Team

Editors-in-Chief

Lara Breitmoser, M.A.

Lara is the co-founder and co-editor of the YJEA. She graduated in 2023 with a master’s degree in International Relations from Central European University, Vienna. Previously, she had obtained her BA in Political Science at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and spent a term abroad at the University of New South Wales in Australia. Lara’s research interests lie mainly in international cooperation and organisations with a thematic focus on environmental and climate policy. During her studies, she published articles in Duodecim Astra and the RETA and presented research at DVPW’s IR section conference and ECPR’s General Conference. Lara has experience in sustainability and public sector consulting and now works at WWF Austria. 

lara.breitmoser[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Florian Lenner, M.Sc., M.Sc.

Florian is co-founder and co-editor of the Young Journal of European Affairs (YJEA). He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, having studied abroad at the University of Helsinki, graduated with a master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 2022 and recently with a second master’s degree in War and Peace Studies from Leiden University. He’s mainly interested in Conflict and Peacebuilding, Forced Displacement, International Security and International Organisations. Florian has co-authored a comparative study on Conflicts of Interest in the EU Member States for the European Parliament, followed by a book published with Peter Lang and two journal articles in Public Management Review and Public Integrity. Furthermore, he has presented papers at ECPR’s General Conference and the Second Environmental Peacebuilding Conference.

florian.lenner[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Managing Editors

Angelo Gerber-Helm (née Krüger), M.A.

Angelo is a member of the editorial board of the Young Journal of European Affairs, where he contributes to the journal’s work on European political economy and public policy. He recently completed his master’s degree in International Relations at Central European University (CEU) and continues his academic education as a PhD student at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Before joining the YJEA, Angelo conducted a research visit at the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and completed his BA in History, Politics, and Sociology at the University of Potsdam. His research interests lie in the international political economy and global governance of development finance and investment, the European Union, and Chinese global finance.

angelo.krueger[at]yjea.org

Twitter

LinkedIn

Mirjam Seiler, M.Sc.

Mirjam is a managing editor at the Young Journal of European Affairs. She currently works on financial stability at the Bank of England and previously worked on security policy for the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and completed her bachelor’s degree in History and International Relations at King’s College London. Her research interests include European security policy, the rise of nationalism and Euroscepticism, and the interplay between global markets and geopolitics. Having always had a passion for journalism and political debate, she has been the editor for European Affairs at the student-led King’s Think Tank and is an alumni of the European Youth Parliament (EYP).

mirjam.seiler[at]yjea.org

Twitter

Editorial Board

Valentin Berov, B.A.

Valentin is a member of the editorial board of the Young Journal of European Affairs. He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Social Sciences at Humboldt University. Previously, he completed his bachelor’s degree at the same university with a thesis on migrant voting behavior. His main interests are intersectionality research with a special focus on migration and integration processes, as well as research on voting behavior and government formation processes. In his own work, he specializes mainly in quantitative statistical methods. Due to his interest in empirical and interdisciplinary migration research, he is currently working on the project “Migration and Welfare State” at the Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research.

valentin.berov[at]yjea.org

Amy Bland, M.A.

Amy is a member of the YJEA’s editorial board. She is a doctoral student at the Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Konstanz, Germany. In 2024, she obtained her master’s degree in Politics and Public Administration also at the University of Konstanz, specialising in both Comparative Politics and Research Methodology. Amy completed her bachelor’s degree at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, where she specialised in Human Rights. During this time, Amy spent a semester abroad at the University of Tübingen and actively participated in extracurricular opportunities such as courses on Australian Sign Language and volunteering as a country leader for the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth. Her main research interests focus on conflict and development, particularly focusing on the disproportionate effects of conflict on education and health outcomes of women and children.

amy.bland[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Lennart Eckle, B.Sc.

Lennart is a member of the editorial board of the Young Journal of European Affairs. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of Cologne. Currently, he is in the second year of his master’s degree in Political Science at the same university, where he specializes in quantitative approaches in the fields of European politics and political economy. His thematic interests center on the transformation of welfare states and labor markets, with a focus on public opinion and political attitudes. Besides his academic studies, Lennart is currently involved as a working student at the German Economic Institute, where he is contributing to research on collective bargaining policy. Furthermore, he gained experience as an intern in the field of quantitative market research.

lennart.eckle[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Nadia El Ghali, M.A.

