Senior German Professor George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

Dr. Ralf Roloff is the Senior German Professor (since 2003) at the College of International Security Studies at the Marshall Center in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. He is also the Director of Master in International Security Studies Program (since 2010) and Professor, Universität der Bundeswehr München (since 2015).

He previously worked as Associate Professor, Universität der Bundeswehr München (2011-2015), Acting Professor of International and European Politics, University of the German Armed Forces, Hamburg (2000- 2003), Acting Professor of International Politics at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz (1999-2000), Assistant Professor and Executive Officer at the Research, Institute for Political Science and European Affairs at the University of Cologne (1994-2001), Lecturer and Assistant to the Director of the Department of Political Science, University of Trier (1991- 1993)

Dr. Roloff received his Dr. Phil. in Political Science at the University of Trier, M.A. in Political Science and German Literature and Linguistics, University of Trier. Dr. Roloff has widely published in German, English, and French on international relations, international security, EU integration and EU foreign and security policy.

Doctor of Science in political economy, Director of the Black Sea and Eurasia Program, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

Dr. Zeneli joined the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in August 2011 as a professor of national security studies. She is also the Black Sea and Eurasia program director, overseeing the Marshall Center’s outreach activities in this region. Previously she also served as deputy director for the Central and Southeast Europe program. Valbona Zeneli is member of the teaching faculty for the Program in Applied Security Studies (PASS), the Program on Countering Narcotics and Illicit Trafficking (CNIT), the Program on Cyber Security Studies (PCSS), the Senior Executive Seminar (SES), and the Seminar on Regional Security (SRS). She is also involved with Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes is a member of the working group on Southeast Europe and of the security sector reform working group. Before joining the GCMC, Valbona Zeneli was a professor of international economics at the European University of Tirana from 2009-2011 and associate professor at the New York University of Tirana from 2006-2011. From 2003-2005, Dr. Zeneli has served

and later economic adviser to the Albanian prime minister. Prior to that, she worked as an adviser to the minister of economy of Albania from 2002-2003. She has also worked in the private sector advising companies on marketing and international relations. Dr. Zeneli holds a doctor of science degree (PhD) in political economy from the University of Studies “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy (2011), as well as a postgraduate studies degree on international marketing from Georgetown University, Washington D.C (2006). She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Bologna, Italy, where she graduated with honours (2001). 

Melinda Haring is the editor of the UkraineAlert blog, which is the Atlantic Council’s most popular publication. Its articles are regularly republished by Newsweek, Kyiv Post, Novoe Vremya, Huffington Post, Real Clear Defense, and World Affairs Journal. In 2017, UkraineAlert articles have received more than 2.7 million views. Haring is a longtime observer of political developments in the Eurasia region, and her analysis has been featured in The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Newsweek, The Kyiv Post, PRI, and broadcast and published by NPR, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Voice of America. Haring is the author of the report Reforming the Democracy Bureaucracy and a contributor to Does Democracy Matter? (Rowman Littlefield, 2017). Haring has worked for Eurasia Foundation, Freedom House, and the National Democratic Institute, where she managed democracy assistance programs in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Russia. A graduate of Georgetown University, she holds an MA in government with a certificate in Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies. Haring is a member of the board of East Europe Foundation in Kyiv, Ukraine, and a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. She is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations (USA).

Philosopher, theorist, thinker, publicist, blogger (Ukraine). Sergii Datsiuk is the author of 7 books – theoretical works on fundamental philosophy, the theory of ontology, logic, semiology, semantics, structural linguistics, artificial intelligence, communication theory, the theory of politics (‘Theory of Virtual Reality” (2008), “Ontologization” (2009), “Horizons of Constructivism” (2010), “Theory of Perspectives” (2011), “The Complex New World” (2012), “Intellectual Politics” (2010), “Moment of Philosophy” (2013). After graduating from the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv State University in 1991, he has worked in consulting and political decisions expertise. Since 2002 he has worked as a Consultant at the Strategic Consulting Corporation «Gardarica». Since 2018 co-founder of Foundation For Future.

