Maja Kocijančič is currently the Head of Unit for Strategic Communication and Interinstitutional Relations at the European Commission’s DG for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf. Before that she was a Foreign Policy Advisor in the Cabinet of the President of the European Council (2022-2024), covering the Western Balkans, EU enlargement and migration policy. She has a strong background in the EU foreign policy, EU enlargement and communication, and was among others a Member of the Cabinet of the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement (2019-2022) and a Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (2010-2019). Before joining the EU institutions, she was a diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia. She started her career as a journalist and was also an assistant lecturer of journalism at University of Ljubljana.