Nadia is a member of the Young Journal European Affairs’ editorial board. She is also responsible for processing submissions to the YJEA blog. Currently, she is in the first year of her master’s degree in political science at LMU Munich, where she mainly focuses on International Relations and the European Union. Before that, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science and law from the same university. In light of her work as a student assistant at the Chair for Global Governance at LMU Munich, her main research interests lie in Global Governance perspectives on the European Union, as well as challenges to EU integration. In her free time, she is involved in Model United Nations simulations as well as the Refugee Law Clinic in Munich.

nadia.elghali[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Maximilian Förstel

Maximilian is a member of the Young Journal of European Affairs’ editorial board. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in international relations and communications at Erfurt University. Before joining YJEA, Maximilian spent a year abroad in Taiwan to improve his mandarin and gained valuable insights and work experience through internships at the Taiwan Center for Security Studies and Federal Academy for Security Policy. He is mainly interested in the expanding field of security and conflict, as well as the rise and foreign policy of China.

maximilian.foerstel[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Julia Gruber, B.A.

Julia is an editorial board member of the YJEA. She holds a B.A. in European Studies from Maastricht University and is currently preparing for her M.A. in International Relations. Her main research areas include International Security Studies, Hybrid Warfare and Geopolitics. As Head of External Relations and Communications at the EPIS Think Tank, she builds networks and fosters dialogue on foreign and security policy. Her passion for writing and editing inspired her to join the YJEA team, where she is ambitious to apply her research and writing skills to contribute to a dynamic platform for youth-driven academic discourse.

julia.gruber[at]yjea.org

Eleonora Guseletova, B.A.

Eleonora is a member of the YJEA editorial board. She is a current MSc student in Economics and Government in a dual degree programme between Sciences Po Paris and Bocconi University in Milan. Before her MSc, she completed her BA in Economics at Sciences Po and spent an exchange year at Keio University in Tokyo. Her interests are centred around EU public economics, quantitative policy research and behavioral economics. She has worked as a research assistant and as an intern in European affairs at the state-level in Germany. Particularly interested in how vertical policy implementation is realised on the micro-level in Europe, she is writing her master’s thesis about the economic effects of the energy transition on political behavior in East Germany.

eleonora.guseletova[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Lilia Gwaltney

Lilia is a member of the Young Journal of European Affairs’ editorial board. Currently, she is studying to obtain her BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Central European University (CEU) in Vienna, Austria concentrating in Politics and Economics. Her main research interests are European economic integration, economic inequalities, and the effect of domestic politics on national security interests. Originally from the United States, outside of her academic pursuits, she is part of the founding team of Ocean State Ranked Choice Voting advocating for the implementation of ranked choice voting in Rhode Island elections.

lilia.gwaltney[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Kayla Howard-Tripp

Kayla serves as a member of the Young Journal of European Affairs editorial board. She is currently pursuing a BA in International Relations and Politics at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland. Her primary interests include global governance, focusing on the European Union’s relationships with major powers such as China and the United States, the intersection of politics and economic outcomes within these dynamics, and defence policy in the context of global power structures. Originally from England, Kayla is actively involved in Model United Nations, enjoys consuming literature, and has a passion for learning languages to enhance her global perspective.

kayla.howardtripp[at]yjea.org

 

Mara Nelegatti

Mara is a member of the Editorial Board of the Young Journal of European Affairs. Currently, she is studying to obtain her Bachelor’s degree in Political and Social Studies at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, concentrating on International Relations and European Studies. In light of her work as a student assistant at the Chair of International Relations at JMU Würzburg, her principal interests lie in global governance perspectives on international organisations. Her research is focused on international cooperation regarding the European Union and the United Nations with a thematic focus on conflict and crisis management. Outside of her academic pursuits, she is involved in Würzburg Model United Nations simulations.

mara.nelegatti[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

 

Paula Schäfer, M.A.

