Analyzing Sonja Biserko’s network

Sonja Biserko of the Serbian Helsinki Committee is not a popular woman in Serbia, but she has a very powerful and influential network. Most informatively, she recently let that list slip out in open email messages. I already sent a greeting to friends of Sonja Biserko, and now in this article, I analyze 141 of 142 recipients on her email list. 

For those of us who love our national democracies as a counterbalance to anti-democratic globalist structures that give too much power to unelected bureaucrats, it is important to be aware of these powerful networks and to draw public attention to them whenever possible. I’m sending this article to all members of Biserko’s network, hoping they will get a wider and more realistic understanding of world events.

Of course, I am not claiming that all the people on Biserko’s list want an undemocratic and autocratic United States of Europe, but the majority of the people in her network appear ready to go to war to advance what they call human rights and democracy, so they love the interventionist concept of responsibility to protect, R2P. However, I am a realist when it comes to political science, and any suggestion that governments will go to war, or as they would  call it, undertake humanitarian intervention, for altruistic reasons, is utter nonsense. Nations go to war out of their specific national interests. Period.

On her list one finds a number of think tanks dedicated to the advancement of “democracy,” but those of us who really do love democracy evidently must reclaim democracy to restore the rule of the people. However, Western elites are terrified of what the people really think, as we have seen in the EU, the people of several countries have rejected government-proposed referendums several times.

Practically, when you read through this list, I have generally used italic font when I describe how these self-appointed humanitarians describe themselves. For the most part, I have removed their email addresses from this list, but for most of Biserko’s recipients, I have provided relevant links. If anyone thinks the information is incorrect, do not hesitate to contact me so I can consider a correction. And as always, this article is open for comments at the bottom.

Let me also emphasize that although people are on Biserko’s email list, they do not necessarily share the same dangerous ideology as Biserko and the Helsinki organizations, but this list gives a general idea of Biserko’s network.

PS: I have taken off one person from the list because he or she does not want to be associated with Biserko. “I’m not part of her network. I met her once several years ago and she put me on the email distribution list but that’s the extent of our interaction,” the person writes in an email to me.

Sonja Biserko is not a very popular lady, but she has a powerful and influential network around her. From top left, Pieter Feith, Knut Vollebæk, Bjørn Engesland, Tim Judah, John Clint Williamson, Sonja Biserko, Doris Pack, Kristof Bender, Florian Bieber, Harry Hummel, Wolfgang Petritsch and Maroš Šefčovič, all mentioned below.Sonja Biserko is not a very popular lady, but she has a powerful and influential network around her. From top left, Pieter Feith, Knut Vollebæk, Bjørn Engesland, Tim Judah, John Clint Williamson, Sonja Biserko, Doris Pack, Kristof Bender, Florian Bieber, Harry Hummel, Wolfgang Petritsch and Maroš Šefčovič, all mentioned below.

141 people/ organizations on Biserko’s email list:

  • Activities Eliamep, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy. ELIAMEP is an independent, policy-oriented, non-profit research institute. It serves as a forum for the study and understanding of issues relating to foreign and security policy, European affairs and international relations. It functions as a forum of debate on international issues, as an information center, as well as a point of contact for experts and policymakers. ELIAMEP conducts a number of research programs that combine specific needs and interests of policymakers with the Foundation’s own agenda. Important subjects for research at ELIAMEP include European integration; the evolution of European and regional organizations; transatlantic relations; political, economic and military developments in Southeastern Europe, the Black Sea area, the Caucasus, the wider Mediterranean and Middle East region, as well as Greek-Turkish relations and Cyprus.
  • Afrim Gashi <afrimg@gmail.com>, email sent to inquire about his link to Biserko. So far, no reply.
  • Alex Grigorev, in the board of Council for Inclusive Governance. Council for Inclusive Governance (CIG) is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan, and non-governmental institution that promotes inclusive and responsive governance. It facilitates constructive dialogue as a means of fostering interparty cooperation, interethnic accord, and interstate collaboration, and carries out analyses of contemporary policy issues. The goal of CIG activities is to build confidence in democratic institutions of governance and contribute to the cohesiveness of political systems and societies.
  • Andreas Schockenhoff, former member of the German Bundestag, died on Dec. 13 2014.
  • Andrew Oliver, describes himself as a leader on Facebook, a public figure.
  • Angelina Trajkovski, public servant at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Slovenia, LinkedIn.
  • Anne Madelain, international cooperation at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, LinkedIn.
  • Anthony Borden, founder of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, IWPR.
  • Antje Leendertse, German diplomat, Commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control. From 2009 to 2012 she was the head of the unit for the Western Balkans in the German Foreign Office, and then between 2012 and March 2014, she was the representative for Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia at the Foreign Office, see German Wikipedia.
  • Antje Rothemund, Head of the Council of Europe’s Belgrade office.
  • Antoine Garapon, at the Institut des Hautes Études sur la Justice, a private independent research institute. Its primary purpose is to serve as a forum for analysis, debate and multidisciplinary reflection on the contemporary evolutions of law and justice, in France and around the world.
    By facilitating exchanges between legal professionals, scholars, and the broader public, it aims to contribute to the development of judicial principles and the dissemination of knowledge pertaining to legal norms, judicial governance, and the philosophical and practical underpinnings of justice systems worldwide.
  • Arne Engeli, from 1993 until his retirement in 2001, he was working for the Swiss Church Aid, and he was responsible for projects in the Balkans. One of his local partners was Sonja Biserko, and they are still in touch. In Kosovo he also partnered with the Mother Teresa Society. Here he had a close relationship to Gani Demolli who died in March 2014.
  • Arta Mandro, “Women Legal Framework in Albania,” from UNESCO: In the process of women/human rights awareness and human/women rights protection med ia have a potential role as one of the powers considered by the public opinion. The way how media address a problem of gender equality, domestic violence, women discrimination and women human rights has an enormous impact on the society from both perspectives:positive and negative one.
    There have been cases in Albania that media has violated women rights because the law is something not familiar for them. But there are cases where media had given an enormous contribution against women rights violation and discrimination.

