H.E. Edgars Rinkēvičs
President of the Republic of Latvia
H.E. Baiba Braže
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia
Raivis Melnis
Minister of Defence of the Republic of Latvia
Andrew Puzder
US Ambassador to the EU
Andris Kulbergs
Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia
Masakazu Takamori
President and CEO, JNI
Rebecca Christie
Senior Fellow, Bruegel
H.E. Mohammed Ibrahim Al Dhaheri
Deputy Director General, Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy
Vladimir Milov
Russian Opposition Politician
Vladimir Milov is a Russian opposition politician, publicist, economist, and energy expert. In 1997-2002, Mr. Milov had worked with the Russian Government (Federal Energy Commission and Ministry of Energy), including being a Deputy Energy Minister in 2002. He was the author of concept of breaking up and unbundling Gazprom vetoed by Vladimir Putin. Later, Mr. Milov became one of the major public critics of Vladimir Putin, working closely with late opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, and later - as an advisor to the late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Research Associate at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies in Brussels, Vice President of the Free Russia Foundation (Washington D.C.). Currently based in Vilnius, Lithuania. Frequent commentator on the Russian political and economic developments and the impact of Western sanctions on Russia.
Dr. Edit Zgut-Przybylska
Founder and Head, REWIRE
Dr Edit Zgut-Przybylska is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences (IFIS PAN). She is the Head of REWIRE - Center for Democratic Renewal and Innovations. Her research focuses on democratic backsliding, informal power, political institutions and democratic transformation in Central and Eastern European politics. Her work examines how formal institutions and informal mechanisms of power interact, how hybrid regimes sustain political control, and what conditions enable democratic resilience and renewal. She is a visiting lecturer at the Foreign Service Institute of the US State Department and a board member of Amnesty International Hungary. Synthetic versions of her work are available on POLITICO EUROPE, Foreign Policy and Visegrad Insight. Edit held a re:constitution fellowship 2022/2023, a Rethink.CEE fellowship at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and a Visegrad Insight Fellowship. She worked at Political Capital Research Institute and was a journalist at various Hungarian media outlets.
Dr. Shota Gvineria
Senior Fellow, Delphi Global
Ambassador Shota Gvineria
Am. Shota Gvineria is a subject matter expert in national security strategy, NATO integration, hybrid threats, cyber defense policy, and democratic resilience. With over 20 years of experience in diplomacy, defense policy, and international cooperation, he has advised heads of state, led interagency coordination efforts, and represented Georgia in major international institutions. His current research focuses on countering hybrid warfare, strategic influence, and the evolving security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic and Black Sea regions. He is particularly interested in the intersections of security policy, democratic governance, and whole-of-society approaches to resilience and international collaboration.
Amb. Gvineria has been working in various positions in Georgia’s public sector. Among other positions, Shota Gvineria served as the Deputy Secretary at the National Security Council of Georgia. He held the position of the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Georgia in 2015-16. Through 2010-14, he served as the Ambassador of Georgia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 2010 he was promoted to the position of a Director of European Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Prior to that, he served as a Head of NATO Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In the period from 2006 until 2008, Shota Gvineria was posted as the Counselor of the Georgian Mission to NATO.
Amb. Gvineria is regularly teaching and conducting training programs in several diplomatic and defence schools as well in civilian universities around the Euro-Atlantic area. From 2019 to 2026 he worked at the Baltic Defence College as the lecturer in Defence and Cyber Studies. Currently he serves as a senior fellow at Delphi Global, the US and at the Economic Policy Research Center, Georgia.
Amb. Gvineria holds MA in Strategic Security Studies from Washington’s National Defense University. He also earned his MA in International Relations from the Diplomatic School of Madrid and Public Administration from the Georgian Technical University.
Full profile: www.linkedin.com/in/gvineria
Shaun Walker
Special Correspondent for the Guardian
Shaun Walker is Special Correspondent for the Guardian, currently based in Warsaw. He focuses on the war in Ukraine and on Russian espionage and sabotage activities in Europe. His most recent book is The Illegals, a history of Russian deep-cover spies. He previously reported from Moscow for more than a decade.
