EU Ambassador and Head of EU Delegation to Montenegro Dr. Oana-Cristina Popa and Dean of the Faculty of Economics Dr. Nikola Milović will attend the official ceremony marking the start of the EU-funded Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence project, awarded to the Faculty of Economics by the European Commission. The project titled "The Challenges of the Enlargement Policy: EU versus China's diplomacy in Western Balkans 2020-23" will run for the next three years and will provide Montenegrin students with fresh insights by regional, EU and Chinese professors on the topics of the EU Enlargement policy and the effects of Chinese engagement on the European integration of the Western Balkans. Ambassador Popa, Dean Milovic and project leader professor Danijela Jacimovic will open the event, after which Ambassador Popa will hold a lecture on the topic of EU Enlargement, EU-Montenegrin relations and EU's place in the world as a global actor.

To participate in the event, registration is required. Only a limited number of sites are available. To register, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (subject: CEP registration).

The event will be held at the Faculty of Economics Podgorica, on February 24, 2021 at 12pm.

You can download the agenda HERE.

About EU Ambassador Popa:

Dr. Oana-Cristina POPA was appointed Head of EU Delegation to Montenegro on September 1, 2020.

She previously served as Ambassador of Romania to the Republic of Serbia (2016-2020) and Ambassador of Romania to the Republic of Croatia (2005-2009). Her diplomatic career included Deputy Head of Mission to the Embassy of Romania to Croatia (2003-2004), head of the North America division in the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Euro-Atlantic affairs (2002-2003).

Before joining the Romanian Foreign Service in 2002, Dr. Popa was Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission for Educational Exchanges between the United States of America and Romania (1998-2002).

In addition to the diplomatic career, Dr. Popa has a rich activity in the academic and non-governmental fields. She taught the course of International Affairs and European Integration at the "Babes-Bolyai" University of Cluj and the Western University of Timisoara (2010-2016). She is the recipient of two NATO fellowships (1997 and 2001) and was a post-doctoral fellow of the Romanian Academy in the field of European Social Sciences (2011-2012). She has published a significant number of research papers and articles, as well as delivered lectures at numerous conferences in Romania and abroad on the topic of European and Euro-Atlantic integration, regional cooperation in Southeast Europe and international security.

Dr. Popa holds a Ph.D in History and International Relations (2001) and a BA in Psychology and Education (1994), both from the "Babes-Bolyai" University of Cluj, as well as an MA in International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, US (1996). In 2007 she received a certificate in Executive Education from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, US.

She has been involved in a number of civil rights campaigns, most importantly the one dedicated to the fight against domestic violence, both in Romania and abroad. Dr. Popa was born in Cluj Napoca, Romania, is married and has a son.