Despina Syrri is the Director of Symbiosis – Council of Europe School of Political Studies in Greece. She served as an Education Specialist in UNICEF’s Refugee and Migration Response Mission in Greece. She worked in Sarajevo and Belgrade as a Policy Advisor for the Regional Cooperation Council. She has collaborated with OSCE/ODHIR, Council of Europe, and EU Fundamental Rights Agency. She has published journal articles and book chapters in Greek, South Slavic and English, and authored research papers and documentaries.

Constantinos Tsoutsoplides is the Head of the European Parliament Liaison Office in Greece. He was the Spokesperson of the EPLO in Greece since 2011 and the Coordinator of the EP institutional campaign for the May 2019 European Elections. He has served in different positions at national and European level. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Reading, UK.

Filippos Kamaris has been a permanent administrator of the EP Secretariat-General since the end of 2000, after serving as an interpreter for the Commission at the SCIC (1999-2000). Since 2019, he has been a Public Relations Officer at the Athens Liaison Office, while previously, he worked in the Directorate-General for Foreign Policies, focusing on Interparliamentary Delegations and EP missions in third countries, as well as election observation. He is a graduate of International and European Studies at the Athens University of Economics and Business with postgraduate studies at the College of Europe. He speaks French, English and some Spanish.

Dimitris Tsiodras is an MEP of the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) since June 2024.With more than 27 years of experience as a journalist, he specialises in politics, international relations and European developments. Since 2019, he has served as Director of the Prime Minister’s Press Office. He is the author of two books on Europe, the most recent, “European Integration: The Adventures of a Vision” (2024).

Sakis Arnaoutoglou is a Member of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats since June 2024. At the same time, since 2002, he has been the editor and presenter of the weather reports of ERT3 and, since 2016, the editor-in-chief of the weather reports of the entire ERT. He worked for private channels, websites, radios and newspapers.

Michalis Kritikos is a legal and political analyst on issues of technology ethics, ethics of science, and responsible innovation. He focuses on the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence and the governance of digital technologies. Since September 2024, he has assumed the duties of Secretary of the European Group of Ethics in Science and New Technologies of the European Commission in parallel with his capacity as Professor at the School of Governance of the University of Brussels.

Nikos Efstathiou is a journalist and writer. He collaborates with the English edition of Kathimerini and is Editorial Director at REBORRN. He was managing editor at LiFO and journalist at Kathimerini, as well as Communication Advisor of the World Health Organization during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Antonis Kalogeropoulos is Associate Professor of Political Communication at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Research Associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford.

Tasos Telloglou has been a journalist since 1986 when he got a job at the newspaper “I Proti”. In 1989, he joined Kathimerini newspaper, while at the same time, he joined the political department of Mega Channel. From 1990 to 1997, he was a correspondent in Germany. He has filmed and presented over 250 long-form television reports and has participated in the presentation of many television shows. He has won 8 times the Faces Award for his work in television, as well as the Botsis Award.

Anna Efstathiou holds a Master’s and PhD in Social and Political Science on national identity and multiculturalism issues from the University of Edinburgh. She has worked at the Ministry of Culture and the Melina Mercouri Foundation, as well as at University College Dublin, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, in the fields of communication, public relations, and employee integration. Since 2013, she has been in Greece, initially as a Press and Social Media Officer at the European Commission Representation in Greece. Since 2020, she has been a Press Officer at the European Parliament Office in Greece.

Kaki Bali worked as a political and economic editor for Deutsche Welle and ZDF in the 1990s and Aggelioforos until 2011. From 1992 until today, he has written in Avgi and since 2012 in Egnatiapost.gr. He collaborates with German and Swiss media.

Ioannis Palaeologos is a journalist for Inside Story and Kathimerini. Over the course of his career, he has served as the editor-in-chief of special editions, research editor, editor-in-chief of opinion articles, and Brussels correspondent for Kathimerini. He has also collaborated with SKAI TV and radio, and contributed to international outlets like the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Financial Times, Time, Politico, Politico Europe, and the New Republic.

Vasilis Dalianis has worked for the newspaper Proto Thema, since 2009. At the same time, he has worked for the Cyprus television network Capital TV and has been a contributor to French and German media. He has covered the Greek crisis, the eurozone crisis, the migration crisis, and almost every other crisis in the EU, without fail, from Brussels, Strasbourg, Paris, Berlin, Rome, and The Hague.

