PANELISTS
April 24 2026, UNOV, 09:00-18:00 in Vienna
Main Theme: Securing the Digital Future: Legal, Diplomatic, and Political Dimensions of Cybersecurity in a Globalized World
Speakers
Section I
International Law and Cybersecurity
Mustafa Can Sati is a Ph.D. candidate in international law at Maastricht University and serves
as Administrative Director at the Istanbul Center of International Law (ICIL).
His research
focuses on the legal implications of autonomous weapons and artificial intelligence under
international humanitarian law. He has participated in international legal forums, including the
UN International Law Seminar in Geneva, and contributes to ICIL’s academic and training
programs, such as the Aziz Bey IHL Competition. With an LL.M from Ghent University,
Mustafa Can Sati is dedicated to advancing scholarship and practical engagement in
international law and armed conflict regulation.
Dr. Tea Jugheli is Rector of SSU, former Dean of the Faculty of Law at Georgian National University (SEU) and a respected professor of law and public governance expert in Georgia.
She holds a Ph.D. in Law and has over two decades of academic and professional experience.
Dr. Jugheli is deeply engaged in legal education reform, serving as a key contributor to clinical
legal education initiatives and externship development across Georgian universities. In
addition to her academic role, she serves as a non-judge member of the Disciplinary Committee
of Judges of Georgia and has been Chairperson of the Legal Affairs Commission of the Kutaisi
City Council since 2021. Her research focuses on constitutional law, judicial independence,
and local governance. She frequently participates in international conferences, study visits, and
expert forums, promoting legal development and transparency. Dr. Jugheli plays a vital role in
shaping legal thought and public policy in Georgia.
Dr. Otar Davitaia is Associate Professor and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law and Diplomacy at Georgian National University (SEU), with a Ph.D. in International Law from Aberystwyth University.
He teaches across law and diplomacy programs and oversees
academic development at SEU. Dr. Davitaia engages in international academic collaborations and recently participated in a Problem-Based Learning initiative at Lazarski University in Poland. His research interests include legal education, governance, and interdisciplinary legal analysis. He regularly contributes to curricular innovation and academic leadership at SEU.
Dr. Beka Dzamashvili – is the Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia and Head of the Public
International Law Department.
He has played a leading role in representing Georgia before the
European Court of Human Rights and other international legal bodies, particularly in cases
related to the 2008 war and human rights violations. He has also participated in parliamentary
hearings and reported on key legal matters, including ECHR case closures. Dr. Dzamashvili is
actively involved in international arbitration processes and legal reforms, contributing to the
development of Georgia’s legal position on both domestic and global levels.
Prof. Vepkhvia Gvaramia is Dean of the Faculty of Law and Diplomacy at Sokhumi State University, Tbilisi,
and a leading Georgian expert in international law and occupation regimes. His research focuses on the implementation of international legal norms in national legislation,
particularly Georgia’s Law on the Occupied Territories. He has authored multiple academic works,
including the 2023 publication “Implementation of the Principles and Norms of International Law in the Law of Georgia on the Occupied Territories.” Professor Gvaramia has contributed to national legal education, policy development, and public discourse on sovereignty, conflict, and international
humanitarian law. He frequently collaborates with international legal scholars and has participated in
academic exchanges with institutions across Europe. As an educator, scholar, and public intellectual, he plays a critical role in shaping legal understanding and advancing rule of law principles in
Georgia, particularly in the context of post-conflict legal frameworks.
Dr. Otar Davitaia is Associate Professor and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law and Diplomacy
at Georgian National University (SEU)
with a Ph.D. in International Law from Aberystwyth
University. He teaches across law and diplomacy programs and oversees academic development at
SEU. Dr. Davitaia engages in international academic collaborations and recently participated in a Problem-Based Learning initiative at Lazarski University in Poland. His research interests include legal education, governance, and interdisciplinary legal analysis. He regularly contributes to curricular innovation and academic leadership at SEU
Dr. Giorgi Dgebuadze Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia, is a Doctor of Law and Associate
Professor at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.
He previously served as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law, guiding international relations and research initiatives. His academic credentials
include doctoral training at the University of Cologne and the Max Planck Institute in Freiburg, and
he leads a Volkswagen Foundation project on the role of international criminal law in Georgia. Dr.
Dgebuadze’s professional experience spans consultancy to the Constitutional Court and teaching across Georgian universities. He has been appointed Deputy Minister of Justice since February 2025 and plays an active role in legal reform and international judicial cooperation.