Paula Schäfer is a member of the Editorial Board of the YJEA. She is a dual-degree master’s student in International Affairs at Sciences Po Paris and the London School of Economics, focusing on security politics and international political economy. Her research interests include the climate-security nexus, EU Foreign, Security and Defence Policy, and Middle Eastern politics. Paula is passionate about fostering inclusive policy discussions and contributing to academic and public discourse on European affairs.

paula.schaefer[at]yjea.org

Noa Schmid

Noa is a member of the YJEA’s Editorial Board. In May, she will complete her BA in International Relations & Art at Connecticut College. She spent a semester at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris, and recently interned with the German embassy in Rabat. Her research focuses on global governance and conflict resolution, culminating in a comparative analysis of nonstate actors’ leverage at negotiation tables. She frequently applies quantitative methods, acquired as a research assistant with the Copenhagen Business School. She is furthermore a Davis Projects for Peace Fellow and a United World College alumna, having graduated from Waterford Kamhlaba in Eswatini.

noa.schmid[at]yjea.org

Mercedes Vergara, B.Sc.

Mercedes is a member of the Young Journal of European Affairs’ editorial board, with a soft spot for European Global Governance and foreign policy. She is currently finishing up a double master’s degree programme at Columbia University and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in International and World History, where she focuses on Cold War-era internationalisms and failed international organizations. Her research has been supported by Columbia University and the Moody Foundation. She also holds a BSc in International Relations and History from LSE, where she has worked with quantitative as well as audiovisual methods for international relations research.

mercedes.vergara[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Leonhard Xu, B.A.

Leonhard Xu is a member of the Young Journal of European Affairs’ editorial board. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Mannheim and will begin his MPhil in International Relations at the University of Oxford in the fall of 2023. He is mainly interested in the field of international cooperation and development as well as the increasingly complex relationship between the US, EU, and China. In his bachelor thesis, Leonhard investigated the impact of external shocks on the distribution of foreign aid. Furthermore, he gained valuable work experience in the German development sector, having worked at both the German Development Ministry and the German Agency for International Cooperation.

leonhard.xu[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Project Management

Leonie Köhler, B.A. – Team Lead

Leonie is part of the Project Management team at the Young Journal of European Affairs. Currently, she is a first-year student of peace and security studies (M.A.) at IFSH in Hamburg. Previously, Leonie completed her bachelor’s degree in political science at LMU Munich, which included a semester abroad at Reichman University Herzliya (Israel). Her main fields of interest are minority centered international relations and intersectional feminist foreign policy. Moreover, Leonie gained field experience as a student research assistant at the Chair for Empirical Theories of Politics as well as during her time at LMU’s National Model United Nations (NMUN) project group, in which she both participated as a delegate and served as an academic tutor.

leonie.koehler[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Vivien Kos

Vivien is a member of the Project Management team at the Young Journal of European Affairs (YJEA). She is in her final year at the London School of Economics (LSE), studying BSc Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, and plans to pursue a Master of Public Policy in the upcoming year. She is interested in education and technology policy, their intersection and the political dynamics surrounding them. At LSE, Vivien has been involved in mental health research, educational research, and several societies, including Hungarian, European, and Behavioural and Psychological.

vivien.kos[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

 

Grace Lundell, B.A.

Grace is a member of the project management team at the Young Journal of European Affairs. She is currently studying for her master’s in international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Prior to LSE, Grace completed her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and French at Villanova University, Pennsylvania, U.S., which included a semester abroad at Nantes University in France. Her research interests are primarily focused on EU foreign relations, EU-U.S. relations, and security strategy. Complementing her studies, Grace has work experience in the think tank, NGO, and government sectors.

grace.lundell[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Patrik Nadrai, B.A.

Patrik is a first-year Master’s student in European Studies at Lund University in Sweden. Previously Patrik completed a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Central European University, Vienna. He gained professional experience as an intern in consulting at Milestone Consulting and as a research assistant at Central European University, focusing on China’s growing influence in Europe. His current research interests focus on right-wing cultural hegemony construction in Europe, reflecting his interest in political ideologies and cultural dynamics.

patrik.nadrai[at]yjea.org

Social Media

Anna Hercher, B.A.

