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Zsuzsanna Végh is a program officer with GMF’s European Resilience program in Berlin. Her research focuses on challenges to liberal democracy in Europe, particularly the rise of the far right and its influence on EU politics, foreign policy, and democratic governance. She also analyzes processes of democratic backsliding and resilience, with expertise in Central Europe and a particular focus on Hungary.

Végh has extensive experience working at the intersection of policy analysis and academic research. She has been an associate researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations and authored reports for Freedom House’s flagship project, Nations in Transit, on her native Hungary. She worked at the European University Viadrina as a researcher and lecturer in 2017–2024, and at the Center for European Neighborhood Studies of Central European University in 2012–2017. She is a frequent commentator in international media and has been quoted in outlets including in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Politico, The Guardian, Le Monde, Deutsche Welle.

Végh holds Master’s degrees in international relations and European studies from Central European University and in international studies from the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary.

Elene Kintsurashvili is a Warsaw-based senior program coordinator on GMF’s Transatlantic Security team, focusing on research and convening activities. Her areas of expertise include NATO and EU engagement in the Eastern Partnership countries. She also follows the South Caucasus and Black Sea regions, Georgian domestic and foreign policies, and Russian hybrid warfare and its impact on European security and democratic resilience.

Kintsurashvili previously served as assistant to the deputy secretary-general of the Georgian parliament. Outside her professional work, she has been involved in civic initiatives advancing democracy and Georgian aspirations to integrate into the Euro-Atlantic community.

Kintsurashvili received her master’s degree in European interdisciplinary studies from the College of Europe, where she specialized in European neighborhood policy and the Eastern Partnership, and was awarded an honorary bachelor’s degree in international relations from Vistula University. She speaks fluent Georgian, Russian, and Polish.

Bogdan Cozma is a Bucharest-based program officer. He manages civil society and democracy programs in the Eastern Partnership region and organizes high-level policy convenings on regional security and defense industry cooperation. His research and writing focuses on Black Sea security, the European defense industry, and the Three Seas Initiative. His recent work has examined the implications of Russian aggression for Romania and the wider region.

Cozma holds a master's degree in philosophy, politics, and economics, and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Bucharest. He is a PhD candidate at the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies’ Doctoral School of International Affairs.

Iryna Khomiak is a program officer with GMF’s Ukraine: Relief, Resilience, Recovery initiative, based in Berlin. She works within the emergency response programming for support of Ukrainian civil society and independent media, especially in terms of the full-scale Russian war. Prior to this, she worked as a coordinator of the Master in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Program at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, and on judicial, police, and juvenile probation reforms in Ukraine. She has worked within international projects funded by USAID and Global Affairs Canada as well as on numerous projects of the British Council in Ukraine.

Inspired by the spirit of the Revolution of Dignity and her experience, Iryna decided to pursue her Master’s degree in human rights at the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. There, she focused mainly on peace and conflict resolution policies, women’s rights within this, and the right to education for national minorities. She also holds Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in the theory and history of literature and comparative studies from the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla academy” in Kyiv, Ukraine. In addition to her native Ukrainian, she speaks English and German, and she has basic knowledge of Polish. 
 

Niklas Ebert is a program manager with GMF’s Transatlantic Security program. Based in Berlin, he works mainly on issues of deterrence and resilience as well as German security and defense policy.

Prior to joining GMF, Ebert worked as a research assistant at the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Defence and Military Analysis Programme in Berlin. Previously, he worked for the German Federal Foreign Office focusing on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. He gained additional experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers and the German Council on Foreign Relations.

Ebert received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and sciences from Maastricht University and holds a master’s degree in war and conflict studies from the University of Potsdam.