CF2025

Cyprus Forum Brussels

3 February 2026

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Igniting Dialogue, Inspiring Change.

The expansion to Brussels marks an exciting new chapter for the Cyprus Forum, an annual forum dedicated to fostering dialogue and driving impactful change. As an extension of the Cyprus Forum series, the addition of Brussels signifies our commitment to broadening our reach and engaging with diverse perspectives on critical issues.
 
Since its inception, the Cyprus Forum has been at the forefront of facilitating discussions and collaboration among policymakers, academics, civil society representatives, and thought leaders. By establishing a presence in Brussels, we aim to further amplify these conversations, drawing upon the dynamic energy and expertise of this global hub.
 
Whether you’re in Brussels, Cyprus, or beyond, your voice matters. Let’s come together to drive impactful conversations and shape a better future for all. Join us in igniting dialogue and inspiring change.

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Past Events

CF Brussels
January 2025

CF Brussels
November 2025

CINZIA ALCIDI

Dr. Cinzia Alcidi is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels, where she leads both the Economic Policy Unit and the Jobs and Skills Unit.

From 2020 to 2023, she also served as CEPS’ Director of Research. With a background in macroeconomics, Cinzia has over 15 years of experience delivering academic research and evidence-based policy analysis for EU institutions and national governments. Her expertise spans EU economic policy and governance, international macroeconomics, and labour markets, supporting informed decisions in complex policy environments.

Currently, Dr. Alcidi is a guest lecturer at Ghent University (Belgium) and serves on the Scientific Board of multiple academic and research institutions.

She holds a Ph.D. in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and a Doctorate in Statistical and Mathematical Methods Applied to Economics and Social Sciences from the University of Perugia, Italy

NEOPHYTOS CHARALAMBIDES

Mr Neophytos Charalambides was born in Limassol.

He holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B), a Master of Laws (LL.M), and the professional title of Barrister-at-Law, from Gray’s Inn.

He is a lawyer and a member of the Limassol Bar Association, the Cyprus Bar Association and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) for the United Kingdom, with extensive litigation experience.

He served as Municipal Councillor (2012–2021) and as Deputy Mayor (2021–2024) of the Municipality of Limassol.

He also served as the Alternate Representative of the Union of Cyprus Municipalities to the Association of European Border Regions (2017–2024).

He holds the position of the Vice President of the Democratic Party since 2021.

He is married and has two daughters.

OKSANA DIAKUN

Oksana Diakun is Deputy Head of the Mission of Ukraine to the EU since January 2024.

Prior to her current post in Brussels, she served for more than four years at the Office of the President of Ukraine, including as Deputy Head of Department for Foreign Policy and Strategic Partnership (2021-2023).

As part of Ukraine’s diplomatic service, which she joined in 2000, she worked in various fields, notably public diplomacy, European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, she worked as adviser in the Cabinet of the Minister (2012-2015), counsellor in the Directorate General for the European Union (2010-2012) as well as in the Information Policy Department (2003-2005). Her postings abroad include Mission of Ukraine to the EU (2015-2019), Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of Spain (2006-2010) and Embassy of Ukraine in Cuba (2000-2002).

KONSTANTINOS DIAMANTOUROS

Konstantinos is the Head of Brussels Office for SEV – Hellenic Federation of Enterprises and since 2023, he Chairs BusinessEurope’s Economics and Financials Affairs.

Prior to that, he worked at the European Commission as a Policy Officer in the Directorate General for Research and as Head of Office at the European Union Road Federation, dealing with matters pertaining to transport, infrastructure financing and road safety.

ROEL DOM

Roel Dom is a Research Fellow at Bruegel. He specialises in public finance. He covers tax policy, fiscal policy, European Union budget revenues and debt sustainability. Roel is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Antwerp.

Before joining Bruegel, he held various positions in policy and research, including as a Policy Advisor to Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and as an Economist at the World Bank.

COSTAS KADIS

Commissioner Costas Kadis leads the EU’s Fisheries and Oceans policy, focusing on implementing a long-term vision for a resilient, competitive, and sustainable European fisheries and aquaculture sector. He is also responsible for the EU’s global efforts to restore ocean health, ensure maritime security, and support coastal communities.

A Professor of Biodiversity Conservation at Frederick University, has held several ministerial positions, including Minister of Health, Minister of Education and Culture, and Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Environment.

Born in Nicosia in 1967, he graduated from the University of Athens with a degree in Biology in 1991 and earned a PhD in Conservation Biology in 1995.

NEKTARIA KAKOUTSI

Nektaria Kakoutsi is a career Diplomat of the Republic of Cyprus currently posted to the Permanent Representation of Cyprus to the EU, in Brussels. She works on EU enlargement issues and serves as Chair of the Council Working Group on Enlargement (COELA), during the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU. 

