Dr. Oana Cristina Popa is a career diplomat in the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with 24 years of diplomatic experience. She is currently Distinguished Fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the US, Black Sea Trust. She held ambassadorial positions as EU Ambassador to Montenegro (2020-2024), Ambassador of Romania to Serbia (2016-2020) and Ambassador of Romania to Croatia (2005-2009).
Since 2002 when she joined the diplomatic service she held other positions in the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Euro-Atlantic affairs, Head of the North America division and Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of Romania to Croatia.
Prior to joining the diplomatic service Dr. Popa was Executive Director of the US Fulbright Commission in Romania (1998-2002). She holds a Ph.D in History and International Relations and a BA in Psychology and Education, both from the “Babeş-Bolyai” University of Cluj, and an MA in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, US. In 2007, she received a certificate in Executive Education from Harvard University, US.
She is the recipient of two NATO fellowships on security and regional cooperation in Southeast Europe (1997 and 2001) and was a POSDRU post-doctoral fellow of the Romanian Academy for EU enlargement and EU accession (2011-2012).
She has extensive academic and research activity in international and regional security, trans-Atlantic relations and EU enlargement, and is the author of many
papers and lectures nationally and internationally.
She is the recipient of several medals and awards from Romania and abroad for her work in international and EU affairs.
Dr. Popa is active for over two decades in civic campaigns related to the fight against domestic violence.