Roman Bezsmertnyi, politician and diplomat, one of the authors of the Constitution of Ukraine, PhD in political sciences

Roman Bezsmertnyi was born November 15, 1965, in Kyiv region. Peoples Deputy of Ukraine of several convocations. In 2005, he was the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine. In 2007-2008, he worked as the deputy head of the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine. From February 2010 till June 2011 he served as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to Belarus. During 2015-16 he was the representative of Ukraine in the political subgroup of the Tripartite Contact Group on the Peaceful Settlement of the Situation in the East of Ukraine. Non-party.

Member of Board of the Institute of social and economic studies

Prominent Ukrainian social psychologist, writer, publicist, advisor to top Ukrainian politicians. Oleh Pokalchuk has worked in the Parliament of Ukraine, Institute of social and political psychology, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. He is an expert of Estonian-Ukrainian program Resilient Ukraine, which designs models of enhancing the level of national resilience and psychological counteraction to Russian aggression.

He works on the issues of transfer of Ukrainian Armed Forces and other law enforcement agencies to NATO standards in the sphere of counteraction of informational aggression.

Graduated from Kyiv state university, Moscow literature institute and Canadian institute of Ukrainian studies.

Analyst and a Coordinator of the Kremlin Watch Program at the European Values Think-Tank (Czech Republic). Veronika Víchová is an Analyst and a Coordinator of the Kremlin Watch Program at the European Values Think-Tank. She co-authored a study on how Kremlin propaganda portrays European leaders which were published by The Atlantic Council and an Overview of countermeasures by the EU28 to the Kremlin´s influence operations. She compiles the Kremlin Watch Briefing, a weekly newsletter on disinformation and influence operations for more than 7.000 European experts, journalists and officials. She participated in the Transatlantic Fellowship Program in Washington DC organized by the World Affairs Journal, which she spent at the office of Senator Rob Portman. She has graduated from the New Security Leaders Program in 2017.

Co-chairman of the Belarusian Christian-Democratic Party

Mr. Rymashevski has been actively engaged in political life in Belarus since 1996, working for oppositional United Civic Party, Youth Front organization, Belarusian People’s Front, Belarusian Union of Young Politicians, “Young Democrats”,  Youth Christian-Social Union, “Za Svobody!” (For Freedom) organization.

In these capacities, he actively took part in organization of pickets and rallies for support of the oppositional leaders in Belarus. In 2010 he ran for presidential elections as a single candidate from Belarusian Christian Democrats. Since 2009 he has actively represented the party in European People’s Party, Euronest and other international institutions.

Vital Rymashevski graduated Belarusian State Polytechnic Academy, receiving a degree in construction engineering.

Historian, professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University

Yaroslav Hrytsak is a Ukrainian scholar, historian and publicist, doctor of historical sciences, professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University, Director of the Institute for Historical Studies of the Lviv National University named after I.Franko.

From 1996 till 2009 he was a guest professor at the Central European University in Budapest, from 1999 till 2005 he served as a first vice-president of the International Association of Ukrainian Studies (1999-2005).

Yaroslav Hrytsak is also the editor-in-chief of the scientific yearbook “Ukraina moderna”, and a member of the editorial boards of the magazine’s Ab Imperio, Krytyka, Slavic Review, a member of the supervisory board of the Harvard Ukrainian Studies magazine and is an honorary professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

He is the author of more than 500 scientific publications on historical themes and is famous for his op-eds.