Lika Chimchiuri an LL.B. and LL.M. graduate of the Faculty of Law and Diplomacy at Sokhumi State University in Tbilisi.
She currently serves as Assistant to the Rector and represents the
university as a United Nations Delegate for CIRID, accredited to ECOSOC in Geneva, Vienna, and
New York. An active young researcher, Lika has authored studies on cybercrime legislation,
cyberbullying, AI regulation, and post-conflict peacebuilding in Georgia and Ukraine. Her recent
work includes contributions to the Cyber Jurisprudence International Initiative and international
publications on AI governance and human rights in occupied territories. She holds the position of
Invited Lecturer at Sokhumi State University and is a Ph.D. student in Law. Lika is also a state
scholarship candidate. Her achievements include the Georgia State Minister’s Office Peace Award
for Youth 2025 – Best Peace Initiative, recognizing her innovative contributions to dialogue,
reconciliation, and sustainable peace.
Section II
Diplomacy and Cybersecurity
H.E. Mr. George Nickolaishvili, a distinguished Georgian diplomat and statesman.
He is recognized for his foundational role as Georgia’s first resident Ambassador to Cuba and his broader contributions to international diplomacy and conflict resolution. Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Cuba, Nickolaishvili served as Georgia’s inaugural resident
ambassador in Havana, where he laid the groundwork for the Georgian Embassy and fostered diplomatic relations between Georgia and the Republic of Cuba. Founder of the Georgian Embassy in Havana.
H.E. Mr. Malkhaz Kakabadze, a senior Georgian diplomat and public servant
who has played a
prominent role in Georgia’s foreign relations and conflict resolution efforts since the late 1990s. Mr.
Kakabadze served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Russian
Federation from 1998 to 2000, during which he actively engaged in negotiations related to regional
security. In November 1998, he personally signed the agreement facilitating the closure of Russian
border guard military bases and the withdrawal of their forces from Georgia. From 2000 to 2004, Mr.
Kakabadze held the position of Minister for Special Assignments on Conflict Resolution. In this capacity, he led post-conflict rehabilitation projects in the Tskhinvali region, coordinated with international bodies such as the OSCE, and helped advance agreements concerning economic restoration and return of displaced persons.
Joël Hakizimana Master of Arts in African Studies at the University of Basel, Joel is a historian and social anthropologist who served as the 1st Secretary-general of the African Diaspora Council of Switzerland.
Universal Peace Federation’s Ambassador for Peace, National Coalition Building Institution (NCBI) Switzerland’s Prize for Bridgebuilders and Swiss Janusz Korczak Prize for the Rights of the Child in the African Great Lakes Region, Mr Hakizimana is also board member of the Janusz Korczak International Association for Peace and Democracy and Secretary general of the ECOSOC NGO CIRID. Based in Geneva, he coordinates the Swiss and Global Campaign for Pan-African Citizenship.
Nikoloz Khatiashvili is a Foreign Policy Researcher and International Secretary at GeoCase and Head of the Foreign Relations Committee Staff in the Parliament of Georgia.
With 17+ years
of experience, including six in the diplomatic service, his expertise spans international
relations, democracy, security, and counterintelligence. A lecturer at Tbilisi State University,
he is the author of numerous articles and a PhD candidate researching Russia’s nuclear policy.
He is also a McCain Institute Global Leadership fellow and active in international networks
advancing democracy, security, and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration.
Mariam Bregvadze is a young researcher holding an MA in Diplomacy & International Politics
from Sokhumi State University.
She is a representative in international youth networks, engaging in academic and civic initiatives in Georgia. Passionate about peacebuilding and diplomacy, she contributes to international forums and educational projects focused on fostering dialogue and civic engagement across the region. Mariam’s interdisciplinary approach combines international policy
understanding with grassroots advocacy, aiming to enhance cooperation and mutual understanding throughout the Caucasus.
Section III
International Politics and Global Cybersecurity Governance
Prof. Dr. Rubin Zemon, An Ambassador for Peace. As an international scholar, Dr Zemon is specialized as an ethnologist and social-cultural anthropologist.
