirty years, played nearly a hundred roles in most of Belgium’s French-language theatres. She has also performed in France. She has directed and adapted around ten shows, most recently, A midsummer night’s dream by William Shakespeare at the Théâtre des Martyrs, and The walls are whispering by and with Babetida Sadjo, at the Théâtre Le Public in Brussels. She has appeared in several feature films, including Girl by Lukas Dhont, and has acted in the RTBF series Unit 42 in Belgium.

Nicolas Gros-Verheyde is a French journalist and EU/NATO correspondent. He is known and respected in European circles for his extensive knowledge of European affairs and foreign policy. Correspondent for Sud-Ouest (formerly Ouest France and France-Soir), in 2008 he founded the online platform B2-Bruxelles2, the first French-language news website dedicated to European affairs, EU strategic and defence issues and the work of the European diplomatic service. Nicolas Gros-Verheyde is also the author of the handbook Europe’s common security and defence policy. Because Europe is worth defending. (ehp)