Deputy Editor-in-Chief Hromadske Radio

Natalia graduated from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a degree in journalism. She is also an alumna of Internews-Ukraine School of Journalism and the Ukrainian School of Political Studies. Besides, she listened to special courses Understanding Human Rights and Digital Journalism of Future. Since 2000, Natalia Sokolenko had worked as a reporter in news programmes for 10 years. After winning the television award Teletriumph, Natalia decided to quit. It was her protest against censorship in the news channel. In August of 2012, Natalia started looking for like-minded people to create an independent media source from private owners and state media. In the autumn of 2013 and winter of 2014 Natalia became one of the hosts of Radio Marathon Euromaidan Online and after this, she became the host and editor of the talk show Hromadske Khvylya. Natalia Sokolenko is an active member of the movement Stop Censorship!

Honoured Coach of Moldova and Master of Sports in Freestyle. Graduated from Chisinau State Pedagogical Institute named after Ion Creanga, Academy of Public Administration under the President of Moldova. Demian Karaseni had a Master degree in International Relations.

Jean-Yves Leconte, born 31 October 1966 in Paris, is a member of the Senate of France, representing the constituency of French citizens living abroad. He is a member of the Socialist Party. Leconte lived more than 20 years in Poland and was a member of the Assembly of French Citizens Abroad from 1994. Senator is a member of the France-Ukraine Friendship Group in the Senate of the French Republic.

Mary O’Hagan first began working for NDI in 2001, when she was invited to contribute to the NDI Croatia program as a consultant. In early 2003 she joined NDI full time in Slovakia, moving later in the year to direct NDIs programs in Serbia. In 2005, Ms. O’Hagan moved to Moscow where she served as NDIs country director in Russia. In 2006, she moved to Tbilisi and served as NDIs country director in Georgia, running parliamentary and election programs. Ms. O’Hagan moved to Nairobi in 2009, where she ran the political party and other programs for NDI until 2013. In 2014, she set up a new program for NDI in Nigeria and then moved to lead NDI Ukraine, where she is running a political party, civil society, and parliamentary programs with a strong emphasis on strengthening women’s political participation. Prior to joining NDI, Ms. O’Hagan served as the head of research for the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. She was also responsible for their internal communication and led a team that developed the party’s first online intranet. Her first political job was as a political advisor in the European Parliament on foreign affairs, institutional issues and Northern Ireland. She later represented the merged EDG/EPP political group in London. Ms. O’Hagan was born and educated in the U.K. She obtained a number of academic awards and a first-class degree at Oxford University, specializing in political geography. While a graduate student, she taught various related subjects and co-authored a book on the first direct elections to the European Parliament.

He was a lecturer at the University of Ludwig Maximilian in Munich / LMU (1989-1999) and at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (1999/2000), further on lectured at prestigious universities in South Africa, Israel, the United States, Australia, China and Chile. Since 2000, he has been the head of the Department of International Policy and Transatlantic Relations at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Regensburg. He was the moderator of the Munich Security Conference. Since 2000, he has been organizing international conferences at the Regensburg University in partnership with Hans Seidel Foundation. According to UNICUM PROFESSIONAL magazine in 2013, Stefan Birling was awarded the title Professor of the Year in the category of humanities, culture and social sciences.

James Sherr is an associate fellow and former head of the Russia and Eurasia programme (2008-2011). He was a member of the Social Studies Faculty of Oxford University from 1993 to 2012; a fellow of the Conflict Studies Research Centre of the UK Ministry of Defence from 1995 to 2008; and director of studies of the Royal United Services Institute (1983-85). He has published extensively on Soviet and Russian military, security and foreign policy, as well as energy security, the Black Sea region and Ukraine’s effort to deal with Russia, the West and its own domestic problems.

Having an international relations/interpreter from an English background, Andrii Kulikov is better known as the host of the ICTV TV program “Svoboda Slova” and as an expert of the EU project “Development of media skills”, as well as the lecturer at the Kyiv Institute of Journalism and Mariupol State University. Several times, he was the winner of the “Teletriumph” award as a member of “Svoboda Slova” team. In 2013 Andriy was one of the co-founders of “Hromadske Radio”, the radio, created by the group of independent journalists, who refused to tolerate censure, unfair “editorial policies”, or opaque ownership schemes of the media outlets.

