Institute for Democracy and Mediation Inform, Develop, Motivate for a democratic and prosperous society
Project Coordinator | Researcher
Leonie is a researcher and project coordinator working predominantly on topics such as good governance, institutional accountability, EU accession and (preventing and countering) violent extremism. Leonie has authored several articles on counter-narratives to violent extremism, reflective journalism and institutional accountability in Albania. Her current work focuses on community resilience and Albania’s progress to EU accession. In addition to her research work, Leonie takes on several communication-related responsibilities and coordinates IDM’s communications strategy. Besides her work at IDM, Leonie is an analyst at Global Risk Insights, an international political risk platform, where she writes about a wide range of security issues in the Western Balkans.
Leonie previously worked at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and the Dickson Poon School of Law in London. She holds and MA in International Relations from King’s College London, a BSc in Communications from the University of Amsterdam and a BA in Journalism from Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
Leonie is fluent in Dutch, English and Spanish, and has a basic level of Albanian and German.
Publications:
- Vrugtman, L., Takovski, A., Jusic, T, Zekavica, N. and Borovska, V. (2019, June). Role of Religion in the Western Balkans’ Societies: Country snapshots, elite survey reports and papers delivered to the conference. [Conference Volume]. Institute for Democracy and Mediation.
- Tutoni, L., Vrugtman, L. and Angjeli, D. (2019, May). Waste management in Albania: An opportunity to demonstrate commitment to EU integration. [Policy Paper]. Institute for Democracy and Mediation.
- Vrugtman, L. (2019, February 15). Future challenges of violent extremism in the Western Balkans. [Blog article]. ResPublica, Institute of Communication Studies Skopje.
- Vrugtman, L. (2018, October 16). Terrorism reporting in the Western Balkans. [Blog article]. Institute for Democracy and Mediation.
- Vrugtman, L. (2018, July 20). The challenge of female ISIS returnees in the Balkans [Blog article]. Global Risk Insights.
- Vrugtman, L. (2018, June 4). Albania’s CVE battle for ‘hearts and minds’ is not over [Blog article]. Global Risk Insights.
- Vrugtman, L. (2018, May 11). Albania’s religious harmony endures in the face of new challenges [Blog article]. Global Risk Insights.