ECFR Alumni · Associate Fellow
EU relations with Eastern Europe and Russia; democratisation in the post-Soviet states; Belarus; Central Asia
Slovak, English, Russian, conversational French and German
Jana Kobzova was an associate fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Her research interests include the EU’s foreign policy towards the Eastern Partnership countries and Russia, as well as democratisation and transition in the post-Soviet space.
Kobzova is based in Brussels, where she works as a policy director at Rasmussen Global. Before joining RG, she worked as a senior programme officer for an international NGO, the European Endowment for Democracy, where she oversaw the organisation’s programming in the Eastern Partnership region. Before moving to Brussels in September 2013, Kobzova was a policy fellow and coordinator with the Wider Europe programme at ECFR’s London office, where she wrote policy reports on the EU’s relations with its eastern neighbours and Russia and worked on increasing ECFR’s profile in the area and expanding the Wider Europe programme’s activities. Between 2006 and 2009 she led the Belarus democratisation programme at the Pontis Foundation in Slovakia.
Kobzova has an MA in Politics, Security and Integration from the School of East European and Slavonic Studies at University College London and an MA in Political Science from the Comenius University in Slovakia.
She has co-authored several books on Eastern Europe and the EU’s eastern neighbourhood policy and continues to write about the subject as an associate fellow at ECFR.
The outcome of last October's parliamentary elections has sent Georgia on a bumpy road of political transition. The EU can help by stepping up its engagement and gain a more impartial foothold in the country.
A new era for EU-Georgia relations?
Brussels and Kyiv have been at loggerheads for over a year and the recent EU-Ukraine summit has not broken the deadlock. Will the fling between the EU and Ukraine that is now a decade old end bitterly or will it finally mature into a real partnership?
How Europe can promote democracy in Azerbaijan
Vladimir Putin is set to reassume the reins of power in the Kremlin. But what will Russia's foreign policy be, and how should the European Union and its member states react?
As the EU and Russia hold their latest summit neither side can boast that they are in the best of health. But the summit is important for symbolic reasons – and there are several practical issues that they can address at the same time.
Russia in 2010 was as corrupt as Papua New Guinea, had the property rights of Kenya and was as competitive as Sri Lanka. As Putin readies himself to retake the presidency he must also work out how to deal with a country that is now firmly post-BRIC.
Learning to deal with a changing Russia under a familiar leader
The atmosphere between the EU and Russia has improved remarkably over the last couple of years; but – ahead of this week's summit with Russia – the EU is struggling to turn good atmospherics into tangible progress in areas that really matter.
A weakened Lukashenka means it’s time the EU started talking to Russia
A new era for EU-Georgia relations?
How Europe can promote democracy in Azerbaijan
Learning to deal with a changing Russia under a familiar leader
A weakened Lukashenka means it’s time the EU started talking to Russia
The EU needs to build a trialogue on security with Russia and Turkey
Volodymyr Zelenskiy needs to invest resources and display openess towards the Donbas region's residents.
The EU is right to demand reforms from its Eastern Partners – but its own expectations need to adjust to the region’s realities
Kyiv is making a dangerous mistake in confusing western solidarity with unconditional support for the Ukrainian government and its policies
Monday’s violent protest outside the parliament and the departure from the coalition of the Radical Party have kicked off Ukraine’s hot political autumn
The EU should stop rewarding its eastern neighbours’ promises and anchor its aid on reforms delivery
Slovakia has taken steps to diversify its economic interests away from Russia, which has altered its calculus on sanctions
Three pieces by ECFR's leading Wider Europe experts on the current situation in Ukraine, Putin's appeal for a new world order, and Germany's crucial role within the EU
It is time for the EU to stop talking, start listening and act where Ukraine needs the assistance the most: with ensuring its economic stability, laying down new foundations for the rule of law and democracy and strengthening those who advance reforms
The time has come for the EU to rethink its relationship with its biggest neighbour. Instead of talking about strategic relations with Moscow, the EU should consider a strategic pause.
The outcome of last October's parliamentary elections has sent Georgia on a bumpy road of political transition. The EU can help by stepping up its engagement and gain a more impartial foothold in the country.
Podcast de notre débat du 21 mai « Ukraine Under President Zelensky » en présence de Victor Andruziv, directeur de l’Ukrainian Institute for…
Jana Kobzova on the current state of the European Union’s policy towards its Eastern partners
Jana Kobzova writes on relations between the EU and Eastern Partnership countries ahead of the EaP Summit in Brussels
The article mentions two commentaries by ECFR experts Managing the Unmanageable: Germany and a Resurgent Russia and Western solidarity with Ukraine: Do it yourself
TVP INFO in a TV programme “Studio Wschod” broadcasts Nicu Popescu's commentaries and other conclusions of the ECFR conference in the context of the crisis in Ukraine
ECFR's report on post-BRIC Russia is mentioned in an interview with Ben Judah