Georgios Athanasiou is a PhD Researcher in the Government and Law Research Group under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Dirk Vanheule. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Law (Valedictorian, First class honours) from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2023) and a Master of Laws (LL.M.), specialising in German Public Law, from the University of Heidelberg (2024). Moreover, he previously worked as a member of the Editorial Board of the Max Planck Yearbook of UN law at the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law. He has also worked as a trainee lawyer in Greece, dealing mainly with migration law cases.
Georgios' research interests revolve around the free movement of migrants within the EU in relation to the preservation and protection of national identities and essential state functions under the prism of EU migration and free movement law. His doctoral research focuses on the prospects of European Constitutionalism given the ongoing migration flows and the reappearance of the Nation-State inspired sovereignty in the field of immigration and on the alignment of the emerging tensions between traditional notions of sovereignty and supranational authority with EU migration policy, under the scope of EU fundamental values and rights.
Areas of Expertise:
- Migration and Asylum Law
- (Comparative) Constitutional Law
- EU Law
Selected Projects:
- 2024 - Respect for national identity and essential State functions in EU migration and free movement law