Laura Batalla is the Secretary General of the European Parliament’s Turkey Forum, a platform for high-level political discussion between European and Turkish officials, political decision-makers, experts and civil society actors. Prior to this position, she worked for several members of the European Parliament providing advice on different policy areas, allowing her to acquire a deep knowledge of EU policies and decision-making processes. She is also a political analyst and commentator, specialising in European affairs and EU-Turkey relations. Batalla has published policy and research papers for renowned think tanks, specialised publications and academic journals, as well as opinion pieces for Spanish, European and Turkish newspapers. She currently holds a Marshall Memorial Fellowship and is also a member of distinctive young professionals’ networks as the EU-Middle East Forum at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and the Turkey Europe Future Forum, a project of the Mercator Program Center for International Affairs (MPC) in cooperation with TÜSIAD. Batalla holds two Bachelor's degrees in Political Science and Public Administration and Journalism and a Master's degree in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe