Léo J. Portal – CEO

Léo J. Portal is Ph.D. in Political Sciences at the European University Institute. He is an entrepreneur and consultant, currently working closely with local administrators and policy makers. His research focuses on the links between technological innovation and public administrations, more specifically on the development of European smart cities and their consequences on social issues. During both is professional and academic careers, he has worked in strategic communication projects.

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Gwendal Combot – DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Gwendal Combot is a graduate of Applied Mathematics at the University of Montréal and the University of Paris Saclay. He specialises in economics and financial big data, working for a major French bank on complementary mathematical analyses and having held the position of researcher at UNSW Business School. Gwendal is an expert of the Baltic region, speaking Russian and Lithuanian fluently. He has also participated in activities facilitating French-Lithuanian cooperation.

Pawel M. de la Bassetière –  HR

Pawel M. de la Bassetière is specialized in corporate finance and entrepreneurial economics: he holds degrees of Economics, Finance and International Business from the Poznan University of Economics and Business.
Pawel is currently working as a technology consultant specialized in digital & agile transformation in a global consulting company. He is also a consultant within the import-export industry.
Pawel heads the Blue Europe expert committee on Poland and Central Europe, and is in charge of Strategic Development and HR.

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Grzegorz Wiśniewski – RELATIONS

Grzegorz Wiśniewski has a doctorate in Economy from the Uniwersytet Jagielloński. He specializes in the effects of public policies in the primary and secondary sector both at national and European level. Grzegorz Wiśniewski is above all a successful entrepreneur in international events, logistics and transportation organization.
He is in charge of the Observatory of Public Policies of the European Union and manages institutional relations for Blue Europe.

Christiaan Vermorken

Christiaan Vermorken holds a PhD in social and political sciences from the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence and an LLD from the University of Rome (RomaTre). He has completed graduate studies in law (Brussels), history (Bologna), political science (Brussels/Bucharest), and polemology (London) and has previously held positions as an investment fund lawyer at Clifford Chance, as a freelance legal consultant for various industrial enterprises, as  a teaching assistant at the Centre for Public Law of the Free University of Brussels (ULB), and as a legal intern in the Office of the Deputy Secretary General of the European Parliament. Most recently, Christiaan has been active as a full-time legal consultant in heavy industry and as an assistant professor in legal and institutional history at the Université libre de Bruxelles.

Ivo Ganchev

Ivo Ganchev is a Beijing-based academic, executive and consultant. He serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Bulgaria-China Chamber of Commerce, an Adjunct Professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University and a Global Partner at TopBrand Union. Ivo also manages the Centre for Regional Integration and hosts The Branding Boardroom, a nationally syndicated podcast in China. He is the editor of several books, including Lessons from Regional Responses to Security, Health and Environmental Challenges in Latin America (Vernon Press, 2024). His publications have appeared in journals such as World Affairs, Strategic Analysis and International Studies. Ivo holds a PhD from Peking University, an MSc from the London School of Economics, a BA from Newcastle University as well as Worldwide University Tutor Status from the University of London.

Henrique Horta

Henrique Horta graduated from Lisbon’s ISCTE-IUL University and holds a master in International Relations, with a thesis focusing on Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
Having gathered knowledge of demography, political science and history through his academic studies, he is an expert of population sciences. Particularly, he has researched on migration within Central Eastern Europe and its relations with Southwestern Europe.
Henrique speaks fluently Portuguese, Spanish, French and English.

Andrea Bogoni

Andrea Bogoni is a Research Fellow at Blue Europe and an MSc alumnus in International Logistics and Supply Chain Management from the University of Essex, having specialised in business economics, finance and international trade. He collaborates with several Italian-based research centres and think tanks, specialising on V4 countries, the Western Balkans and the Black Sea region. For Blue Europe he edited “The Dragon at the Gates of Europe: Chinese Presence in the Balkans and Central-Eastern Europe” and contributes to the think-tank with publications and reviews. He has previously won the 2021-2022 Blue Europe “Konrad Adenauer & Alcide de Gasperi” contest, with an article predicting the subsequent war in Ukraine. Professionally, he works as a consultant in the business services industry.

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Samuel Dempsey

Samuel’s experience spans across the U.S. government (Department of State, Congress, and International Trade Administration) and think tanks in Europe. He is currently a U.S. 2023 Presidential Management Fellow Finalist and holds an M.A. in Geopolitics and Strategic Studies and a B.A. in Journalism and Communications, which he obtained respectively in Spain and the Czech Republic. He is the Director of Policy at European Horizons and focuses his research on the transatlantic relationship, the challenges it must confront in the context of rising multipolarity, and the outlook for modern reforms to interregional cooperation.

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Marceli Hazla

Marceli Hazla is a doctoral student at Poznań University of Economics and Business and a postgraduate student at Adam Mickiewicz University in the field of international relations. He is an author of several scientific publications and speeches at conferences in the field of global economy and sustainable development, as well as a columnist in “Parkiet Gazeta Giełdy”. Holder of a stockbroker’s licence and a European banking certificate, he gained his professional experience working as a financial analyst. His current research interests include global economy, sustainable development and sustainable finance.

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Sonja Stojadinovic

Sonja Stojadinovic holds, besides her extended education in Political Science (University of st.Cyril and Methodius, Skopje (BA and MA) and Uni Graz (MA)), a wealth of experience working as civil servant in the Secretariat for European Affairs in the government of N. Macedonia, as well as 7+ years as freelance researcher in creating public policies and research papers for both Macedonian and EU NGOs. She is also a journalist for the Croatian web portal Lupiga and longtime author for Macedonian academic blog Respublika. Her interests cover Chinese foreign policy through the BRI, specially on the Balkan peninsula, EU integration of the Balkan region, worker rights and violation of human rights and environmental standards from FDIs.
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Slobodan Trivić

Slobodan Trivić is a PhD candidate at the Law Faculty, University of Belgrade, while also serving as a Regulatory Affairs Manager at the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia. Slobodan’s research spans diverse areas including mitigating double taxation between the U.S. and Serbia, streamlining pharmaceutical regulations for accelerated new medicine approvals, and studying voluntary tax compliance dynamics.

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Christopher Cockshaw

Christopher Cockshaw is a graduate of King’s College (London) and Sciences Po (Paris) with experience in policy-making, digital innovation strategies and think tank research. He is a specialist in public affairs advocacy and intra-EU relations, his work on the economic and diplomatic ties binding Central European countries with East and West is informed by a background in German regional power as well as further studies in corporate communication.

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Piotr Wójcik

Piotr is M.A. in International Relations from the University of Warsaw. In his research, he is particularly interested in the Three Seas Initiative, which was also the topic of his Master’s thesis. He is also keen on the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership, especially with regards to connectivity. He holds a postgraduate degree from the European Academy of Diplomacy (EAD) and holds a wealth of experience in the field: for instance, he has completed his traineeship at the Embassy of Poland in Lithuania. He has authored several articles and analyses for think tanks and publishing houses, such as the Institute of New Europe, Jagiellonian Club, and IGI Global. He also held scientific conferences and prelections at, among others, the official Three Seas Summit in 2024. Finally, he is involved with the Three Seas Initiative Research Centre Project (Polish Academy of Science) and is also a member of the Youth Polish Association – Forum of Young Diplomats (Forum Młodych Dyplomatów, FMD).

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