Speaker

Giles Portman has been Head of the East Stratcom Task Force in the European External Action Service in Brussels since September 2015. The Task Force was established on the mandate of the March 2015 European Council and is responsible for communicating and promoting EU policies in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood, strengthening the media environment and media independence in the region, and improving the EU’s capacity to anticipate and respond to disinformation. Before this, Giles Portman worked for 12 years on EU-Turkey relations, including as chair of the EU enlargement working group that negotiated the opening of Turkey’s EU accession negotiations during the UK's 2005 EU Presidency; as Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Ankara; and as Adviser to the High Representative, later Head of Division for Turkey at the European External Action Service. He has also served on diplomatic postings to the UN in New York and to Prague, and in the UK Foreign Ministry as EU communications adviser and speechwriter to a former UK Minister for Europe. He is a member of the Council of Experts of the Democratic Progress Institute, a London based NGO working for conflict resolution, peace building and democratic advancement. He has a BA and MA from Oxford University.