Department director for conflict affected persons assistance Caritas Ukraine 

Since 2015 Department director for conflict-affected person assistance Caritas Ukraine. 2013-2015 Director of Migration service of Caritas Ukraine. 2007-2013 Head of UGCC Commission for Migrants. 2008-2010 member of Caritas Europe Migration Commission. 2001-2007 researcher of migration topics in different structures (Lviv Laboratory of Social Studies, Institute of Religion and Society UCU, Justice and Peace UGCC Commission) Studied Physics (1993-1995) and a Law (2000-2006) at Lviv National University.

PhD is an Associate Professor at the Institute of International Relations of Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University. Director to the Center of International Studies, an NGO, specializing at regional security studies and foreign policy of Ukraine. He has also been invited as a visiting professor to the University of Iowa and was teaching at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Co-editor of UA: Ukraine Analytica. An author of a textbook on international conflict studies, a monograph on power factor in international politics, and more than 80 articles on various foreign policy and security issues. In 2012 he was awarded the National Prize of Ukraine in science.

American Brian Bonner became chief editor of the Kyiv Post on June 9, 2008. He also held the job in 1999, three years after first arriving in Ukraine to teach journalism. Bonner spent most of his career with the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota, where he covered international, national and local news for more than 20 years as a staff writer and assigning editor. Besides Ukraine, he has also reported from Russia, Belgium, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Norway, Poland and the United Kingdom. In 2007-2008, he served as associate director of international communications at the Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids in Washington, D.C. He also worked as an election expert on six observation missions with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan between 1999 and 2013. He was a regional coordinator of the Danish-funded Objective Investigative Reporting Program from 2013-2017. He is a member of the supervisory board of the Media Development Foundation, a non-profit group founded by Kyiv Post journalists in 2013 to promote investigative journalism, training of journalists and exchanges.

She often serves as an expert on Ukraine, Eastern Europe and freedom of speech in the post-Soviet space. Miroslava’s articles are published on the pages of such world-famous publications as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, Journal of Democracy. The journalist’s talent is to ask questions that will make not only interlocutors and spectators, but also politicians and statesmen think: “Why is everyone is talking about DPR/LPR and forgot about the Crimea?” “The Budapest Memorandum. Did the international community enough to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine?” “It is important to identify and understand the essence of propaganda. But what methods can be effective to fight it?” Now in the United States, Russia and danger have become synonyms, says Myroslava Gongadze. Partially thanks to her work.

An entrepreneur since 1992. A member of the board of directors of the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI). Lecturer of Kyiv-Mohyla Business School (kmbs) and Lviv Business School (LvBS). Author of more than 250 articles and two books on management, marketing, IT, futurology. Co-founder of The New Country civil platform. Member of the National Reforms Council (2014-2016), an adviser to the minister of economic development and trade (2014-2016).

He was a lecturer at at the University of Ludwig Maximilian in Munich / LMU (1989-1999) and at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (1999/2000), further on lectured at prestigious universities in South Africa, Israel, the United States, Australia, China and Chile. Since 2000, he has been the head of the Department of International Policy and Transatlantic Relations at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Regensburg. He was the moderator of the Munich Security Conference. Since 2000, he has been organizing international conferences at the Regensburg University in partnership with Hans Seidel Foundation. According to UNICUM PROFESSIONAL magazine in 2013, Stefan Birling was awarded the title Professor of the Year in the category of humanities, culture and social sciences.

Head of the Eastern Europe and Eurasia Programme at the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) in Rome 

She holds a PhD in Political Science from Scuola normale Superiore (Pisa), and an M.A. in Regionalism: Central Asia and Caucasian Studies from the Humboldt University Berlin (HU), where she was awarded the Volkswagen Foundation Scholarship as a Research Fellow. She holds also B.A. and M.A. degrees in International Relations from the Tbilisi State University. Her research interests include the ENP and conflict resolution in the South Caucasus, the Wider Black Sea and regional cooperation, Turkey and Caspian Region, and Russian foreign policy in the ex-Soviet space.

