Viljar Veebel is a researcher who has been researching in the University of Tartu, the Estonian School of Diplomacy and the Tallinn Technological University. He defended his Ph.D. in 2012 at the University of Tartu, focusing on the European Union pre-accession policy and the European Neighbourhood Policy. Since 2013 he has been working at the Estonian National Defence Academy as Associate Professor of Social Sciences. Viljar Veebel is also actively participating as a consultant in European Union related projects in Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine and the Balkan area in development cooperation projects in cooperation with the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Estonian School of Diplomacy and the Swedish International Development Agency. He is also participating in an active media debate on European Union enlargement and the relations of the Baltic States with Russia and the European Union.