Michael Safianik, director, board and corporate relations, and associate director, development and external relations, joined the Council in 2006. Prior to his association with the Atlantic Council, Mr. Safianik worked as a European Program manager at the Warsaw based Center for International Relations.

Mr. Safianik graduated from the College of Europe – Natolin Campus, Poland in 2005 with a Master of Arts in European Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies. Mr. Safianik holds also a Master of Arts in European Cultural Studies from the Jagiellonian University, Poland (2003) and a Master in International Relations from Hogskolan Dalarna, Sweden (2003).

He is a co-founder of the College of Europe Belarus Working Group which implemented a ‘European Belarus’ project in 2004 and 2005. Mr. Safianik was a visiting scholar at the George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs, the Institute for European, Russian and Euroasian Studies in 2006 and is a fellow at the Center for International Relations, Warsaw. Additional experience includes an internship with the American University of Paris in 2004. A native of Poland, Mr. Safianik speaks Polish, English and French.