Amín Lejarza de Bilbao Essalhi
Amín Lejarza de Bilbao Essalhi is a Spanish political scientist and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Transatlantic Dialogue Center. His work focuses on projects in Spain, Brussels, and Colombia.
His professional activities are centered on strengthening Spanish–Ukrainian relations, with a particular emphasis on engagement with key stakeholders in the political, academic, military, and defense-industry sectors. He advances this work through the organization of policy discussions, conferences, and public events.
His research interests include European security, geopolitics, the defense industry, and the development of diplomatic relations between Spain and Ukraine.
Amín Lejarza’s analysis has been featured in leading international media outlets, including Cadena COPE, RNE, Canal 24 Horas, and El Independiente (Spain), as well as CNN (United States), France 24 (France), and NTN24 (Colombia).
In addition to his role at the Transatlantic Dialogue Center, he serves as President of the pan-European organization Eurodefense Young Spain. He has more than six years of experience as a strategic consultant and is a Senior Researcher at the International Security Observatory think tank. His previous professional experience includes positions as a researcher at the porCausa Foundation and as a legal advisor at the European Commission.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Public Administration from Rey Juan Carlos University (Madrid) and a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Université de Liège and the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Amin is fluent in Spanish, English, French, and Arabic.