Dr. Oana Cristina Popa was appointed EU Ambassador to Montenegro on September 1 st , 2020. She is a career diplomat in the Romanian Foreign Service since 2002 and has been serving as Romanian Ambassador to Serbia (2016-2020) and to Croatia (2005-2009).
In 2002 she was appointed adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Euro-Atlantic issues and later, head of the North America division (2002-2003). She served as Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of Romania to Croatia (2003-2005).
From 1998 until 2002 she was Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission for
educational exchanges between the US and Romania, Dr. Popa holds a Ph.D in History and International Relations and a BA in Psychology and Education, both from the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj, as well as 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.
She is the recipient of two NATO fellowships and was a post-doctoral fellow of the Romanian Academy in the field of European Social Sciences in the POSDRU program (2011-2012). She has extensive academic and research activity in the field of International and European Studies and is the author of many papers and publications both nationally and internationally.
Dr. Popa is active for over two decades in civic campaigns related to women’s rights. She is also the recipient of several medals and awards from both Romania and abroad for her work in international relations and security in the region of Southeast Europe.