Linas Kojala Director

Linas Kojala is CEO of the Geopolitics and Security Studies Center and Associate Professor of Partnership at Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science. He is also a Millennium Fellow at the Atlantic Council and non-resident fellow at the Kennan Institute. An internationally recognized voice on international affairs, his columns has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, CNN, FAZ, Foreign Policy, and other international media. He has moderated high-level discussions with heads of state and government, as well as international leaders including Alexander Stubb, Mark Rutte, Maia Sandu, Petr Pavel, and others. He was named a Munich Young Leader by the Munich Security Conference and the Körber Foundation, and has received DELFI’s Titanium Award as well as the Social Media Influencers’ Award for foreign policy commentary. Kojala is consistently ranked among Lithuania’s three most influential public figures and placed second in 2025. He is the author of two books on European politics and U.S. foreign policy. He is also a recipient of the Finnish state decoration – Knight First Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland. He holds a BA and MA in International Relations from Vilnius University, a Postgraduate Diploma in Global Business from Oxford University, and an MBA from the University of Cambridge. As a Fulbright Scholar, he was based at Harvard University.

Tomas Janeliūnas Senior Research Manager

Professor, Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University.

Gintaras Bagdonas Associate Expert

Ans. Col. Gintaras Bagdonas is a former NATO Military Staff Representative in Georgia, Head of the Lithuanian Special Mission in Afghanistan, and Director of Intelligence at the EU Military Staff.