I joined the University of Glasgow in 2017 as Co-Convener of the KINPOL Centre for the Study of Kin-State Politics. Since then, I have held teaching positions at Royal Holloway University of London, Boston University, and the University of Derby, and previously taught at UCL’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies and the Graduate School for Social Research at the Polish Academy of Sciences.

My interest in kin-state politics began in 2002 while studying in Budapest during Hungary’s national election campaign. Witnessing the public enthusiasm for Fidesz’s Act on Hungarians Living in Neighbouring Countries proved a turning point in my academic trajectory. This experience inspired my doctoral research at University College London, where I examined the Act’s broader political and legal implications for diversity governance.

My research has continued to focus on kin-state–kin minority relations, combining empirical investigation with theoretical analysis to understand how states engage with external co-ethnic communities. Through my work at European Centre for Minority Issues, Royal Holloway and the University of Glasgow, I have sought to contribute to a deeper understanding of the dynamics, policies, and politics that define these transnational relations.

Educational background:

PhD Political Science, University College London

MA Sociology, Lancaster University/ Central European University

MPhil Sociology and Politics (Polish equivalent), Graduate School for Social Research, Polish Academy of Sciences

BA Sociology, University of Bucharest

My research examines the renewed prominence of ethnopolitical conflict in international politics, focusing on kin-states and the role of ethnicity and territoriality in shaping their foreign engagement. Situated at the intersection of identity politics, security studies, and international ethics, I have conducted conceptual research into kin-state responsibility, normative analyses of the accommodation of cross-border ethnic communities in inter-state relations, alongside contextual and comparative qualitative studies of how identity is instrumentalised in foreign policy to construct, challenge, and sustain power within international politics.

My research has been supported by grants investigating the evolution of kin-state politics in Hungary, Romania, Poland, and Southeast Europe. These projects have informed publications that explore how kin-state responsibility is articulated across Europe and examine the scope and limits of kin-state engagement. More recent work focuses on security dynamics, analysing how kin-state–kin minority relations are framed and mobilised within broader regional and global security contexts. 

Research groups

• Central & East European Studies

List by: Type | Date

2023 – PI: Department Reid Research Grant (RHUL)

               Project: ‘Justice, Security and the Kin-state’

2022 – Co-applicant/RCoI: ESRC Impact Acceleration Grant (University of Glasgow)

               Project: ‘Integration through Minority Participation: Addressing Challenges                               to Social Cohesion in Post-Covid Europe’

2018 – 2020 Co-I/ Acting Lead Researcher: Research Grant (University of Glasgow)

              Project: ‘Poland’s Kin-state Policies: Opportunities and Challenges’ (Noble                                 Foundation Programme on Modern Poland)

Impact and engagement

In recent years, I have co-organised and contributed to a range of knowledge exchange initiatives involving key stakeholders, including the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Scottish and German governments, the Government of Kosovo, and representatives of national minority communities.

In 2022, I also served as a research consultant for the Council of Europe’s joint programme with the European Union, Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II.