Mariya Zavyalova is the editor in chief of the news service of the Ukrainian Chanel 4. Previously she worked as a reporter for Voice of America and other mass media, fixer for Aljazeera Arabic during the Maidan, producer and owner of the video production studio, journalist and news anchor at Hromadske radio. She has extensive experience in highlighting the events in Eastern Ukraine. She graduated from the Kyiv international institute with a degree in philology.

Mr. Mark Voyger is currently the Senior Lecturer in Russian and Eastern European Studies at the Baltic Defence College in Tartu, Estonia. In 2013 – 2018 he served as the Special Advisor for Russian and Eurasian Affairs to the Commanding General of US Army Europe in Wiesbaden, Germany, and as the Cultural Advisor and Senior Russia Expert at NATO’s Allied Land Command in Izmir, Turkey. Between 2009 and 2013 he was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as a U.S. Army Social Scientist. He worked for Mitt Romney’s Presidential Campaigns in 2007 and in 2012 as a member of the Russia Advisory Group. Mr. Voyger holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and has done PhD research in Middle Eastern Studies at Cambridge University. He is fluent in Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Arabic, Turkish, French, Spanish and Italian.

Born in Drohobych, Lviv region. Graduated from Taras Shevchenko national university, major in politology. Received PhD at Institute of political and ethnical national studies of the National Academy of Sciences. Since 2000 he works in political consulting, especially on communication strategies. Author of numerous publications. Regularly comments political processes and international relations in media. He takes an active part in public discussion of the draft laws related to occupied territories. He is one of the initiators of the public campaign “No to amendments to Constitution under conditions of war” He was also one of the founders of the civic movement “Shut Kremlin’s mouth” which counteracts hidden Russian media in Ukraine.

Victor Rud is an international lawyer with 35 years of experience. Before the fall of the Soviet Union he represented, in the West, political prisoners persecuted by the KGB. He also served as Special Counsel to a member of the US Delegation to the Madrid Review Conference on Security & Cooperation in Europe. After the fall of USSR, Mr Rud advised members of the new Ukrainian Parliament and has written and addressed various audiences on issues of US/Ukrainian/Russian relations. He is past Chairman of the Ukrainian American Bar Association, and currently chairs its Committee on Foreign Affairs. Mr Rud received his undergraduate degree in international relations from Harvard College, and his Juris Doctor degree from Duke University School of Law.

Vladimir Socor is a Senior Fellow of the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation and its flagship publication, Eurasia Daily Monitor (1995 to date), where he writes analytical articles on a daily basis. An internationally recognized expert on the former Soviet-ruled countries in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia, he covers Russian and Western policies there, focusing on energy policies, regional security issues, secessionist conflicts, and NATO policies and programs. He is a regular guest lecturer at the NATO Defense College and at Harvard University’s National Security Program’s Black Sea Program (JFKennedy School of Government). Vladimir Socor was previously an analyst with the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Research Institute (1983-1994). He was born in Romania, currently residing in Munich.

Born in 1984. In 2006 he graduated from the Tugan Baranovskyi Donetsk National University of economy and trade. Became famous as a blogger under the nickname Frankenstein. He also worked in Donetskaya Pravda magazine, which published his journalistic investigations and analytics.

Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges graduated from the United States Military Academy in May 1980 and was commissioned in the Infantry. After his first assignment as an Infantry Lieutenant in Germany, he commanded Infantry units at the Company, Battalion and Brigade levels at the 101st Airborne Division and in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. His most recent operational assignment was as Director of Operations, Regional Command South, in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Lt. Gen. Hodges has also served in a variety of Joint and Army Staff positions to include Tactics Instructor at the Infantry School; Chief of Plans, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea; Aide-de-Camp to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe; Army Congressional Liaison Officer; Task Force Senior Observer-Controller at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, LA; Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg; and Director of the Pakistan Afghanistan Coordination Cell on the Joint Staff; Chief of Legislative Liaison for the United States Army. He has been the Commander of NATO Allied Land Command from 2012 to 2014.