  • Asbjørn Brandsrud, Norwegian diplomat at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Berlin, Facebook.
  • Azra Dzajić Weber, trainer and consultant for diversity and intercultural skills aest ewdv-berlin.de.
  • Bjørn Engesland, Secretary General for the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. Engesland frequently appears with op-eds in Norwegian media heavily biased against Serbian, Russian or Slavic views, and I sometimes confront him, for instants when he compared Milošević and Putin in 2014. I wrote the following:
    When it comes to the criticism against the Helsinki Committee as a dangerous warmonger organization, the importance of such NGOs is often underestimated. Before NATO made war on Yugoslavia, NGOs like the Helsinki Committee were very eager to push other states to join in waging that lopsided war. I have this from my interview with Christopher R. Hill, who was the US Ambassador to Macedonia and later the US Ambassador to Iraq. Among other remarks, he said:
    “I think one of the problems was many people in the non-governmental movements, and I would say this is one of the first wars in a long time where the press and non-governmental movements were so unified in their view to wage a war.”
    An automated translation of this exchange is available (Engesland never replied).
  • Björn von Sydow, Swedish member of parliament for the Social Democratic Party, Wikipedia.
  • Angele Blaes, Financial administration and assistance, COE.
  • Bob Deen, Senior Adviser, OSCE, appearing with Knut Vollebæk.
  • Bodo Weber, Democratization Policy Council, another color revolution think tank. As they write:
    The outrage professed by European policy-makers and opinion leaders over the U.S./U.K.-led invasion of Iraq, often phrased in terms of international law and human rights, is diminished by European coziness with autocrats around the world. European capitals shared with Washington for most of this decade a weakness for the evolving dictatorship of Vladimir Putin in Russia (a romance that finally seems to have cooled) and for oil-rich dictatorships from Kazakhstan to Libya to Gabon. The European Union, while a proven engine for consolidating democratic change in post-socialist Eastern and Central Europe, has yet to develop a credible democracy promotion strategy beyond its borders as part of its Common Foreign and Security Policy. The mercantilist and amoral policies that thrive in this policy vacuum, and the perception that the EU is weak on democratization, have further undermined its authority vis-à-vis dictatorial governments.
    Well, it is not exactly democratic to support a coup d’état against a legally elected president in Ukraine….
  • Branka Magas, author, Losing the war in Yugoslavia.
  • Carole Hodge, MA, LLM, PhD, a Balkans specialist and author of Britain and the Balkans, in George Soros’ Open Democracy.
  • Carolyn Handschin, Women’s Federation for World Peace International. WFWP Chapters adhere to the principle that women, working together, taking initiative and empowering one another across traditional lines of age, race, culture and religion to create healthy families, are resolving the complex problems of our world. Ultimately “solutions” come as true partnerships between men and women are established in all levels of society. The beginning point is within society’s most elemental level-the family. From there, Peace will naturally expand, about WFWPI.
  • Charalambos Tsardanidis, Institute of International Economic Relations.
    The Institute’s main objectives are: To conduct research on the most significant contemporary issues in international economy paying special attention to the international economic relations of Greece. To provoke and enrich the public debate in business, academic and political circles. To put its expertise and consulting capability at the service of private and national institutions that determine the foreign economic affairs of Greece.
  • Christian Schwarz-Schilling, a German politician, entrepreneur, philanthropist and media and telecommunications innovator, Wikipedia.
  • Christian Tomuschat, emeritus professor of public international law and European law at the Humboldt University in Berlin and is a former member of the UN Human Rights Committee and the UN’s International Law Commission, Wikipedia.
  • Clay Cash <annualreturn@yahoo.com>, email sent to inquire about his link to Biserko. So far, no reply.
  • Clemens Koja, Austrian ambassador to Slovenia, previously ambassador to Belgrade, LinkedIn.
  • John Clint Williamson, U.S. diplomat and prosecutor, has served in a variety of senior-level roles with the United States Government, the United Nations, and the European Union, Wikipedia.
  • Christoph Retzlaff, German diplomat at the Federal Foreign Office, Head of Division.
  • David Goldberg, Facebook, likes Risk Monger.
  • Delie Efendieva, Association for Protection of Women’s Rights in Azerbaijan. As they write: Association for the Protection of Women’s Rights in Baku offers free legal counseling and assists with lawyers in legal disputes over human rights violations. The organization holds seminars on laws and human rights in several regions that do not provide legal aid. They also work to improve women’s participation in politics, carry out election monitoring and offer courses in negotiation technique, leadership and conflict resolution.