She has previously served in Vienna as Deputy Permanent Representative to the OSCE, where she co-chaired its Forum for Security and Cooperation in 2024, and in recognition of her contributions to gender equality, she was awarded the OSCE White Ribbon. 

Her career included senior positions at the Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs, postings to the EU and UN and prior professional experience within EU institutions. S

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Cyprus, a Master’s degree in European Studies from KU Leuven and is an alumna of the Oxford Women’s Leadership Development Programme.

CHRISTINA KATTAMI

Christina joined the Permanent Representation of Cyprus to the EU in September 2025, as part of the negotiating team of the Cyprus Presidency on the Multi-annual Financial Framework 2028-2034.

She is an EU Official at the European Commission, where she has worked on economic and financial affairs since 2019. She has experience in the design and roll-out of Recovery and Resilience Facility of the Next Generation EU plan, the European Green Deal, the European Semester as well as the new fiscal rules of the EU.

She holds a Master’s Degree on European Public Policy by the College of Europe, and in Economics and Politics from the University of Ediburgh. She is half-Greek, half-Cypriot, and grew up in Athens.

KIKA KATTAMI

Kika Kattami currently serves as the Counsellor for Education, Youth, and Sport at the Permanent Representation of Cyprus to the EU.

Prior to her appointment in 2021, she served as an Officer for European and International Affairs within the Ministry of Education, Sport, and Youth, following several years as a primary school teacher.

She holds a PhD in Comparative Education, which provides the academic foundation for her work in bridging national educational priorities with broader European and global frameworks.

CLEOPATRA KITTI

Cleopatra Kitti is an INSEAD-certified independent director and board member with 30 years of experience advising corporations, governments, and international organisations across EMEA, the US, and the UK with an expertise in governance, geo-economics, and global affairs.

As founder of several impactful multi-stakeholder initiatives, Cleopatra launched the Mediterranean Growth Initiative (MGI) – the only data analysis and forecasting platform for investors and policymakers in the Mediterranean – as well as Queens of Money, a UN seed-funded financial education programme for women in the Mediterranean.

GERT JAN KOOPMAN

As of February 2025, Gert Jan Koopman is the Director-General of Directorate-General Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood (ENEST).

Between 2023 and January 2025 he was the Director-General of the Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations.

Between 2018 and December 2022, he was the Director-General of the European Commission’s budget department. In this role, he contributed to putting in place the European Union’s €800 billion NextGenerationEU recovery plan. He has worked to enable its financing on the capital markets through a sovereign-style funding system.

Mr Koopman has been serving the EU for roughly three decades. Previously, he was in charge of State Aid control at the Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition. His earlier assignments included senior management posts in the department for Economic and Financial Affairs – the Commission’s economic service – as well as Enterprise and Industry – which supervises the smooth running of the single market.

In the past, Mr Koopman was a member of the Commission’s Impact Assessment Board in charge of assessing whether the draft EU legislation would achieve the desired results, and worked in the private office of Vice-President Kinnock – lastly as a Head of Cabinet.

Prior to joining the Commission, Mr Koopman was an associate at the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, an independent research institute that prepares policy analysis for the Dutch government.

A Dutch national, he holds degrees in Economics and Latin and Greek from the University of Amsterdam.

NICOLAS KYRIAKIDES

Nicolas Kyriakides is a lawyer and academic. He is also interested in policy-making.

He is a graduate of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, he holds postgraduate degrees from UCL and NYU and a PhD (DPhil) from the University of Oxford.

He has also been a visiting researcher at Harvard University.

He teaches at the University of Nicosia and has contributed to a number of high level innovative legal research initiatives and papers in the course of both his commercial practice and his academic life, such as the Procedural Law Unit at the University of Nicosia.

He is also a founding member of the non-profit organisation Oxygono.

IAN LESSER

Based in Brussels, Ian Lesser is Distinguished Fellow and Advisor to the President at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). His expertise includes U.S. foreign and security policy, transatlantic relations, and European and Middle Eastern affairs. He also also holds the Chair in Transatlantic Trade and Economy at the College of Europe in Bruges and is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South in Rabat.

Since joining GMF in 2006, Dr. Lesser has played numerous senior roles in the organisation and served as GMF’s Acting President from 2020-2021. For over a decade, he was the Executive Director of the Brussels office and has led GMF’s work on the Mediterranean, Turkey and the wider Atlantic. Prior to joining GMF, Dr. Lesser was a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Vice President and Director of Studies at the Pacific Council on International Policy. He came to the Pacific Council from the RAND Corporation, where he spent over a decade as a senior analyst and research manager specialising in strategic studies. From 1994-1995, he was a member of the Secretary’s Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, responsible for Turkey, Southern Europe, North Africa, and the multilateral track of the Middle East peace process.