Mr. Howard is fluent in Russian and proficient in Azerbaijani and Arabic and is a regional expert on the Caucasus and Central Asia. He was formerly an Analyst at the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) Strategic Assessment Center. His articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst, and Jane’s Defense Weekly. Mr. Howard has served as a consultant to the private sector and governmental agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Intelligence Council and major oil companies operating in Central Asia and the Middle East.

As an MP worked on draft laws on judicial reform, reform of police and prosecution, local self-government reform, as well as actively participated in the work of the Constitutional Commission established in March 2015. She dedicates much of her time to defence and security issues, having contributed a draft law “On the Territory of Ukraine temporary Occupied by Russian Federation”. Oksana Syroid has previously has worked as Director of All-Ukrainian Charitable Foundation “Ukrainian Legal Foundation”. In 2004-2012 she was the National Project Manager and the Head of Rule of Law Unit at OSCE office in Ukraine. In 2001-2002 she worked in Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. She is a lecturer at the National School of Judges of Ukraine, co-author of handbooks in the area of administrative justice, as well as associate professor of the Law Faculty at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and a co-founder of Kyiv-Mohyla School of Public Administration. Oksana Syroid holds Master degree in Laws at University of Ottawa, Ottawa and Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University and Bachelor degree in Political sciences at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

Mykhaylo Honchar has over 31 years of professional experience which includes service in the air forces, civil service in the National Defence and Security Council of Ukraine, scientific work at the National Institute of strategic studies and National Institute of the problems of international security at the National Defence and Security Council of Ukraine. In the 2000s he held several positions in the oil and gas industry. He holds the honorary award from the “Naftohas Ukrayiny” for his work. Mr Honchar was also the expert of the Ukrainian part of the intergovernmental commissions on economic cooperation with Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. He is the author, co-author and editor of the numerous publications on energy sector issues and international relations. Since 2016 he is the member of the National Commission on the industry. Since 2017 he is the acting editor of the “Black Sea Security” magazine. He is the associated fellow of the Razumkov Center and the Center of Russian Studies.

Senior Director of the Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania. 

He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University. Dr. Carpenter served in the White House as a foreign policy advisor to Vice President Joe Biden and as Director for Russia at the National Security Council. Prior to his service at the White House, he was a career Foreign Service Officer with the State Department. Dr. Carpenter also served abroad in the U.S. Embassies in Poland, Slovenia, and Barbados. Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense with responsibility for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia, the Balkans, and Conventional Arms Control. He is also a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and a member of the board of the Jamestown Foundation.

Associated expert at the Independent Economic Think-tank “Expert-Group”(Chisinau) 

He is a weekly contributor at the “Info-Prim” News Agency, where between 2015 and 2017 he published more than 100 analytical articles related to European integration and EU-Moldova dialogue. He is the author of many analyses and researches published in Moldova and abroad. His areas of research comprise EU-Moldova dialogue, the economy of European integration, EU-Russia relationship, EU’s European Neighborhood Policy, and energy security. He is co-editor of the book ‘Deepening EU-Moldova Relations: What, why and how?’. Currently, Denis works closely in projects related to the implementation of the Association Agreement between Moldova and EU and energy security. Denis obtained a Master diploma in European Interdisciplinary Studies at the College of Europe Natolin.

Born in Crimea. Graduated from Taurida National University, specializing in Russian language and literature. He has worked in journalism since 2004. In 2012-2014 worked in Moscow. Cooperated with “Rosbalt’, Slon.ru, Novaya Gazeta, New Times. Since 2014 lives in Kyiv. Cooperates with ICTV and 24 channels. Columnist at Ukrayinska Pravda, Liga.net, Radio Liberty. Spheres of professional interests: post-soviet driftage, occupied territories, Eastern Europe, the evolution of Ukrainian-Russian relations.

