Sonja Schiffers studied European Studies and International Relations in Maastricht, Berlin, St. Petersburg and Bordeaux. She obtained her Ph.D. in International Relations at Freie Universität Berlin in February 2021. Her dissertation dealt with Russian and Turkish illiberal external influence in Bosnia and Georgia. Sonja Schiffers works at the Heinrich Böll Foundation and has served as a member of the Advisory Board to the German Government for Civilian Crisis Prevention and Peacebuilding and as an election observer with OSCE/ODIHR.

Research Interests

• Russian and Turkish Foreign Policy
• EU Enlargement and Eastern Partnership
• Democratization and Autocratization