Rihards Kols
Member of the European Parliament
RIHARDS KOLS is a Latvian politician and a Member of the European Parliament. Within the Committee on Foreign Affairs, he acts as the Deputy Coordinator for the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group and also serves on the Committee on International Trade and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. He additionally acts as an external advisor on EU Affairs to the Latvian Minister of Interior.
Before entering the European Parliament, Kols spent a decade in national politics as a member of the 12th, 13th, and 14th Saeima (the Parliament of Latvia), representing the National Alliance, where he serves as Deputy Chairman. During the 13th and 14th Saeima, he chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee and led the Saeima delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, while also representing the Saeima at the OECD.
His earlier public service includes appointments as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Culture, alongside an internship at Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs).
Beyond his political career, Kols is a member of the Latvian National Guard, a Millennium Fellow at the Atlantic Council, and part of the Senior Network of the European Leadership Network. He holds a Master's degree in Diplomacy and a Professional Bachelor's degree in Law.
Vita Balode Andrews
Director of the Export & Innovation Services Department, LIAA
Vita Balode Andrews is Director of the Export & Innovation Services Department at the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), where she leads initiatives to strengthen Latvia’s exports, innovation ecosystem and tourism competitiveness. She brings more than 25 years of executive and board-level experience across Latvia and Sweden, spanning finance, transport, aviation, corporate governance, and strategic transformation.
Vladyslav Heraskevych
Ukrainian Skeleton Racer
Vladyslav Heraskevych (born 12 January 1999, Kyiv) is a Ukrainian skeleton racer, the first from Ukraine to compete at the Winter Olympics, a physics graduate, and a vocal advocate for his country.
He debuted in 2014 under his father Mykhailo’s coaching, finished 12th at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, and placed 18th in Beijing 2022—where he displayed a “No War in Ukraine” sign days before the full-scale invasion. At the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics he was disqualified for refusing to remove a memorial helmet honouring Ukrainian athletes killed in the war; he later received the Order of Liberty from President Zelenskyy.
He holds a master’s in physics from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, runs a charity foundation providing humanitarian aid, and has long trained in Latvia’s Sigulda, regarding the local sliding community as a second family.
Samantha de Bendern
Associate Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House
Samantha de Bendern is an Associate Fellow at the British think tank Chatham House and geopolitics commentator on the French television channel LCI-TF1
In the past she has worked for the European Commission (Moscow), NATO HQ in information and press division and then political affairs, as well as several financial institutions (Coutts Bank, Merrill Lynch) where she oversaw clients in Eastern/Central Europe and Russia. In 2014 she participated in a British funded project to help the Ukrainian government develop inter-ministerial strategic communications, and is currently working on combatting disinformation and hybrid warfare in France and the UK.
Dr. Rosa Balfour
Director, Carnegie Europe
Dr Rosa Balfour is director of Carnegie Europe. Her fields of expertise include European politics, institutions, and foreign and security policy. Her current research focuses on the relationship between domestic politics and Europe’s global role.
She is the author of books, research-based articles, and opinion pieces in the international press on issues relating to European politics and international relations. Balfour is also an advisor to Women in International Security Brussels (WIIS-Brussels), an associate fellow at LSE IDEAS, an alumna of the Europe’s Futures program at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. In 2024 she was appointed to the Scientific Advisory Council of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. Since 2021, she is an honorary patron of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES).
Prior to joining Carnegie Europe, Balfour was a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. She was also director of the Europe in the World program at the European Policy Centre in Brussels and has worked as a researcher in Rome and London.
Dr Balfour holds an MA in history from Cambridge University, an MSc in European Studies and PhD in International Relations both from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Mārcis Dzelme
Research Fellow at the Think Tank “LV PEAK”, University of Latvia
Mārcis Dzelme is a Research Fellow at the Think Tank “LV PEAK”, University of Latvia.
With more than 20 years of experience advancing business competitiveness across diverse industries at national and international levels, Mārcis Dzelme brings extensive experience from both the private and public sectors. He works at the intersection of business, public policy, and industrial development, with a current focus on the defence industry, dual-use innovation, and defence-driven industrial growth.