Ljubisa Vrencev, since 1997, has been working with national and international NGOs on local development, communication, media, reconciliation, and forced displacement issues throughout Southeast Europe. He has been the Country Director of Arbeiter Samariter Bund and also served as a consultant for UNOPS, UNDP, Cooperazione Italiana, and the International Organization for Migration, focusing on the development of sustainable return policies. He has been a lecturer on diversity and communication for migrant communities and authored papers on development and migration issues.

Jacob Lolck joined the European Parliament in 2016 and currently works in the European Parliament Spokesperson’s unit in a group dedicated to tackling disinformation targeting the European Parliament. Previously, he worked as Press Officer at the European Parliament Liaison Office in Denmark.

Eliza Triantafyllou started working as a financial editor at Sunday Eleftherotypia in 2004. In 2010, she created the first copy of the American satirical site The Onion in Greece. She remains in the field of electronic media and currently works for the independent investigative website Inside Story

Stavros Samouilidis is the Press Officer at the European Parliament Office in Greece. He has worked as a journalist for SKAI radio and television, the ANT1 group, the pan-European network Euranet, the Belgian state television, and other foreign networks. He has also been a presenter and documentary producer

Betty Tsakarestou is Associate Professor at the Department of Communication, Media and Culture, Panteion University. Co-founder of the multimedia city diplomacy platform “Connecting Cities”. Her research and teaching focus on advertising and public relations, emphasizing on social media/mobile communication, city branding and co-creation.

Katerina Lomvardea is the Editor-in-chief of Inside Story since its inception in 2016. Previously, she worked in the television field as a journalist for the investigative shows Fakeloi and Neoi Fakeloi on Mega TV and SKAI.

Despina Syrri is the Director of Symbiosis – Council of Europe School of Political Studies in Greece. She served as an Education Specialist in UNICEF’s Refugee and Migration Response Mission in Greece. She worked in Sarajevo and Belgrade as a Policy Advisor for the Regional Cooperation Council. She has collaborated with OSCE/ODHIR, Council of Europe, and EU Fundamental Rights Agency. She has published journal articles and book chapters in Greek, South Slavic and English, and authored research papers and documentaries.

Filippos Kamaris has been a permanent administrator of the EP Secretariat-General since the end of 2000, after serving as an interpreter for the Commission at the SCIC (1999-2000). Since 2019, he has been a Public Relations Officer at the Athens Liaison Office, while previously, he worked in the Directorate-General for Foreign Policies, focusing on Interparliamentary Delegations and EP missions in third countries, as well as election observation. He is a graduate of International and European Studies at the Athens University of Economics and Business with postgraduate studies at the College of Europe. He speaks French, English and some Spanish.

Thanos Andritsos is PhD Candidate at the National Technical University of Athens, in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, focusing on policies and applications for Sustainable Urban Development. He has more than ten years of experience in studies and projects in spatial planning, sustainable urban development, integrated territorial investments, urban planning law, and participatory planning in Greece, the European Union, and the Middle East. He is a founding member of Commonspace and the Participatory Lab, an interdisciplinary community focused on promoting participatory spatial planning to adapt cities to climate change.

Spyros Blavoukos is a Professor at the Department of International and European Economic Studies of the Athens University of Economics and Business, specialising in the Analysis of International and European Institutions. His current research and writing activity focusing on EU foreign policy and the role of the EU in international negotiations.

Anna Efstathiou holds a Master’s and PhD in Social and Political Science on national identity and multiculturalism issues from the University of Edinburgh. She has worked at the Ministry of Culture and the Melina Mercouri Foundation, as well as at University College Dublin, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, in the fields of communication, public relations, and employee integration. Since 2013, she has been in Greece, initially as a Press and Social Media Officer at the European Commission Representation in Greece. Since 2020, she has been a Press Officer at the European Parliament Office in Greece.

Elvira Forte has been the Public Relations Officer at the European Parliament Office in Greece since July 2024, after serving as the Office’s press officer for the previous six years.