  • Dirk Sander, German diplomat, mentioned in Wikileaks, see also Google search.
  • Ditmir Bushati, an Albanian politician who has served in the government of Albania as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2013, Wikipedia.
  • Doris Pack, German politician and Member of the European Parliament (since 1989), Wikipedia.
  • Dragan Perc, at gavilon.com. As they write:
    At Gavilon, it’s anything but business as usual. We leverage our industry expertise and a vast physical distribution network to effectively connect producers and consumers of agricultural commodities. At each stage of the supply chain, we look for opportunities to decrease costs, speed time to market and realize greater operational efficiencies.
    We greet each day ready for a challenge. We don’t settle for the status quo. And we strive to earn your business day after day. Regardless of the external forces affecting our business, we Thrive On.
  • Dragan Tomić, Head of Office Mitrovica for Spark, an  organization develops higher education and entrepreneurship so that young ambitious people are empowered to lead their post-conflict societies into prosperity.
  • Eduard Kukan, served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia from 1998 to 2006, member of the European Parliament from 2009, Wikipedia.
  • Edwin Berry, UN Women, the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.
  • Elisabeth Kaestli, Swiss author, worked for an interpreter, studied first as a journalist, then the worked at the Swiss Radio SRF.  Author of Frauen in Kosova.
  • Elizabeth Roberts, South East European Studies at Oxford at St. Anthony’s College. Elizabeth Roberts was educated at Sydney University and the Australian National University.  She served as an Australian diplomat before resigning from the Australian Foreign Service on marriage and moving to the United Kingdom. She subsequently worked as a researcher in the House of Commons, and taught English in Spain and later in Serbia while accompanying her husband on diplomatic postings.  She taught Balkan History and Politics at University College Dublin and has lectured and written extensively on the Balkans.  She is the author of the first full length history in English of Montenegro and is currently working on a co-authored book on the multi-ethnic Sandžak region straddling the borders of Serbia and Montenegro.  She presently works as Dean of Studies for the Weidenfeld Scholarship Program at the University of Oxford.
  • Emel Ataktürk Sevimli, Turkish human rights and woman activist, more on hakikatadalethafiza.org. Born in 1963, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She graduated from Marmara Faculty of Law in 1988. She has been a member of Istanbul Bar Association since 1989. She is a member of and served as board member in civil society organizations like Human Rights Association, Turkey Human Rights Foundation and Helsinki Citizens Assembly. She attended trainings organized by Istanbul Bar Association Women’s Rights Implementation Center, Bosphorus University Center for European Studies and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as a participant and trainer; contributed to some of the publications prepared by these organizations.
  • Enver Djuliman, lawyer, senior adviser at the Norwegian Helsinki Committee since 1997,  specializing in multicultural understanding.
  • Eric D. Gordy, Associate Professor, Clark University.
  • Erika Kvapilova, UN Women Country Representative in Georgia, LinkedIn.
  • Erliha Bicakcic, Advisers to the Commissioner, COE.
  • Esko Männistö, Finnish diplomat.
  • Europa South-East, Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Founded in Brussels in 1983, the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) is a leading ​think tank and ​forum for debate on EU affairs,​ with an exceptionally strong in-house research capacity​ and an extensive network of partner institutes throughout the world. CEPS’ funding ​comes from a variety of sources, including membership fees, project research, foundation grants, conferences fees and publication sales.
  • Ewa Tabeau, Polish demographer, also at the Norwegian Peace Research Institute, PRIO.
    It seems like Tabeau has had some secondary motives when she has been an expert witness in the case against Ratko Mladić, as we can read in the article Prosecution rests Tomasica case by Sense News Agency.
    In an attempt to contest the finding, Mladic’s defense counsel Dragan Ivetic tried to get the witness to define ethnic cleansing and violent death.
    Tabeau replied that she understood ethnic cleansing to mean ‘actions directed at a population group’ resulting in ‘the extermination of that population’. Tabeau also confirmed that accidental death, suicide, justifiable homicide and homicide were all regarded as instances of violent death. Due to lack of information, Tabeau clarified, she was unable to distinguish between various types of violent death of the Tomasica victims.