Anna is part of the Social Media team at the Young Journal of European Affairs (YJEA). Currently, she is transitioning from a Bachelor’s in English and Political/Social Studies to a Master’s in Literature, Culture, and Media at Julius-Maximilians-University in Würzburg, Germany. Her research explores the intersections of culture, politics, and language. Beyond academics, she is passionate about Human Rights and is an active member of the Amnesty International University Group.

anna.hercher[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Mona Nothacker

Mona is a member of the Social Media team of the Young Journal of European Affairs (YJEA). She is currently finishing her Bachelor’s degree in Political and Social Studies at the Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg (JMU) focusing on International Relations. During her studies, she spent a semester abroad at the Loyola Universidad Andalucía in Spain and worked as a student assistant at JMU’s Chair of International Relations and European Studies, which strengthened her interest in the EU’s foreign policy, sustainability, and peace. Mona also has work experience in international cooperation, including the Federal Foreign Office and the German Academic Exchange Service in Mexico.

mona.nothacker[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Anna Pflügler, B.Sc.

Anna is a member of the Social Media team at the Young Journal of European Affairs (YJEA). She recently started her master’s degree in International Organizations and Crisis Management at the Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena (FSU) and obtained her bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). During her Bachelor, Anna spent two semesters abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and wrote her Bachelor’s thesis on the Palestinian Citizens of Israel. Her research interests include European Migration Policy, the Middle East and foreign policy. During her studies, Anna has worked in the NGO, think tank and academic sector.

anna.pfluegler[at]yjea.org

LinkedIn

Duru Yavuz

Duru is a member of the Social Media team at the Young Journal of European Affairs. She is currently pursuing a dual bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations along with Sociology at Boğaziçi University, Türkiye. Duru has recently completed a semester abroad at Sciences Po Paris, and is starting her fourth year back home at Boğaziçi University. Duru’s main fields of interest include social identity theory in the context of EU accession processes, ‘Third World’ Approaches to International Law, and EU-Türkiye relations.

duru.yavuz[at]yjea.org

YJEA Alumni

Myriam Aichinger, M.A.

Project Management from 2022-2023

Myriam Aichinger supported the YJEA as a Project Manager from early 2022 until December 2023. She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and Political Science from the University of Munich and is currently finishing her M.A. in Political Science. She currently works for PwC in Munich.

Benjamin Brown, M.Sc.

Editorial Board from 2020-2023

Benjamin Brown supported the YJEA as a member of the Editorial Board from June 2020 until December 2023. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and History from the University of Munich, an M.Sc. in Modern Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Oxford and an M.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the City University of London. He currently works for CNN in London.

Lili Gabadadze, B.A.

Social Media Team from 2023-2024

Lili Gabadadze joined the YJEA in 2023 and supported our Social Media team until late 2024. She is pursuing her master’s degree in European Studies at the University of Regensburg.

Raghda Jaja, B.A.

Social Media from 2023-2024

Raghda Jaja was part of the YJEA’s Social Media from 2023 until early 2024. She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies from Al Akhawayn University and is currently in the final year of her master’s studies at the University of Padova.

Sophia Khan

Social Media Team from 2023-2024

Sophia Khan joined the YJEA in 2023 and supported our Social Media activities until late 2024. She is currently reading International Relations and History at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

 

 

Emilija Krysen

Social Media Team Lead from 2023-2024

Emilija Krysen joined the YJEA in 2023 and coordinated our Social Media activities as team lead until early 2024. She is currently reading International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Alina Mehrens

Social Media from 2020-2021

Alina Mehrens managed the YJEA’s Social Media from June 2020 until October 2021. She is currently studying law at Humbold-University in Berlin.

Clara Praschl, B.A.

Social Media from 2021-2023

Clara Praschl was in charge of the YJEA’s Social Media from late 2021 until December 2023. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Munich and is currently in the final year of her master’s studies at the Graduate Institute in Geneva.

Alexandra Qvist

Project Management Team from 2023-2024

Alexandra Qvist joined the YJEA in 2023 and supported our Project Management team until late 2024. She is currently pursuing her studies in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Jakob Rindermann

Editorial Board from 2020-2023

Jakob Rindermann supported the YJEA as a member of the Editorial Board from June 2020 until December 2023. He is currently in the final stages of his B.A. in Political Science at the University of Munich.

Lara Waas, M.A.

Editorial Board from 2020-2021

Lara Waas supported the YJEA as a member of the Editorial Board from June 2020 until October 2021. She holds a B.A. in Literary Studies and Political Science and a M.A. in Political Science with a major in International Relations from the University of Munich. She currently works as a student coordinator at the University of Munich.