I am a Bucharest-based freelance journalist and political analyst covering Southeastern Europe, with a special focus on Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova. I am a correspondent for De Groene Amsterdammer, BNR Nieuwsradio, NPO Radio 1 and VRT Radio 1. I am also the editor-curator of the Romanian Dispatch newsletter, editor-in-chief of Donau and regular contributor to Panenka Magazine.
Currently, I am an associated researcher at the Research Institute of the University of Bucharest (ICUB), Social Sciences Division, where I conduct research projects on gender and politics and on civil society organisations in the Black Sea region.
From 2016-2018, I was a correspondent in Beirut and a visiting fellow at the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World at Lebanese American University (LAU), where I taught courses on gender and human rights.
A political scientist and journalist by training, I have worked in human rights and transitional justice in post-communist Eastern Europe and the Middle East and North Africa over the past 25 years. I have published on political extremism, migration, gender-based violence, citizenship and human rights.
My stories and commentary have appeared in CBC News, Courrier international, De Groene Amsterdammer, Deutsche Welle, Dilema veche, Jerusalem Post, National Post, NPO Radio 1, OpenCanada, taz, and de Volkskrant, among others.
Some examples of my reporting:
Romania/Southeastern Europe (since 2018)
Bulgarije loopt aan tegen hoge inflatie en politiek gekrakeel op weg naar naar de euro (Het Financieele Dagblad, 21-2-2023)
Bulgarije worstelt met de EU maar ook met zichzelf (Bureau Buitenland, NPO Radio 1, 21-12-2022)
Het arme Moldavië vangt relatief veel vluchtelingen uit Oekraïne op (De Nieuws BV, NPO Radio 1, 5-4-2022)
Former intelligence officer convicted in first use of Romania’s law against Holocaust denial (The Jerusalem Post, 18-2-2021)
¿Quién mató al mulá Mansuri? (Libertad Digital, 21-8-2020)
The Mysterious Death of an Iranian Judge in Romania (IranWire, 21-6-2020)
Labor Shortages Threaten to Derail Central & Eastern European Economies (Muftah Magazine, 27-3-2019)
Unprecedented Violent Crackdown of Anti-Government Protests in Romania (Muftah Magazine, 15-8-2018)
Treaty aimed at combating violence against women is under fire in Eastern Europe (Muftah Magazine, 14-3-2018)
Lebanon/Middle East (2015-2018)
A possible thaw in Western Sahara’s ‘frozen conflict’ (OpenCanada, 4-5-2018)
How Politics & Globalization are Killing the Beautiful Game in Lebanon (Muftah Magazine, 5-9-2018)
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Puts Resignation on Hold (Deutsche Welle, 22-11-2017)
Nearly 90 per cent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon have been trapped in a vicious cycle of crippling debt (National Post, 21-11-2015)
Are Syria’s wealthy neighbours doing enough? Gulf states urged to accept more refugees (National Post, 26-10-2015)