    Defense counsel Ivetic put it to her that the Bosnia-Herzegovina Army soldiers killed in combat ‘are not victims of ethnic cleansing’. ‘Combat is combat, and I wouldn’t see them as victims of ethnic cleansing’, Tabeau replied.The defense counsel went on to contest the witness’s credibility. The witness posted a comment on the LinkedIn social network saying that in March 2014 she returned to the OTP to help ‘bring the last cases to end’. Tabeau confirmed that it had been her motive.
  • Elodie Fischer, project manager on domestic violence, COE.
  • Florian Bieber, political scientist working on inter-ethnic relations, ethnic conflict and nationalism, focusing on Southeastern Europe, florianbieber.org.
  • Francisco de Borja Lasheras,  European Council on Foreign Relations. Policy Fellow and Associate Director of the ECFR Madrid Office.
  • Frederik Stjernfelt, Danish professor and author, see Danish Wikipedia and semio2014.org for a text in English.
  • Georges Konikovic, The growth or decline of the euro, we learn these days, are directly related to the sexual life of the President of the IMF, from his article.
  • Gerd Scheuerpflug, Policy Adviser at the Bosnian institute for the development of youth, with a mission to have an open society with the empowered citizens who participate in all decision-making processes in public life.
  • Giorgos Triantafyllou, Political Scientist. Research Fellow at the South-East Europe Programme of ELIAMEP.
  • Goran Fejic, Senior Advisor, Strategy and Policy (Former staff) at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
  • Hamish Macdonald, Australian broadcast journalist and news presenter. Macdonald has previously worked at networks including Channel 4, ITV, Al Jazeera English and Network Ten, Wikipedia.
  • Hannes Grandits, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Geschichts­wissen­schaften, Südosteuropäische Geschichte.
  • Hans-Joachim Falenski, CDU expert, according to kas.de: The main speaker is Hans-Joachim Falenski, foreign policy advisor of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. High-ranking politicians and analysts from South East Europe also explain the accession perspectives of the Balkan countries.
    CDU expert Hans-Joachim Falenski also reaffirms Germany’s willingness for further expansion of the EU. He underlined that compliance of the common standards would be examined more closely for new EU candidates than it was before. An example is the sustainability in the administration: It is not permissible that after a change of government, most of the officials are being replaced – down to the lowest ranked. This is contrary to the democratic standards, and leads to the loss of valuable knowledge that has been mediated with Western help.
    Thats wonderful help with democracy knowing that the Brussels bureaucrats and European federalists want to minimize the national democracies to replace it with non-democratic globalism….
  • Harry Hummel, Executive director, the Dutch Helsinki CommitteeHarry joined the NHC in January 2010 where he is responsible for the overall policy, strategy development and human resource management. He also deals with external representation and advocacy. Among his priorities are the building of national and international human rights coalitions, aimed at increased effectiveness of civil society human rights campaigning, in particular at advocacy towards the OSCE and towards improvement of implementation of decisions of the European Human Rights Court.
  • heiff <Heiff@t-online.de>, email sent to inquire about the link to Biserko. So far, no reply.
  • Heiko Hansel, works in Control Risks, an independent, global risk consultancy specializing in political, integrity and security risk. We help some of the most influential organizations in the world to understand and manage the risks and opportunities of operating in complex or hostile environments.
  • Helmut Lippelt, born 1932, German politician for the Greens, German Wikipedia.
  • Ivan Krastev, the NGO Center for Liberal Strategies, pursuing academic depth while at the same time reacting to the current problems of the political, economic and social life in Bulgaria and taking into account the context of today’s global world.
  • Jakub Bijak, MSc, PhD, Associate Professor in Demography at the University of Southampton, worked in the Demographic Unit of the ICTY, analyzing population consequences of the 1990s armed conflicts in the Balkans.
  • Jelena Ravlić, at the Croatian ministry of defense.
  • Jelko Kacin,  Slovenian politician and a former Member of the European Parliament. During the Slovenian Independence War he was the Secretary of Information of Slovenia, Wikipedia.
  • Jens-Martin Eriksen, Danish author of non-fiction books, from jensmartineriksen.dk: Many well intentioned people seem to consider other people who are skeptical towards political Islam as suffering from a number of diseases. They are not only inhibited by xenophobia but also suffering from fear of strangers and their customs in general, as he starts his book The Democratic Contradictions of Multiculturalism. Like many other missionaries of the multicultural ideology, he attributes illnesses to his opponents. A dishonest approach.

