Elliniko Idryma Evropaikis kai Exoterikis Politikis (HELLENIC FOUNDATION FOR EUROPEAN AND FOREIGN POLICY)

Their core work

ELIAMEP is Greece's leading independent policy research institute focused on European integration, foreign policy, migration, and democratic governance. They produce evidence-based policy analysis on EU-Turkey relations, migration governance, populism, and security threats including violent extremism. Their work bridges academic research and policy recommendations, with particular depth in Southeast European and Eastern Mediterranean affairs. More recently, they have expanded into security research (counter-terrorism, first responder technologies) and climate resilience, reflecting the broadening security agenda in the EU's southern neighborhood.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2016-2019), ELIAMEP focused on institutional reform — gender equality audits, researcher career support, and the acute European asylum and migration crisis. From 2019 onward, their portfolio shifted markedly toward harder security topics (violent extremism, counter-terrorism, first responder technology) while deepening work on EU political differentiation, democratic backsliding, and media integrity. The addition of climate resilience (ARSINOE) and cultural heritage digitization (HOMEACROSS) signals a broadening beyond pure political science into interdisciplinary, applied research.

ELIAMEP is moving from traditional foreign policy analysis toward applied security research and interdisciplinary projects combining political science with technology and environmental resilience.

How they like to work

ELIAMEP overwhelmingly operates as a consortium partner (15 of 17 projects), contributing specialized regional expertise and policy analysis rather than leading large consortia. With 197 unique partners across 43 countries, they are a well-connected hub in European social science networks — the kind of partner you bring in for Greek/Southeast European/Eastern Mediterranean political context. Their two coordinated projects were smaller Marie Curie and ERC-type grants, suggesting they lead investigator-driven research but prefer the contributor role in large collaborative actions.

Exceptionally broad network of 197 partners across 43 countries, indicating deep integration into European policy research consortia. Their geographic focus spans the EU core, Southeast Europe, Turkey, and the MENA region — reflecting their expertise in Europe's southern and eastern neighborhood.

What sets them apart

ELIAMEP occupies a rare position as a Greek think tank with genuine research capacity — not just policy advocacy but funded empirical work on migration, democracy, and security. Their geographic vantage point in Athens makes them an essential partner for any consortium needing expertise on Greece, Turkey, the Balkans, or the Eastern Mediterranean, regions where EU policy meets migration pressure, democratic fragility, and security threats simultaneously. Few organizations combine this regional depth with the breadth of 43-country collaboration networks.

Highlights from their portfolio

• HOMEACROSS
  By far their largest grant (EUR 1.26M), an ambitious interdisciplinary project combining historical research, digital mapping, and architectural analysis of the 1923 Greek-Turkish population exchange.
• DEMOS
  Addressed one of Europe's most urgent political challenges — populism and democratic erosion — through experimental research and comparative analysis across multiple countries.
• PAVE
  Demonstrates ELIAMEP's expansion into hard security, studying violent extremism and radicalization across both the Balkans and MENA regions with a community resilience approach.