Andriy Zagorodnyuk is a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. He served as minister of defense of Ukraine from 2019 to 2020 and now serves as co-founder and chairman of the security think tank Centre for Defence Strategies, which focuses on security studies, policy research, and advocacy in Ukraine. Prior to his appointment as minister of defense, Zagorodnyuk served as head of the Ministry of Defense’s Reforms Project Office from 2015 to 2018. During this time, he was a key player and major architect of military reform in Ukraine. In July 2019, prior to serving as minister, Zagorodnyuk was appointed advisor to the president of Ukraine for defense matters, as well as a member of the supervisory council of Ukraine’s Ukroboronprom defense company.
Tania Lațici is a Policy Officer covering Security and Defence Policy at the European External Action Service. In parallel, she is an Associate Fellow at the Egmont Institute, a Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, a Member of Women in International Security Brussels, and an Associate Expert at the New Strategy Center. She received leadership distinctions by NATO, GLOBSEC, the Warsaw Security Forum, GMF, CEPA, Schmidt Futures, and others. In 2020, she was appointed by NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg to inform the NATO2030 strategic reflection. Previously, Tania held the security and defence portfolio in the European Parliamentary Research Service, and worked at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, among others. She is doing a part-time PhD at Ghent University and the European Security and Defence College. She speaks Romanian, English, French, and Spanish, and has German and Dutch language aspirations.
Tornike Parulava is the Director of Security Policy and Euro-Atlantic Integration Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Prior to this role, he was the Deputy Head of the Mission of Georgia to NATO.
Leon Hartwell (@LeonHartwell) is the Senior Advisor for the Central and South Eastern European Programme at 杏吧论坛 IDEAS and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington DC. His research interests include conflict resolution, genocide, transitional justice, diplomacy, democracy, and the Western Balkans. Previously, Hartwell was the 2022 Sotirov Fellow at 杏吧论坛 IDEAS and CEPA’s Acting Director of the Transatlantic Leadership Program and a Title VIII Fellow. From 2012 to 2013, he was also the Senior Policy Advisor for Political and Development Cooperation at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Zimbabwe, where his work included government and civil society engagement, political reporting, peace building projects, and supporting human rights defenders. In 2019, Hartwell completed a joint doctoral degree summa cum laude at Leipzig University (Germany) and Stellenbosch University (South Africa). His thesis analyzed the use of mediation in the resolution of armed conflicts.