    On July 8, Eriksen sent me an email, and I admit that I have misrepresented his book. He writes the following, my translation from Danish:
    There are “well intentioned” people thinking like that, thus using the accusation of islamophobia, and in the book, this is criticized. So, yes, you are correct that is a “dishonest approach.” The name of the book is ”The Democratic contradictions of Multiculturalism,” published in English by Telos Press, New York, and the book is available on Amazon.
    I am, as you quote an author of both fiction (many books in Serbian translation) in addition to travel books from the Balkans, among those, two books translated into Serbian, Anatomija Mržnje (Anatomy of Hate) and Scenografija Rata (Scenography or War). Fredrik Stjernfelt (
    as mentioned above in this list) was the co-author of these books.
    Thank you very much to Jens-Martin Eriksen for this information. His books would be interesting to read, especially the one about Multiculturalism.
  • Joanna Hosaniak, Deputy Director General at Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, LinkedIn.
  • Eli Jonsvik, Senior Adviser at Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, LinkedIn. Previously at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade. Extensive experience from Kosovo and Serbia. I know her as a very competent woman.
  • Jospeh Gligorov, Endocrinology, Cell Biology, Cancer Research, profile on researchgate.net. Not sure about his connection to Serbia of the Helisinki network, but see this link
  • Juha Ottman, Deputy Director General of the Department for Europe at the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs for the fixed term of 1 September 2013–31 August 2017.
  • Jukka Salovaara, Director General of the Department for Europe at the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
  • Kirsten Hawlitschek, Executive director at European Organization of Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris), previously Netherlands Helsinki Committee, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Unisono Ltd, LinkedIn.
  • Knut Vollebæk, member of the International Commission on Missing Persons Board of Commissioners and heads a government commission investigating the situation of Norwegian Travelers, Wikipedia. Norwegian foreign minister and  Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE when Norway and NATO went to war against Yugoslavia in 1999. See also my articles about Vollebæk on SorrySerbia.com. Initially, he wrote that I raise very important issues, and he has agreed to an interview. However, after I published my interview with his close friend Kjell Magne Bondevik, the former Norwegian prime minister, the professional peacemaker and the ordained Lutheran minister, who started Norway’s first war without UN mandate since 1788, I guess my chance of an interview with Vollebek is rather slim….
  • Kristian Kahrs, thoroughly presented on this website and thousands of hits in search engines :-)
  • Kristof Bender, deputy chairman of the European Stability Initiative, Europe’s think tank for South East Europe and enlargement.
    After I sent my first email, I ended up on the ESI, and before the Greek referendum, they launched a massive campaign for the Greeks to say yes in the referendum. Of course, the Greeks are first and foremost responsible for taking loans they were not able to pay back, and the Greeks have to take responsibility about lying about the state of their economy to join the Euro. However, the referendum was interesting for other reasons than the shattered Greek economy. We will see now if the EU wants to accept the will of the people, or if they once more are going to ignore the will of the people. If the EU lets the national democracies live and flourish, I am not at all certain that the EU will survive. The national conservative movements are growing all over Europe, and the Europeans should have their say if they want the non-democratic EU or not. But where would then the federalists in ESI take their money?
  • Laura Boerhout, PhD Candidate and Freelance Historian, previously Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation, Humanity in Action The Netherlands, LinkedIn.
  • Livia Cosenza, Associate Human Rights Officer at UN OHCHR Sri Lanka Investigation Team, previous, Università degli studi di Palermo, OHCHR, Human Rights Watch, LinkedIn.
  • Ljiljana Hellman, Former Research Consultant at OSCE/ODIHR, Facebook.
  • Louise Lambrichs, French novelist and essayist, Wikipedia. In 2005 she published “Nous ne verrons jamais Vukovar” (“We are never going to see Vukovar”), an analysis of the wars in the former Yugoslavia based on a study of a book by Peter Handke and her own experiences in the field of psychoanalysis.
    I have not read her book about Vukuvar, but could she have a biased and unbalanced view of Peter Handke?
  • Luca Bianconi, Head of Political Section, Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia at the European External Action Service (EEAS).
  • Maja Ifland, Executive Secretary for European policy at the federal parliamentary in the German Bundestag for the group Alliance 90 / The Greens, and she heads the Liaison Office of the Parliamentary Group in Brussels, stiftung-nv.de.
