Team & Contact

Dr. Sonja Schirmbeck has been managing the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Office for Croatia and Slovenia since July 2021. Previously, she was the Director of the FES Office in Vietnam, focusing on climate and energy policy. She worked in Berlin at the FES Department for Central and Eastern Europe. After spending time in several Arab countries, she completed her PhD in the field of international relations.

Ružica Budimir has been working at Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung since 2000. She is person for finance and accounting at the Zagreb Office. Ružica’s life principles are: justice, equality, and punctuality.

Tijana Defar is one of the co-founders of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Office in Croatia, which was established in 1996. Her main focus is promoting democracy. She is currently working on projects in Croatia and Slovenia which promote social democracy. Tijana is also is intensely involved in approaches to citizen’s participation in the decision-making process.