About the authors

Bob Deen is coordinator of the Clingendael Russia and Eastern Europe Centre (CREEC) and Senior Research Fellow in the Security Unit of the Clingendael Institute. His research centres on international security issues and multilateral cooperation, with a particular focus on Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Prior to joining Clingendael he worked as Head of Section and Senior Adviser to the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Wouter Zweers is a Research Fellow at the EU and Global Affairs unit of the Clingendael Institute. His research revolves around the external dimension of EU policy-making, focusing specifically on the Eastern Partnership and Western Balkans regions. He coordinates Clingendael’s ‘Balkans Hub’, a project in which Clingendael engages with local think tanks from the Western Balkans in joint research and events.

Iris van Loon is a research assistant at the EU & Global Affairs unit of the Clingendael Institute. Her work focuses on EU enlargement and integration of the Western Balkans and the European Neighbourhood countries. She is a graduate in European Studies from the University of Amsterdam and the College of Europe in Warsaw.

Elżbieta Kaca is a senior research fellow at PISM, working on EU relations with Eastern European countries (notably the Eastern Partnership region) and EU external relations (e.g. decision making process, EU diplomacy and EEAS, sanctions, financial aid). Before that, she led numerous projects related to Eastern Europe and EU integration process at the Institute of Public Affairs (2008-2012).

Cristina Gherasimov worked as research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin during 2019-2020. Before that she worked with Transparency International Defence and Security and Chatham House in London. Since January 2021, she is foreign policy advisor to the President of Moldova. Cristina holds a PhD degree in Political Science from Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA.

Dr. Gustav Gressel is a Senior Policy Fellow on the Wider Europe Programme at the ECFR Berlin Office. Before joining the ECFR he worked as desk officer for international security policy and strategy in the Bureau for Security Policy in the Austrian Ministry of Defence from 2006 to 2014 and as a research fellow of the Commissioner for Strategic Studies in the Austrian MoD from 2003 to 2006. He also was committed as research fellow in the International Institute for Liberal Politics in Vienna. Before his academic career he served five years in the Austrian Armed Forces. Gustav earned a PhD in Strategic Studies at the Faculty of Military Sciences at the National University of Public Service, Budapest and a Master Degree in political science at Salzburg University. He is author of numerous publications regarding security policy and strategic affairs and a frequent commentator of international affairs.

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