  • Manuel Sarrazin, member the German Bundestag for the Greens, German Wikipedia.
  • Maria Polachowska, Senior Producer on BBC Newsnight, Twitter.
  • Mariana Rocha <mariana_mrocha@hotmail.com>, there is a PhD student doing  Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University, but I am not sure if this is Biserko’s contact. I have sent an email to ask, but so far I have not received a reply. 
  • Marieluise Beck, German politician and member of the Alliance ’90/The Greens group in the Bundestag. She is also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Wikipedia.
  • Maroš Šefčovič, Vice President, Energy Union at the European Commission, also read the mission letter from Jean-Claude Juncker.
    While he is a powerful man when it comes to energy 
    in Europe, he does not act in the best interests of Europeans when he does everything to block a Russian south stream gas pipe. Read more about that in the article Šefčovič: Turkish Stream ‘will not work’. See also Wikipedia.
  • Marsida Grami, Ministry of Urban Development and Tourism presso Expert in European Union Integration and IPA Management Funds. Expert in European Union Integration and IPA Management Funds, European Institute of Tirana, ADRA ALBANIA, previous Tirana Aviation, LinkedIn.
  • Martina Fischer, Program Director, Southeast Europe for the Berghof Foundation, an independent, non-governmental and non-profit organization that supports efforts to prevent political and social violence, and to achieve sustainable peace through conflict transformation.
  • Mathias Dobbels, PhD Dissertation Defense: The European Parliament – A giant with feet of clay? 
  • Mehmet Kemal Bozay, Ambassador of Turkey to the Republic of Serbia since November 2012, embassy website.
  • Michael Brand, German politician for CDU, member of the Bundestag, German Wikipedia.
  • Michael Cotterall, diplomat at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Interesting link from Wikileaks.
  • Michelle Mope Andersson, wife of Ambassador Karl-Olof Andersson who served as Sweden’s ambassador to North Korea for two years. She served as a wellness and stress counselor for the United Nations Development Program in Pyongyang. She holds a degree in pastoral care and counseling, which she provided during her stay to staff separated from their families, who working under strenuous conditions and seeing difficult sights while in the North, nknews.org.
  • Milica Petrović, Associate Policy Analyst at the Migration Policy Institute Europe.As they write: Her work focused on immigrant integration policy, and in particular the governance and mainstreaming of integration policy, as well as education and labor market integration.
  • Mitja Strukelj, Director General for the international development cooperation and humanitarian assistance at the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  • James Gow, sometimes uses the initials mlmajw, professor of International Peace and Security, Department of War Studies at King’s College, London.
  • Muriel Dabiri, Documentalist, information management and archives at COE.
  • Nicholas Whyte, international affairs strategist and expert commentator, sf fan, elections analyst; tweeting here in my personal capacity, Twitter.
    Unfortunately, Nicholas Whyte didn’t appreciate this article very much. On July 8, he sent me the following email: “This is creepy and disgusting. Please remove my name from your article, and I advise you to withdraw this ill-advised piece of ad hominem analysis.”
    I am sorry, Whyte, the information in this article is taken from open sources on the Internet, and how you could think that this is ad hominem is beyond my understanding. Your name is in this article because Sonja Biserko chose to publish her email list. Probably we fundamentally disagree in most matters, but one of my strengths in politics is that I am able to have a cordial relationship with my opponents. Maybe we’ll meet one day?
  • Nicolai Sprekels, giordano-bruno-stiftung.de, The gbs is a think tank for humanism and enlightenment, which is aligned with the guiding principle of evolutionary humanism, and to which many prestigious scientists, philosophers and artists belong.
  • Nikolaos Sitaropoulos, Deputy to Director and Head of Division, Office of Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, LinkedIn.
  • Nikolay Krastev <krastev.nikolai@lycos.com> I have sent an email to inquire about his background and link to Sonja Biserko.
  • Nils Muižnieks, a Latvian human rights activist and political scientist. He has served as Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Wikipedia.
  • Nina Soumalainen, according to ninasuomalainen.fi, she has extensive international work experience from several tasks in the EU, the UN and OSCE since 1993. Her tasks included working at the UN Development Program (UNDP) office in Latvia, as an Advisor to the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, in the OSCE Field Operations Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw. In 2005-2010 she held a position at the Finn Church Aid, which is the largest development NGO in Finland, working on development policy and advocacy. In 2012-2015 she was Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, based in Sarajevo. 
