Nikolaos Tzifakis (PhD, Lancaster University, UK) holds a Jean Monnet Chair in “EU Foreign Policy and the Western Balkans” (2022-2025) and is a Professor of International Relations at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of the Peloponnese. He is the Project Coordinator of “Empowering the Geopolitical EU in the Eastern Neighbourhood and the Western Balkans (GEO-POWER-EU)” (Horizon Europe, 2024-2027). He is also a Visiting Professor at the European Regional Master (ERMA) in “Democracy and Human Rights in South-East Europe” (University of Bologna/University of Sarajevo), a Research Associate of the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, and a member of Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG). His research interests include EU enlargement policy and geopolitical competition in the Western Balkans.