Cristian Vlas is the Assistant Research Manager at the Eastern Europe desk. His previous focus was political violence in Belarus, Hungary, Moldova, and Romania. His work experience includes four years of reporting on Moldova and the Transnistrian conflict settlement for Moldova.org, monitoring of the use of small arms and light weapons in Moldova at SEESAC's Armed Violence Monitoring Platform. He also worked on reporting and advocacy with the Romanian National Council of Refugees (CNRR). Cristian has a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary, and earned his Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and European Integration from the University of Pécs, Hungary.