  • Norma Jelačić, Head External Relations and Comms @ Commission for International Justice and Accountability; covers documenting, investigating, Twitter.
  • Olaf Boehnke, Head of the European Council on Foreign Relations, Berlin Office. Areas of Expertise: European Foreign Policy, EU enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, Turkey, The Western Balkans, Middle East.
  • Oleg Y. Egorov-Rakovski, Retired United Nations Political Affairs Officer with experience from political affairs & public diplomacy & conflict resolution, LinkedIn.
  • Olena Kifenko, International Relations Department Head at Transparency International, Ukraine, born in 1988 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. In 2011 she graduated from Kirovohrad V. Vynnychenko State Pedagogical University (M.A. in Translation Studies). Ms. Kifenko worked as a staff and freelance translator in different translation companies in Ukraine. She coordinates a number of international activities at TI–Ukraine, such as the initiative aimed at the proper implementation of the Open Government Partnership in the Eastern Europe countries ad Russia.
  • Orlando Antonini, Head of Mission at the Vatican Apostolic Nunciature of The Holy See (Vatican City) in Belgrade, Serbia.
  • Ozren Jungic,  postgraduate student at St Antony’s college, University of Oxford, at George Soros’ Open Democracy foundation, see also the Oxford History Graduate Network.
  • Paul Lendvai, a Hungarian-born journalist who became an Austrian citizen. He went to Austria in 1957, and is working as an author and journalist, Wikipedia.
  • Pavel Tychtl, a Policy Officer at the DG Communication of the European Commission, where he has been responsible for the remembrance activities organized by the Commission since 2005 and is managing the Remembrance Action of “Europe for Citizens” program. Previously, Mr Tychtl was Director of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and worked with the Czech Academy of Sciences. He has also experience in the voluntary sector, where he worked as director of the Czech Organisation for Aid to Refugees. Mr Tychtl holds a degree in sociology and social history at Charles University in Prague and New School for Social Research in New York, fra.europa.eu.
  • Pavla Maskova, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, about UN Women: In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. In doing so, UN Member States took an historic step in accelerating the Organization’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women.
  • Pekka Netso, Finish Ambassador to Ljubljana since 2011.
  • Peter Beyer, member of the German Bundestag for CDU. According to Wikipedia, Beyer describes himself as “committed Atlanticist” and “advocate of a strong transatlantic relationship”. He is a member of the Atlantik-Brücke (engl. Atlantic Bridge), and of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für auswärtige Politik (engl. German Council on Foreign Relations), both private think tanks.
  • Philipp Charwath, Deputy Head of Office of the Secretary-General at Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, LinkedIn.
  • Pieter Feith, a Dutch diplomat, formerly serving as the European Union Special Representative (EUSR) and as the International Civilian Representative in Kosovo, Wikipedia.
  • Pinar Kandemir, Director at Daily Sabah Centre for Policy Studies, Turkey, LinkedIn, about Daily Sabah:
    Daily Sabah is a nationwide publication.
    Daily Sabah presents its readers with accurate facts while remaining committed to the democracy, the rule of law, human rights and liberty.
    Founded in 2014, Daily Sabah provides millions of people with everything they need to understand the local, national, regional and international developments.
    Our publications, products and services span the spectrum of today’s media landscape.
  • Peter Weiss, member of the German Bundestag for CDU, peter-weiss.de.
  • Rada Iveković, a Croatian professor, philosopher, Indologist, and writer. Research interests include comparative philosophy  feminist theory and feminist philosophy as well as political philosophy, Wikipedia.
  • Ralf Fücks, a German politician. He has been a member of the Green Party of Germany since 1982, and he has been Mayor of Bremen. He is a member of the Green European Foundation and Heinrich Böll Foundation, Wikipedia.
  • Remzi Lani, director of the Albanian Media Institute in Tirana. They write that they have succeeded in having a substantial support from the Swiss Development Agency, SOROS Foundation, IREX, and other partners and donors.
  • Rezarta Delisula, vc chief editor at Gazeta Shqiptare, LinkedIn.
  • Sir Robert Cooper, a British diplomat and advisor currently serving as a Special Advisor at the European Commission with regard to Myanmar. He is also a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and is an acclaimed publisher on foreign affairs, Wikipedia.