Elizaveta Fokht
Senior Reporter, BBC News Russian
Elizaveta Fokht is a senior reporter for BBC News Russian. She joined the BBC in 2017. She writes about Russia's war in Ukraine as well as diplomacy and security issues.
Elisabeth Braw
Director, Modern Deterrence Project, RUSI
Elisabeth Braw is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, focusing on geopolitics and the globalised economy as well as greyzone and hybrid threats. She's also a columnist with Foreign Policy and Politico Europe and the author of the award-winning Goodbye Globalization: The Return of a Divided World (Yale University Press). Her latest book, Undersea War, will be published by John Murray Press and Basic Books in October 2026.
At the Atlantic Council, Elisabeth leads the Threats to the Global Maritime Order initiative. She was previously a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). She's the author of God's Spies, about the Stasi's church division (2019) and The Defender's Dilemma: Identifying and Deterring Gray-Zone Aggression (2022). She is also a member of M&C Saatchi World Services' advisory council, a member of GALLOS Technologies' advisory board, an adviser to Willis Towers Watson's research arm, a member of the Aurora Forum's executive committee and a member of the UK National Preparedness Commission. Before joining academia, she worked in the private sector following a career as a journalist. She is a regular op-ed contributor to the Financial Times and the Times (of London).
Judy Dempsey
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe
Judy Dempsey is a Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe and was its editor-in-chief of its Strategic Europe blog from 2012 to 2024.
Prior to that, she was a columnist for the International New York Times and between 2004-2012 the International Herald Tribune’s Germany Correspondent in Berlin.
From 2001 to 2004, Dempsey was the Financial Times Diplomatic Correspondent in Brussels covering the NATO and European Union enlargements.
Between 1996 and 2001, she was the FT’s Jerusalem bureau chief, it's Berlin correspondent from 1992–1996 and the FT’s Eastern European correspondent from 1990-1992.
During the 1980s, Dempsey reported from Vienna on Central and Eastern Europe for the Financial Times, the Irish Times, and the Economist and was on the ground during the tumultuous months of 1989 and 1990.
Judy Dempsey studied History and Political Science at Trinity College, Dublin. She has been awarded several journalism prizes and a Polish honorary award.
She was a Europe’s futures Fellow 2020-2021 at the Institute for Human Sciences, (IWM) Vienna.
The prizes include: Foreign Press Media Award
Anglo-German Foundation Journalism Prize
European Women of Achievement Award
Ernest Udina a la Trajectoria Europeista (Spain)
She is the author of several publications and books, including Das Phänomen Merkel. (Körber)
https://carnegieendowment.org/people/judy-dempsey?lang=en¢er=europe
Dr. Ieva Birka
Lead Researcher at the University of Latvia
Dr. Ieva Birka is Lead Researcher at the University of Latvia, specializing in crisis preparedness, emerging risks, societal resilience, and disaster response. Dr. Birka leads two research projects at the University of Latvia: the Large Impact Development Programme-financed Baltic Individual Crisis Preparedness Barometer, and the Latvian Council of Science-financed Empowering Baltic Resilience: From Awareness to Action via Technology, which examines citizen engagement in identifying and reporting suspicious activities amid hybrid threats. Both projects pay particular attention to gender differences - how women perceive threats, and the obstacles to engaging them in security-fostering activities.
Her forthcoming publication, "Gender and Security in the Baltic Sea Region: A Comparative Study of Northern and Central European Cities," will appear in the Routledge edited volume Gender and National Security.
Alexander Gabuev
Director, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
Alexander Gabuev is director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center where he leads a renowned team of analysts who were formerly part of the Carnegie Moscow Center, which was forced to close by the Kremlin in early 2022 after nearly three decades of operation.
Gabuev’s own research is focused on Russian foreign policy with particular focus on the impact of the war in Ukraine and the Sino-Russia relationship. Since joining Carnegie in 2015, Gabuev has contributed commentary and analysis to a wide range of publications, including the Financial Times, the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times.
