Research Lab

Henri Malosse is a former president of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and he is currently the honorary chairman of Vocal Europe.

Julien Hoez is the interim Managing Director of Vocal Europe.

Irene Christodoulaki is a researcher at Vocal Europe. Irene holds a master`s degree in European Law and Policy. She also has an MSc in Digital Journalism from Goldsmiths, University of London. She has worked as a policy analyst and journalist for various research centres and NGOs in Greece, Cyprus and in the UK. Her main research interests are Turkey and the Middle East, EU politics, religion in international relations as well as the impact of social media in society.

Astrid Viaud holds a doctorate in political and social sciences from the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL, Belgium). Her thesis analysed “The coercive action of the European Union with regard to sanctions in the international order: the cases of Iran, Syria, and Russia”. She is a policy analyst at Vocal Europe working on UN, EU and US economic sanctions, and Iran.

Ebubekir ISIK is a Policy Analyst at Vocal Europe. He works on EU Foreign Policy, and Turkey.

Saša Kulenović obtained his Master’s Degree in international Affairs at Johns Hopkins University SAIS in 2013 and subsequently developed a professional background in project management and political analysis. He is currently a visiting fellow at Vocal Europe.

Matthias Peschke recently graduated with an Msc in International Relations from the University of Amsterdam and moved to Brussels to start a career as a political analyst. With professional experience in the commercial and service sector as well as two completed internships in South America, his academic interests evolve around foreign policy, backsliding democracies and the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Matthias is a native German speaker with fluency in English and Spanish and advanced knowledge of Dutch.

Christine Kotarakos is an external associate working on EU Grants. For her full CV, please see the link: https://bit.ly/2nVDtdO

Aleksander Pecuch holds a BA in political science from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and is currently enrolled there in a MA program in political communication & lobbying. His thesis focuses on the decision-making processes related to the design of European transport infrastructure and their implementation. Aleksander is fluent in Polish, French and English and has a good knowledge of Arabic.

After achieving a BA in translation, Emina Bekto is currently enrolled in a MA program in international relations at Université de Bruxelles, specialized in Peace and Security studies. Hear area of interest is mainly European Foreign Policy regarding Western Balkans path to the EU. In this respect, her thesis is related to EU/Bosnia and Herzegovina relations, with a focus on the position of local political actors regarding the issue of EU integration. Emina is fluent in French, English, Bosnian and has a good command of Dutch as well as some knowledge of German.

After receiving a MA in Conference Interpreting at IULM University in Milan, Maddalena Testa graduated cum laude in International Relations and Diplomacy at the International University in Geneva. During her last year of studies in Conference Interpreting, she engaged in a Master’s dissertation on a socio-juridical analysis on people’s perception of the EU citizenship. Moreover, she carried out a study project on the EU security and defence policy and its possible evolution. She is passionate about EU policies, security and defense, foreign affairs and international trade. Besides Italian, her native language, she is also fluent in English, Spanish and has a good working knowledge of French.

Radu-Ion Gheorghe holds a bachelor's degree in International Relations and European Studies from the West University of Timisoara and a master's degree in International Conflict and Security from the University of Kent. He is currently enrolled in a master’s programme in management at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Before joining Vocal Europe, Radu-Ion Gheorghe gained professional experience interning at Finabel - European Army Interoperability Centre, the European Parliament, European Partnership for Democracy and Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum. He is passionate about EU foreign affairs, geopolitics and security and defence. In addition to his native language Romanian, Radu-Ion Gheorghe is fluent in English and possesses an intermediate level of French.

Ophélie is a master student in Sciences Po Lyon (France), specialising in European Affairs. She is passionate about EU policies in its Eastern Neighbourhood and the post-Soviet world. She wrote her master term paper on the consequences of climate change on the Russian strategy in the Artic. She speaks French, English, Italian and Russian.”