He is the Director of the Center for
Advanced Research, North Macedonia. He was a research associate at the Institute for Social and Humanistic Research “Euro-Balkan” in Skopje, and a university professor at the University “St.Apostle Paul” in Ohrid. Dr Zemon was appointed Director of the Institute for Social and Humanistic
Research at the Euro- Balkan University in Skopje. He is an expert for the Council of Europe and OSCE / ODIHR for various missions and projects related to national minorities and multiculturalism, in European countries, especially in South-Eastern Europe. Hon. Rubin Zemon is a former Member of the Parliament of North Macedonia and a Special advisor for multicultural society and interculturalism to the Prime Minister of North Macedonia. Currently, he is a fellow at the Institute of
Advanced Studies Kőszeg, Hungary.
Jody Jensen The Director of Transdisciplinary Research and Collaboration at iASK. She is a senior research fellow at HUN-REN Institute of Political Sciences.
She was the Director of the MA Program in International Relations at the Corvinus University of Budapest, and International Studies
MA Program at the University of Pannonia Kőszeg Campus where she was awarded a Jean Monet Chair in European Solidarity and Social Cohesion (ESSCO). She is the Director of International Relations at the Institute for Social and European Studies (ISES, a Jean Monet Centre of Excellence) which she helped to found. She served as the national and regional director of Ashoka: Innovators for
the Public that supports social entrepreneurs. She teaches in Hungary and abroad. She works regularly for the European Commission. Her areas of research are prefigurative and subterranean
politics, global inequalities and new social and political movements, particularly in East and Central Europe and the Balkans, and studies complexity as it translates to social phenomena and change.
Ferenc Miszlivetz The founder and director of the Institute of Advanced Studies Köszeg (ASK)
and a Jean Monnet professor.
He elaborated the innovative regional development concept, called
KRAFT program (Creative Cities, Sustainable Region). He has taught and conducted research at
various universities in Europe and the United States, including the University of Bologna, and
Columbia University in New York. He is the founder of the Institute for Social and European Studies
Foundation (a Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence). He has served as the President of the
Social Sciences unit of the Hungarian UNESCO Committee and holds a UNESCO Chair in Cultural
Heritage Management and Sustainability in Kőszeg. His research interests include democracy, civil
society, Central-European and European Studies, globalization and sustainability. Besides his
academic awards, he was several times acknowledged, such as the Ernő Pungor Award and the Order
of Merit of Hungary (civilian). iASK has won two prestigious FIABCI awards for the city
dimensional real estate development of the historic town of Köszeg
Prof. Dr. Veronika Wittman is an Associate Professor for Global Studies at the Faculty of Social
and Economic Sciences at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
She was enrolled in the PhD
Program of the Austrian Academy of Science 2000-2001and was a Junior Visiting Fellow at the
IWM in Vienna 2000- 2001 as well as a Research Visiting Fellow at the Institute For IberoAmerican
Studies in Hamburg 2006. Dr Wittman also worked at the UN Office in Ecuador in 2002. She
conducted extensive field research on numerous visits to different parts of Africa. She received her
venia legendi for Sociology at JKU in 2013. Veronika Wittman has published several books and
papers in journals and in edited volumes and has participated as invited speaker at numerous
international conferences.
Seán Cleary is Executive Vice-Chair of the FutureWorld Foundation
an Advisory Council
member of the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid, EIT Climate-KIC, Carnegie Artificial
Intelligence and Equality Initiative, and the Institute of Advanced Studies, Kőszeg; a Faculty
Member of the Parmenides Foundation; a Senior Advisor and Senior Fellow (and former Board
Member) of the Salzburg Global Seminar; a Fellow and Special Adviser of the Global Solutions
Initiative, a Diplomacy Moderator of the GenevaScience and Diplomacy Anticipator, and a Director
of Companies Between 1970 and 1985. He served on the Facilitating and Preparatory Committees of
South Africa’s National Peace Accord in 1991 and chaired the Working Group on the Code of
Conduct for Political Parties. He studied social sciences, philosophy and law in South Africa and
Iran, and has an MBA from Henley Management College. He has received academic and public service awards, co-authored Resilience to Risk (Human & Rousseau 2006) and Global Risks
(Pearson Macmillan 2007) with Thierry Malleret, and published scores of articles and book chapters,
including Cognitive Constraints and Behavioral Biases in Learning from Catastrophes: Strategies for
Reaction and Response. (Pearson 2009), and The role of universities in disruptive transition, in Fit
for purpose? The futures of universities (World Scientific 2022).
Dr. Petros Petrikkos a Cypriot academic and researcher specializing in International Relations, Security Studies, and European Affairs.
He holds a PhD in International Relations and European Studies from the University of Nicosia, an MSc in Conflict Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and a BA in International Relations from
Queen Mary University of London.