Yiannis Papageorgiou is a Journalist specialising in EU affairs and over 30 years of media experience. He has been presenting radio shows since 1992, while he currently presents the morning detailed news bulletin for the municipal radio of Athens. He is the founder and head of “Athens Digest” – a newsletter sent mainly to an international audience – and co-founder of EUdays.eu website. At the same time, he specialises in crisis management and reputation recovery. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP). Yiannis Papageorgiou holds a degree in Chemistry and a Master’s degree from the University of Athens.

Stavros Samouilidis is the Press Officer at the European Parliament Office in Greece. He has worked as a journalist for SKAI radio and television, the ANT1 group, the pan-European network Euranet, the Belgian state television, and other foreign networks. He has also been a presenter and documentary producer.

Elena Papadimitriou has been working for 25 years, mainly on television and radio, as well as on news and news shows. From 2006 to 2023 she worked as a journalist and foreign news analyst in major TV and radio stations in Greece, including MEGA Channel, SKAI and Star Channel. As of October 2023, she is the Head of Editorial of fyi.news, a pioneering social media first news medium. She has covered elections, referendums and humanitarian crises on journalistic missions outside Greece, including elections and the war in Ukraine.

Alexandra Angelopoulou is from Athens. She studied “Communication and New Journalism” at the Open University of Cyprus. She has worked in radio (Crete FM 87,5, Ert open 106,7 FM, Atlantis 105,2 FM) and presents a show on High TV. She is the author of novels, novellas, and short stories and has been honored as a member of the Parnassos Literary Association and with the Everlies Award.

Evangelia Asimakopoulou is from Athens. She is a journalist and content creator with over 8 years of experience. She works as an Education Editor at Alfavita.gr, creating news content and implementing SEO best practices. She has previous experience as a Content Marketing Creator at Questit and a Theatre Critic at Maxmag, combining research, writing and communication strategy.

Valantou (Chrysovalantou) Giannakoudi is a journalist from Thessaloniki, Greece, who studied at the School of Journalism and Mass Media Studies of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In her master’s degree, she specialised in risk communication management and crisis journalism. She has worked in local media and, in recent years, has collaborated with Politic.gr. There, she focuses on free reporting with a human-centred approach and interpretive journalism, presenting current affairs news through audiovisual content for social media.

Eleni Karali is from Athens. She works at ERT, where she has broadcast on the Voice of Greece with Greek expatriates as guests. Lately, she has created podcasts for the First Program and written articles for ertnews. Although she has not studied journalism, she loves the field and constantly seeks ways to develop her skills.

Marina Karaousou is from Athens. She graduated in 2022 from the Department of Communication, Media and Culture of Panteion University. In October of the same year she joined the International department of the newspaper “To Vima”, where she works until today. Her role includes writing international topics, conducting interviews for the weekly publication and website, and creating relevant video content for Instagram.

Anna-Maria Karapetsas is from Athens. She is a law graduate who has also studied New Media Studies. In 2021, she completed her internship as a reporter on the show “Society Time MEGA.” Since then, she has been writing articles on the kefaloniastatus.gr site in the column Enthen & Enthen, commenting on current sociopolitical issues.

Mirka (Dimitra Maria) Karra is from Thessaloniki. She studied International & European Studies and European Journalism, and she has experience in communication and public opinion research. She has worked at the Department of Communication of the European Parliament and the Research Unit of the University of Macedonia. Currently, she works in the Marketing and Communication department of the Dutch artificial intelligence start-up NET2GRID while writing for Athens Voice. In 2024, as a Global Shapers Thessaloniki team member, she organised information actions for the European elections.

Athina Korovesi is from Athens. She is an International Relations Expert, Journalist of the International News Department of ERT (ERT News), and PhD candidate at the EMME of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens. She graduated from International & European Studies, MSc in European Studies, and MA Journalism & New Media. She has ten years of work experience in the Ministry of Education research institution. Externally, as a Communication Manager, she has also collaborated with news websites.

Konstantinos Kostoulas is from Athens. He is a graduate of the Department of Social Policy of Panteion University, holds a Master’s degree in Political Sociology and Comparative Politics and is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He has experience in policy data analysis and communication strategy, having worked as a member of policy, strategy and communication, content production and Social Media management teams in the Ministries of Health and Citizen Protection.