A frequent commentator for international media, he has written extensively on foreign and security policy issues. Dr. Lesser was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, the London School of Economics, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and received his D. Phil from Oxford University.  He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and the Pacific Council on International Policy. He serves on the advisory boards of the NATO Defence College Foundation, the Antwerp-American Foundation, Atlantic Dialogues and the Delphi Economic Forum, and has been a senior fellow of the Onassis Foundation and the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD).

PETAR MARKOVIC

Petar Marković has served as the Ambassador of Montenegro to the European Union since 2021. He holds a dual PhD in political science and EU studies from ULB and LUISS, with a research year at the University of Oxford. He previously completed an LLM in European Law and a BA in International Relations and Political Science at the University of Belgrade, alongside additional training in digital diplomacy and transnational negotiations.

Before his ambassadorial role, he was a Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute, focusing on European citizenship and the Western Balkans. He also served as Citizens’ Rights Training Coordinator at ECAS and Director of the ECIT Foundation, working on EU-funded projects on citizens’ rights and democratic participation. His work was recognised by the European Political Strategy Centre, which selected him for its Leadership Academy. In 2013, he was appointed as the academic representative in Montenegro’s negotiating Working Group for Chapter 31 (CFSP).

He has an active academic profile as Adjunct Professor at the Brussels School of Governance, where he has taught EU politics and democratization, and he has lectured at universities in Montenegro. He has contributed to several European civic initiatives, including the Voters Without Borders ECI and keynote interventions at the EESC and the Estonian Parliament.

KAREN MASSIN

Karen Massin leads Google’s Government Affairs & Public Policy team in Brussels. She drives the development and implementation of outreach strategies, and engages in various policy areas affecting the digital industry such as platform policies, AI, privacy, cybersecurity, content management, economic recovery and sustainability.

She is a board member of DOT Europe and ITI and part of the Executive Policy Advisory Committee of DigitalEurope.

Previously, Karen was one of the CEOs of a public affairs consultancy in Brussels and worked at the UN, the European Commission and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

PETROS MAVRIKIOS

Petros Mavrikios has served as Political and Security Committee (PSC) Ambassador at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union in Brussels since September 2022. He represents Cyprus in EU discussions on foreign policy, security, and defence, contributing to the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).

He has extensive experience in EU and foreign affairs, having previously served as European Correspondent at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, as well as Development Cooperation coordinator.

In previous postings abroad he has served as Deputy Head of Mission in the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Ireland, as Cyprus delegate to the MAMA and MOG working groups in Brussels, and as Deputy Head of Mission in the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in the Czech Republic.

MARINOS PAPAIOAKEIM

Dr. Marinos Papaioakeim is employed at CARDET as Strategic Partnerships and Development Lead. He holds a PhD in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Cyprus, a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Cyprus, and a Master’s degree in Diplomacy from Lancaster University (UK).

Dr. Papaioakeim has extensive experience in project design and implementation, with particular expertise in civic engagement, participatory democracy, and civil society development. Over the past five years, he has been actively involved in national and international projects, serving as a project manager, trainer, and researcher.

He is also a Lecturer in International Relations and Diplomacy in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cyprus, where he teaches modules in International Relations and Diplomacy.

MICHAEL TEUTSCH

Michael Teutsch is the Head of Unit of the Erasmus+ coordination unit in the European Commission, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture.

He oversees the implementation and further development of the current 2021-27 Programme and the preparation of the future programme generation 2028-34.

HARRY TZIMITRAS

Prof. Dr. Harry Tzimitras is the Director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo – PRIO Cyprus Centre. In this capacity, he coordinates research and dialogue activities on the search for a political settlement to the Cyprus issue. He is also Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. He is Professor of International Law and International Relations, specializing in conflict resolution, energy security & geopolitics, the law of the sea, foreign policy, and the Eastern Mediterranean and has published extensively on these subjects.

Previously, he held full-time teaching & research positions at Istanbul Bilgi University, Koç University (Istanbul), the University of Cambridge and the Institute of International Relations, Athens, and visiting professorships at a number of universities internationally.

He is a member and Senior Expert of various Advisory Boards and Councils, including the London Energy Club, the Council for Mediterranean Diplomacy, and the Charles University of Prague Centre for Violence, Trauma and Justice, and the Alexis Tsipras Institute for Peace, Justice, and Sustainable Growth.

A graduate of Anatolia College, he holds a BSc (Econ.) with Honours in International Relations from the London School of Economics, a PhDsumma cum laude in International Law from the Panteion University of Athens and two post-docs from the University of Cambridge and the Institute of International Relations as an SSF scholar, Athens.