Angeliki Kourri, Policy Officer at Oxygen for Democracy, participated in the panel “Reinforcing Democracy in the Face of Contemporary Challenges” during Yerevan Dialogue 2026, contributing to discussions on the growing pressures facing democratic systems across Europe and beyond.

Moderated by Loukas Tsoukalis, the panel brought together Sari Rautio, Director General at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Sona Ghazaryan, Member of Parliament of Armenia, Angeliki Kourri, Policy Officer at Oxygen for Democracy in Cyprus, Simon Papuashvili, Program Director at the International Partnership for Human Rights in Belgium, and Camille Grenier, Executive Director of the Forum on Information and Democracy in France.

The discussion followed keynote remarks by Robert Abisoghomonyan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, and Stefano Piedimonte Bodini, Director of the Private Office of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

Speaking during the discussion, Ms. Kourri highlighted the challenges facing smaller democracies in an increasingly unstable international environment, stressing that democracy today is no longer only about transition, but also about defence against external pressure and threats.

Referring to Cyprus as an example of democratic resilience, she noted that “Democracy is the strongest anchor in the storm.”