Gabuev began his career as a journalist. He was a member of the editorial board of Kommersant and served as deputy editor in chief of Kommersant-Vlast, which at the time was one of Russia’s most influential newsweeklies. Gabuev started his career at Kommersant in 2007 working as a senior diplomatic reporter, as a member of the Kremlin press corps, and as deputy foreign editor for Kommersant.
Gabuev has previously worked as a nonresident visiting research fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and taught courses on Chinese energy policy and political culture at Moscow State University. In April-June 2018, Gabuev was a visiting scholar at Fudan University (Shanghai, China) where he taught courses on Sino-Russian relations. Gabuev is a Munich Young Leader of Munich Security Conference.
David M. Cattler
Senior Fellow with the Transatlantic Defense and Security Program, CEPA
David Cattler is a senior transatlantic security leader and strategic advisor focused on alliance resilience, intelligence, defense innovation, and the intersection of technology and national security.
He is Founder and Managing Principal of Ironhelm Works and is affiliated with the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington and the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) in Tallinn.
Previously, Mr. Cattler served as NATO Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security, where he led the Alliance's intelligence enterprise and strategic warning efforts across 32 nations during one of the most consequential periods in modern European security. Most recently, he served as Director of the U.S. Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), leading a global enterprise responsible for protecting the trusted workforce and industrial base supporting U.S. national security.
Over a career spanning more than thirty-five years, he held senior leadership positions at the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Joint Staff, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the U.S. Navy.
Mr. Cattler writes and speaks regularly on alliance strategy, economic security, democratic resilience, and the evolving character of conflict in the Euro-Atlantic region. He has briefed heads of state and government, foreign ministers, Fortune 500 CEOs, and senior military leaders on geopolitical risk, strategic competition, and alliance security.
He has received national honors from Estonia, Ukraine, and Poland, as well as ministerial commendations from Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, and Ukraine in recognition of his contributions to transatlantic security and international cooperation.
Mr. Cattler is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and Georgetown University and was an MIT Seminar XXI fellow.
Anca Agachi
Defence Policy Analyst, RAND Corporation
Anca Agachi is co-Lead of the Alliances Portfolio in the National Security Research Division and a defense policy analyst at RAND. Her research interests include transatlantic security and defense; global governance; the security implications of emerging technologies, especially space and AI; and strategic foresight. She is also a fellow with the NATO Defense College, the Atlantic Council, and the Charlemagne Prize Academy. Prior to RAND, she worked for the Atlantic Council, the European Defence Agency, and as a UN Youth Delegate of Romania. Anca holds a Master's Degree in international affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. She is originally from Romania.
Juhan Lepassaar
Executive Director, European Union Agency for Cybersecurity
Jānis Sārts
Director, NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Valdis Dombrovskis
Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, European Commission
Jānis Karlsbergs
Head of the Board, Latvian Transatlantic Organisation
Viesturs Kleinbergs
Mayor of Riga City
Anna Ūdre
Strategic Communications and Public Affairs Consultant, Deep White
H.E. Espen Barth Eide
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway
Radmila Shekerinska
NATO Deputy Secretary General
H.E. Kęstutis Budrys
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
Peter Rough
Senior Fellow and Director, Center on Europe, Hudson Institute
Sebastian Hartmann
Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Ministry of Defence, Germany
Lt. Gen. Sébastien Vallette
Deputy Director-General for International Relations and Strategy, Ministry for the Armed Forces and Veterans, France
H.E. Helen McEntee
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland
Artjoms Uršuļskis
Head of the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia
Alain Berset
Secretary General, Council of Europe
Sigita Struberga
Secretary General of the Latvian Transatlantic Organisation; Head of the Board, Women for Security
Prof. Gundars Bērziņš
Rector of the University of Latvia
Jānis Garisons
Chief Executive Officer, NEWT21
Prof. Iveta Reinholde
Vice-Dean for Research (Science) at the University of Latvia
Patrick Turner
NATO Senior Representative in Ukraine
Taras Kachka
Former Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Ukraine
Yaroslav Trofimov
Chief Foreign-Affairs Correspondent, The Wall Street Journal
Lt. Gen. Kaspars Pudāns
Chief of Defence of the Republic of Latvia
Lt. Gen. John Mead
Deputy Commander, Joint Force Command Brunssum
Gen. Carsten Breuer
Chief of Defence of the Bundeswehr
Airis Rikveilis
State Secretary, Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia
Peter Sarlin
Founder and Chair, NestAI & Qutwo
Amb. Peter Vrooman
Deputy Commander for Civil-Military Engagement for U.S. Africa Command
Dr. Stanislav Raščan
Deputy Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia
Aaron MacLean
Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
Dr. Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova
Director, Latvian Institute of International Affairs
Maria Tadeo
Chief Europe Editor, Euronews
H.E. Namrata S. Kumar
Ambassador of India to Latvia
Lt. Gen. Rakesh Sharma (Retd.)
