Residence Belliard, Rue Belliard 205
1040 Brussels, BELGIUM
TEL +32 2 7423016
Glyn Ford
Director
In over 25 years in the EP Glyn Ford developed an unrivaled expertise on East Asia as a Member of the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committees. This interest started even before his election to the European Parliament (EP), when he was a visiting Professor in ‘Science and Technology Policy’ at Tokyo University. Immediately after his Japanese experience, he was elected at the EP and became a member of the Delegation for Relations with Japan. His interest expanded over the years to South Korea (he was the Rapporteur on EU-Korea Science and Technology Agreement), China, and the rest of East Asia (he was rapporteur on the EU-ASEAN FTA). He was appointed by the Council of Ministers as the EU’s Chief Election Observer in Indonesia (2004) and Aceh (2006/7)…
Marialaura De Angelis
Senior Advisor
Marialaura is an international relations analyst with a solid expertise on Northeast Asia and extensive experience on EU external affairs, mediation-support, and dialogue facilitation. A passionate advocate for peaceful conflict resolution, she has been involved in peacebuilding efforts on the Korean peninsula since 2008.
In 2008-2009, she worked at the European Parliament where she gained first-hand experience of intergovernmental relations between the EU and Japan, China, and the Korean Peninsula. Between 2009 and 2014, Marialaura focused on EU-East Asia Trade and Political negotiations–helping European and Asian policy makers overcome the political and cultural barriers to achieve constructive dialogue.
In 2011, she was at the forefront of the creation and development of a Track 1.5 dialogue aimed at adapting the Irish peace process to the reality of the Korean Peninsula crisis, in collaboration with London-based Inter Mediate. In 2017, Marialaura joined the Korea Negotiation Initiative (KNI), a collaborative effort devoted to facilitating a negotiated resolution to the Korean nuclear crisis.
Marialaura’s collaborations include platforms such as The Northeast Asian Economic Forum (NEAEF) (2010-2016), and projects such as “Creating an International Network for Peace Studies and Research: Peace Lessons from Europe for the Korean peninsula” hosted by the Leiden University College in The Hague (since 2017); and the Stakeholders Consultations on the Korean Peninsula Crisis hosted by the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) (since 2016). Her research and written contributions focus on promoting innovative diplomatic solutions to secure peace and denuclearisation in Northeast Asia, with a special focus on EU and US diplomatic efforts in this region.
Since 2021, she has been a regular contributor to NK Pro and Korea Pro online news outlets. In 2022, she was selected as a fellow in the program hosted by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) for emerging Korea Peninsula specialists, where she researched the topic of US-DPRK nuclear negotiations in the current security environment. In 2024 she was selected to be a fellow with the Pacific Forum and the East-West Center in Hawai’i to research the impact of cultural frameworks on US-DPRK nuclear negotiations.
Guillermo Gallent
Programme Coordinator
Guillermo is a Spanish political analyst with a background on EU-Asia relations. He holds a Bachelor’s in East Asian Studies from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a Master’s in International Relations from the Barcelona Institute of International Studies. Guillermo has also studied in Ryukoku University (Kyoto, Japan) and Seoul National University (South Korea).
At Track2Asia he is responsible for public relations, project management and administration.
Ilia Bekou
Programme Assistant
Ilia is originally from Greece and holds a BA in International and European Studies from the University of Macedonia (Greece) and an MSc in Crisis and Security Management from Leiden University (Netherlands). She was a trainee at the External Policies Unit at the EPP Group in the European Parliament, focussing on Indo-Pacific and African affairs.
At Track2Asia Ilia provides administrative and logistical assistance.