The strategist who ran the EU PARLIAMENT for 14 years | Faces of Europe | VIRTUS

What does it take to shape Europe from behind the scenes for over 30 years?

Klaus Welle served as Secretary General of the European Parliament for nearly 14 years. Before that, Secretary General of the European People's Party. Even before that, head of cabinet, director-general, and a politically active teenager who got into arguments at his football club over Christian Democracy vs. socialism.

He has been called the "prince of darkness." The "brain behind the throne." The "most talented strategist" some have ever encountered. He prefers "strategist." Fair enough.

But Klaus Welle is more than a title. He is someone who kept photos of Helmut Kohl and Robert Schuman behind his desk for 14 years. Someone who steered 10,000 people through a pandemic while the virus wasn't waiting for formal procedures. Someone who helped bring the Parliamentarium and the House of European History to life – spaces built for citizens.

And someone who, when asked what he'd tell his younger self, said simply: "The space will open up."

In this episode of Faces of Europe, we sit down with Klaus Welle to talk about power, vision, the weight of responsibility, and what it really means to influence Europe from a role most people have never heard of.

If you want to understand how European institutions actually work — and who the people behind them really are — you're in the right place.

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