Defence Adviser, Movastacon Foundation
Dr. Sandis Šrāders
Director of RTU Liepāja Academy
Mohit Srivastava
President of the Movastacon Foundation
Dr. Ieva Birka
Researcher, University of Latvia
Agnieszka Homanska
Head of Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland
Dr. Tamara Zlobina
Head of the NGO "Expert Resource Gender in Detail"
Jonathan Berkshire Miller
Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute
Viktoriia Voronina
Executive Director, Kyiv Center for Security
Robert Hamilton
President, Delphi Global Research Center, USA
Antonia Colibasanu
Senior Associate Expert, New Strategy Center, Romania
Maia Otarashvili
Vice President, Delphi Global Research Center, USA
Gayane Abrahamyan
President, "For Equal Rights" Educational Center NGO
Sergey Minasyan
Deputy Director, Caucasus Institute; Former Ambassador of Armenia to Romania
Arsen Kharatyan
Founder, AliQ Media
Rainer Saks
Security and Intelligence Expert, PractNet; Former Head of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service
Ingmārs Pūķis
Vice President, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer, LMT
Andris Kužnieks
Head of the European Commission Representation in Latvia
Paulina Brzezicka
Head of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group Office in Riga
Arnis Škapars
Head of Retail Banking, Management Board Member, SEB Latvia
Sintija Radionova
Partner, Attorney at Law, WALLESS
Andris Strazds
Head of General Secretariat of the Bank of Latvia
Artis Pabriks
Chairperson of the Board, MilTech
José Bayón
Director of Institutional Relations, Santa Bárbara Sistemas (GDELS)
Ilze Znotiņa
Attorney-at-Law; Founder, RIZEN RIGA
Natalja Lernere
Senior Business Development Manager, Redwire Defense Technologies
Dr. Louise Tumchewics
Assistant Professor, Royal Danish Defence College, Institute for Military Technology
Dr. Balkan Devlen
Co-Founder and Principal, Pendulum Geopolitical Advisory
H.E. Elina Valtonen
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland
David Cattler is a senior transatlantic security leader and strategic advisor focused on alliance resilience, intelligence, defense innovation, and the intersection of technology and national security.
He is Founder and Managing Principal of Ironhelm Works and is affiliated with the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington and the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) in Tallinn.
Previously, Mr. Cattler served as NATO Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security, where he led the Alliance's intelligence enterprise and strategic warning efforts across 32 nations during one of the most consequential periods in modern European security. Most recently, he served as Director of the U.S. Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), leading a global enterprise responsible for protecting the trusted workforce and industrial base supporting U.S. national security.
Over a career spanning more than thirty-five years, he held senior leadership positions at the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Joint Staff, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the U.S. Navy.
Mr. Cattler writes and speaks regularly on alliance strategy, economic security, democratic resilience, and the evolving character of conflict in the Euro-Atlantic region. He has briefed heads of state and government, foreign ministers, Fortune 500 CEOs, and senior military leaders on geopolitical risk, strategic competition, and alliance security.
He has received national honors from Estonia, Ukraine, and Poland, as well as ministerial commendations from Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, and Ukraine in recognition of his contributions to transatlantic security and international cooperation.
Mr. Cattler is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and Georgetown University and was an MIT Seminar XXI fellow.