Ionela Maria Ciolan

Expertise

EU Foreign Policy; the European Neighborhood Policy; human rights.

Bio

From October 2015 to January 2016, Ionela was a Trainee at the Office of Ioan Mircea Pa?cu, Vice-President of the European Parliament where she researched the EU Foreign Policy, the European Neighborhood Policy and the Security and Defense Policy.

From 2011, Ionela has been a volunteer facilitator and group leader for Amnesty International, Romania, organizing campaigns and representing Amnesty International Europe at the International Committee Meeting. From April to June 2015, she was a Professional Fellow at the U.S. Department of State, working as a community organizer and advocacy activist.
Prior to this, Ionela was an intern at the European Institute of Romania and at Foreign Policy Romania. She has also worked in the PR departments of both Romanian Student Organizations National Alliance and the “Babe?-Bolyai” University Student Organization.

Ionela has published articles on cybersecurity, security in Central Eastern Europe, and the EU Digital Agenda in Continuity and Change in European Governance, Vol. 9, and in the Public Administration and Social Policies Review.

She has written papers for a series of international conferences: “EU restrictive measures against Russia: Impact, effectiveness and political context”, organized by CEPS and German Institute for International and Security Affairs; “Europe’s Unstable Eastern Neighborhood: What role for Civil Society?”, organized by Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union; Women, “Peace and Security”, 15th Anniversary of UNSCR 1325, organized by NATO; “The European Union: challenges and strategic response”, organized by the Royal Higher Institute for Defense, Egmont, Geneva; “Russia and the Eastern Partnership”, organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Currently, Ionela is enrolled in an International Relations PhD program at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA). During her MA program in International Relations and European Integration at SNSPA, she was awarded an Erasmus scholarship at the University of Bologna. Ionela holds a MA in International Relations and European Integration from the “Babe?-Bolyai” University.