Serhiy Harmash, a political analyst and Ukrainian journalist, the president of the Donbas Center for Social Perspective Research, the founder and the editor-in-chief of the information agency OstroV. In May 2014, he was forced to flee Donetsk because of the beginning of the war. Mr. Harmash was born in Yenakiyevo, Donetsk region, graduated from the Institute of Journalism of Kyiv National University named after T. Shevchenko. From 1996 till 2004 worked as a correspondent at Radio Liberty in Donetsk region, from 2001 till 2003 he also worked as a correspondent at Interfax-Ukraine in Donetsk region.

Over the course of his parliamentary career, he has chaired the House of Commons Standing Committees for Agriculture and Agri-Food (2006-2008), Environment (2008-2011), and National Defence (2011-2013). As Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence from 2013-2015, Bezan was active on files dealing with military procurement, mental health issues in the Canadian Armed Forces, the war against ISIS, and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Bezan currently serves in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet as the Conservative Defence Critic. Bezan has also been a very outspoken critic on the issue of Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, and protecting Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty and human rights. As a result, he was one of thirteen Canadian officials sanctioned and banned by the Russian government in 2014. For his work on Ukrainian issues he has been recognized with numerous awards both in Canada and abroad, including the ‘Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise’ (Ukraine’s highest civilian award) for his private members’ bill to recognize the Holomodor as a genocide.

Giorgi Kandelaki was elected to the Georgian Parliament in 2008. He currently serves as Deputy Chair of the European Integration Committee from opposition and is a member of both Parliamentary Minority and the European Georgia party. Mr Kandelaki is an active member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and NATO Parliamentary Assembly. In 2002-2003 Mr Kandelaki was co-founded of an anti-corruption student campaign and then youth movement Kmara (Enough) that is believed to have played a key role in the Rose Revolution in 2003. In 2012 he also coordinated a working group to transform the Stalin Museum in Gori into the Museum of Stalinism (project stopped after Georgian Dream came to power).

For the past two years, he was the director of NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, an international knowledge hub specializing in research, training and exercises in the areas of technology, strategy, operations and law. As the director of CCDCOE Sven Sakkov led an international team from 20 countries and various specialities. Between 2008 and 2015 Sakkov served as an undersecretary for defence policy (policy director) of the Ministry of Defence of Estonia. During his tenure as a policy director, Sven Sakkov was responsible for policy planning, threat assessments, NATO and EU policy, international cooperation, and arms control. He was an Estonian representative to the NATO’s Senior Officials’ Group. Previously, he had served at the Estonian Embassy in Washington and Estonian Mission to NATO, as national security and defence advisor to the President of Estonia and as the director of Policy Planning of MOD. Sven Sakkov has studied at the University of Cambridge (M.Phil. in international relations), University of Tartu (B.A. cum laude in history) and Royal College of Defence Studies (course of 2011-12).

Jill is currently a Senior Advisor at the Dept of National Defence and is the Canadian Representative to the Ukrainian Defence Reform Advisory Board. She served as Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy) at DND and Assistant Secretary Foreign and Defence at the Privy Council Office. During her career at Foreign Affairs, Jill led the Ottawa Process to ban anti-personnel mines; was the Executive Director of the Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty which led to the creation of R2P; was Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process; worked extensively on arms control, disarmament and human and regional security and had postings to Prague, Havana and the Middle East. She is a Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawa Graduate School of Public Service and International Affairs and volunteers with the Friends of the National Arts Centre Orchestra as the Director of Communications and Outreach.

Five years of experience in international consultancy (Finland, Romania, Latvia and Austria). Coordinated projects in the Balkan and CIS countries, in the field of economics, finance and business climate. Seven years of experience with the Moldovan Government. Between 2013 and 2016 Head of the Secretariat to the Economic Council of the Prime Minister (EBRD project). Since January 2017 programme director at CPR Moldova.