  • Sandra Breka, at the Robert Bosch Stiftung, as they write, one of the major German foundations associated with a private company and has managed the philanthropic bequest of company founder Robert Bosch for over 50 years. Indeed it was his entrepreneurial vision, political farsightedness, moral fortitude and charitable initiatives that set the standards for the work of the Robert Bosch Stiftung.
  • Savet Evrope, the Belgrade office of the Council of Europe, After the democratic changes in autumn 2000, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia applied for membership of the Council of Europe.  In its Resolution (2000) 15 on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of 22 November 2000 the Committee of Ministers accepted the request and invited the Parliamentary Assembly to give its opinion on this application in accordance with Statutory Resolution (51) 30.
  • Sinno Khaldoun, leader of sector for politics, economy and integrations in Liaison Office of European Commission (EC).
  • Srđan Đurović is the founding director of the Belgrade-based independent not- for-profit policy institute Centre for Applied European Studies (CPES) and a consultant for the Fund for an Open Society, Serbia European Integration Program. Previously he was engaged with Faculty of Political Science, University of Belgrade and Fund for an Open Society, Serbia. He has directed, and co-authored a number policy research projects related to transition and EU integration in the South-Eastern Europe. He is co-author and co-editor of the FOSS’ Europeanization of Serbia publication series, including Capacities of the Serbian State (legislative, executive and state administration), Knowledge based Society and Human Rights. He is author and editor of several publications related to EU policy transfer process and most recently he has co-authored a study on the role of civil society in the processes of Europeanization of Serbia. He holds an MA degree in Political science from the University of Belgrade, balkanfund.org
  • Tanja Brilej <tania.brilej@gmail.com>, email sent to inquire about her link to Biserko. So far, no reply.
  • Тeemu Тanner, Finnish diplomat, Foreign Affairs Counsellor Teemu Tanner B.Soc.Sc. has been appointed Secretary General and Head of the Cabinet of the Office of the President of the Republic.He will be taking up the post on 1 April 2012. Mr Tanner is currently Director General of the Political Department at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where he has been employed since 1985, tpk.fi.
  • Tim Judah, a reporter and political analyst for The Economist, and has written several books, mainly focusing on Serbia and Kosovo. See Wikipedia.
  • Ton <zwaan159@kpnmail.nl>, email sent to inquire about the link to Biserko. So far, no reply.
  • Urfa Qadri, US diplomat with parents from Kashmir, Pakistan, Foreign Service Officer at United States Department of State, LinkedIn, see also interview on Vimeo.
  • Irida Varfi – Boehrer, Council of Europe.
  • Vessela Tcherneva, Program Director and Head of the European Council on Foreign Relations Sofia Office. Areas of Expertise: Foreign and Security policy, Transatlantic Relations, Regional Studies, EU enlargement, Balkans and the Black Sea region.
  • Victoria Kupsch, OpenDemocracy.net: Co-Founder and Programme Officer of the European Democracy Lab. She has a special focus on political and economic questions within the EU and euro area, questions of democratic legitimacy, structural solutions to the contemporary European social question, as well as questions connected to generational dynamics in Germany, the euro zone, and Europe at large. Victoria Kupsch previously worked for the European think tank ESI (European Stability Initiative) in Istanbul and Berlin.  She holds degrees in Communication Science, Politics, and International Relations from the University of Erfurt (Germany) and Bogazici University (Turkey) as well as an MSc. in Democracy and Comparative Politics from University College London (UK)
  • Vigor Mastruko, see his profile on Facebook, works at the Croatian Ministry of Defense.
  • Vojislav Maletić works at  Geodis, a subsidiary of SNCF (french railways) owned at 100 %. Geodis Calberson GE, belongs 100 % to Geodis Group, operator with worldwide coverage, present in 120 countries with 30 000 people. GEODIS organization in business activities ensures our customers to develop internationally with a multimodal, global and coordinated offer.
  • Wolfgang Petritsch, an Austrian diplomat of Slovene ethnicity. He was born to a Carinthian Slovene family in Klagenfurt and spent his childhood in a partially Slovene-, partially German-speaking environment. He has a PhD from the University of Vienna and was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Wikipedia.

And many of you on this list would define yourselves as progressives. So, below you can see a special greeting to you from Pat Condell:

3 thoughts on “Analyzing Sonja Biserko’s network

  1. Pingback: Misconceptions and Facts: Lies and Truth About the Business of Modeling

  2. 2012 There was 11205 Active NGO/CSO agents in Serbia and about 25 000 suporters of their subversive network. That cancer metastasizes constantly so i would guess there is about 40 000 people in network in this moment

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