Konstantinos Kougas is from Veria. He is a journalist with a Master’s Degree from the Department of Journalism & Mass Media of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. From the beginning to the end of his studies, he has participated in a variety of programs, seminars, and trainings with the ultimate goal of improving his journalistic skills. At the same time, he has contributed as a researcher at the International Peace Journalism Laboratory.

Ariadni-Sofia Kouri is from Athens. She is a professional in the field of multimedia and communication, specialising in copywriting, social media, graphic design and videography. She holds a BSc in Political Science and History and a Master’s degree in Advertising Communication. Since March 2023 he has been working at ERT, while in the past he has coordinated events and created content for top brands.

Nefeli-Kalliopi Lapouridou is from Thessaloniki. She entered the field of of journalism in 2019 through the PRETTYDOSE.GR website, initially participating in the culture column. At the same time, she worked in various volunteer groups in Thessaloniki as a columnist. Today, she is an analyst of International and European Affairs and is doing her internship at GLOW.GR website.

Katerina Leka, originally from Albania, has been living in Athens since a young age. She has been working since June 2024 as a content editor on the Energyworld.gr website. She is responsible for publishing the bimonthly magazine Energy World, selecting topics and editing texts. At the same time, she maintains her website, personanews.online.

Alexandros Litsardakis was born and studied in Thessaloniki. He has been a reporter and videographer based in Thessaloniki since 2018, collaborating with Greek and foreign media. His work has been published in El Pais, Balkan Insight, and Solomon, among others. In Greece, he is a regular editor of News247 and Parallaxi.

Efrosini Mastoridi is from Heraklion, Crete. She is a journalist with undergraduate studies in sociology and a master’s degree in criminology. She has been working at Cretalive since July 2021, covering social issues and undertaking article writing, news feed management, and social media management.

Anna-Alkinoi Miliopoulou Kompouri is from Thessaloniki. She is a Political Scientist with professional experience in supporting refugees and migrants in Greece through various organisations and positions. As Communication Coordinator at the Norwegian organisation A Drop in the Ocean, she managed the organisation’s social media and created content and articles for the it’s work in Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland and Norway. She developed and implemented information and awareness strategies on population movement issues while at the same time creating cooperation networks with other institutions.

Kalliroi Maria Peponi is from Athens. She has been working since December 2022 as an editor at CNN Greece, where she is responsible for writing current affairs articles, cross-referencing them, conducting interviews and translating foreign media reports. As of June 2024, she has been editor-in-chief of the Act for Earth column, which deals with environmental issues. She also manages part of the site’s social media.

Panagiotis Sopakis-Valalakis

Panagiotis Sopakis-Valalakis is from Athens. He is a graduate of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and a postgraduate student in the field of “Journalism and New Media” at the Department of EMME of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He works as a journalist in mononews.gr and has interned at VouliWatch and Kontra Channel. He is actively involved in Civil Society and has started the NotFound podcast with colleagues.

Violetta Theodosiou is from Volos. She is a graduate of the Department of Urban and Regional Development of Panteion University and completed her studies in Journalism at the Public IEK of Volos. She works at the University of Thessaly and has been an external collaborator at the newspaper Thessaly since 2023.

Maria Eleni Tsogka is from Athens. She is a journalist at the Press Office of the Hellenic Parliament. She has also worked for the News4Health.gr, GRTimes.gr, and Dikaiologitika.gr websites. During her professional career, she also managed the social media of the above websites.

Chrysoula Tsouchlaraki is from Athens. She is a journalist and since October 2023 she has been working at the website “Mixani tou Xronou”. During her undergraduate studies at the Department of Communication, Media and Culture at Panteion University, she did an internship at news247, while she was a columnist and Social Media Manager at the International and European Affairs Group.

George Vaismenos

George Vaismenos is from Volos. He studied Journalism at the Department of Journalism, Editors, and Reporters at the S.A.E.K. Volos. During his internship at the historic local newspaper “Thessaly,” he was involved in website management and judicial and police reporting. Since June, he has been working at Gegonota. News, where he manages the website’s news feed and covers events of all types, including local, judicial, and freelance reporting.

Charis (Chariklia) Vovou is from Lesvos. She is a journalist with studies in Journalism, Criminology, Political Science, and Sociology. She manages the CrimeReport.gr website and has worked for Cypriot media such as Politis and Simerini. In 2020, the Cyprus News Agency awarded her for her journalistic work, and in 2019, ActionAid awarded her.