Jan Erik Surotchak

Jan Surotchak first joined the International Republic Institute (IRI) in 1994 and currently serves as Senior Director for Transatlantic Strategy. Surotchak oversees IRI regional programming that focuses on the key threats to the alliance of democratic societies in the Transatlantic space. He is also IRI’s lead on relationships with political parties in the European Union, in particular with the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE), the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the European People’s Party (EPP) and their various member organizations, as well as with the International Democrat Union (IDU). From 2013 to 2018, Surotchak served as IRI Regional Director for Europe and managed programming in the Baltic States, Central and Southeastern Europe, and Turkey, as well as outreach efforts to partner parties in Western Europe and institutions at the European Union level. He earned a master’s in law and diplomacy degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1987 and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1984.