Our members

Niina Ratilainen has been a councillor on the shore of the Baltic Sea, in the Turku City Council since 2012. Besides City Council, she is a board member of the leading energy company in Southwest Finland and a board member of the Green Party in Finland.

She has a master’s degree in Baltic Sea Regions Studies and Sustainable Development. She works at the children’s rights organisation Plan International Finland as an advocacy specialist.

Her political passions are combatting climate crises, climate justice, gender equality and human rights.

Tine Radinja has been Mayor of Škofja Loka since December 2018, leading the civic list Lista Prijatelji Loke-Skupaj naprej. Previously, as Deputy Mayor, he oversaw HR, and social, cultural and sports policy.

He worked as a Social Development Consultant for the World Bank in the Middle East and North Africa and advised the League of Arab States on an NGO platform.

Member of the CoR since 2022, serving on SEDEC and NAT commissions, he led as rapporteur on both the Future of Youth Policy and Intergenerational Fairness opinions, promoting EU policies that place the youth at the heart of decision-making.

Since 2002, Kirstine Bille has chaired various committees in local council: planning, development and culture, families, schools and institutions. She is currently the vicechair of the Economic committee in Syddjurs.

She is member of the International Committee in KL-Local Government Denmark. As CoR member since 2010, she has engaged especially in NAT.

Kirstine has recently retired from her job as a teacher of technical English in vocational training after 33 years and lives in a rural area with her husband. Spends her spare time watching birds and enjoying food and wine!

Dr Photoula Hadjipapa is a General Medicine Doctor. She is the Mayor of Lakatameia Municipality since 2017.  She is a member of the Council of Nicosia District Local Government Organization, the Board of Directors of the Nicosia Development Company and the Intermunicipal Company of the Municipalities of Nicosia, and she is the President of the Cyprus Healthy Cities Network.

Since December 2024, she participates as a full member at the European Committee of the Regions.

Florian Hassler is State Secretary for Political Coordination and Internal Affairs of Baden-Württemberg.

After studying political science, economics and public law in Freiburg (Germany), Aix-en-Provence (France) and Bamako (Mali), he was in charge of the office of a Member of the European Parliament. In 2011, he returned to his home country and moved to the Baden-Württemberg State Chancellery, leading the office of Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann.

Before becoming State Secretary, he worked as Head of the Strategy Department in the Ministry of State for Principle and Planning, Europe, Social and Integration Policy.

Zdeněk Hřib has served as Chairman of the Czech Pirate Party since November 2024. He is also a Prague City Assembly Member and has been a Member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic since October 2025. Previously, he served as First Deputy Mayor of Prague (2023–2024) and Mayor of Prague (2018–2023).

A graduate of the Third Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague, he helped introduce IT solutions into the Czech healthcare system. His current priorities include urban mobility, transport infrastructure, digitalisation of public administration, e-health, and energy policy. He has received international recognition for supporting democracy and human rights.

Erika (Eka) von Kalben is Vice-President of the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament since 2022. Before that, Eka was the leader of the Greens’ group in the Parliament for ten years.

In parliament she is committed to European affairs and rights of people with disabilities.

In the CoR, Eka focuses on agriculture and health-related topics.

Anna Kebschull is the district commissioner (Landrätin) of the Osnabrück county.

She studied chemical engineering and joined the German Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) in 2009. Anna started as a local councillor and was elected into her current position in 2019.

Her thematic priorities are climate change, public transport, digitalisation, economic development, education, health, protection of biodiversity in close cooperation with agriculture.

Mairita Lūse is board member of PROGRESIVIE and environmental activist committed to advancing sustainability, gender equality, social inclusion, and civic engagement.

With additional experience in national governance, she focuses on waste management, services for young parents and children in non-family care.

Nejc Smole has been committed to community work since he was a child. In a society that all too often succumbs to egoism, he passionately believes that the only true answer is community, in all its forms and shades.

As the Deputy President, he strives to connect the Ljubljana urban region. As the Vice President of the Association of Municipalities of Slovenia, he continually emphasizes that the only right path is from the bottom up.

For the past two years, he has also taken on his most important roles to date: being a father and a husband.

Born in 1972, Kyriakos Xydias is a Physics graduate of the University of Athens. He worked as a department head at HOCHTIEF AG during the construction of Athens International Airport, later served as a Parliamentary Associate in the House of Representatives of Cyprus (2001–2010), and taught Physics in secondary schools (2010–2016). He was Mayor of Germasogeia (2017–2024) and was elected Mayor of Amathountas Municipality for 2024–2029. He also serves in several local  bodies, including the Union of Cyprus Municipalities. He is married to Marina Dimitriou, and they have two daughters.

Dan Boyle was first elected to Cork City Council in 1991. He returned in 2019, and is responsible for Environment, Amenity & Water. In 2024 he became the first ever Green Party Lord Mayor of Cork.

From 2002-2011 he served in the lower & upper houses of the Irish Parliament and was Deputy Leader of the upper house from 2007-2011. He also served as National Chair of the Green Party/Comhaontas Glas. Boyle served on the bureau of the National Forum on Europe and helped to establish Green Foundation Ireland.

He has written three books on Green and Irish political history.

Stefan has been a member of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2010, with one year interruption. He is chair of the committee of European and international affairs and member of the budget and finance committee. In his previous mandate, he has been chairing the Commission dealing with the impact of Brexit on North Rhine-Westphalia.

Stefan’s motivation to enter politics was to fight pollution and discrimination, and he engages to reconcile economy and environment.

Marko Funkl is co-founder of the Institute for Economic Democracy, which cooperates with many foreign experts, and the author of various professional articles on cooperatives.

He is an advocate for democracy in his town and succeeded with numerous initiatives, including the initiative for the establishment of the Hrastnik Youth Centre and the municipal newsletter.

Dr. Stavros Hadjiyiannis is the first Mayor of the newly established Municipality of South Nicosia–Idalion.

He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and brings over 20 years of experience in research, innovation, and higher education. Throughout his career, he has led and contributed to more than 50 national and European research projects, authored numerous scientific publications, and co-invented seven patents.

He currently serves on the Boards of the Union of Cyprus Municipalities and the Nicosia District Local Government Organisation, and was previously an active Municipal Councillor involved in numerous local governance initiatives.

Emanuel Herold is an elected member of the Bremen Parliament since 2023.

He is spokesperson of the Green group on economic policy, ports and shipping policy as well as European affairs. He also is spokesperson of the Committee of European and International affairs of the Bremen Parliament. Prior, he has been working as a staff member of the Green group. Before that he worked as local assistant to MEP Helga Trüpel.

His political work is particularly focused on the decarbonisation of industries, circular economy, sustainable shipping, and energy transition.

Mätta Ivarsson is a regional councillor and group leader of the Greens in the Skåne County Council.

She has been active in the Swedish Green Party (Miljöpartiet) since 1996 and was drawn to regional politics through her interest in environmental issues, sustainable travel, research and innovation.

Her thematic priorities are climate change, mental health and equal access to primary care.

Jennifer Jasberg is a Member of the Hamburg State Parliament (Bürgerschaft), representing the constituency of Bergedorf.

She serves as spokesperson for remembrance culture and the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Prior to her parliamentary work, she worked at the European Parliament and in senior positions within public administration in Schleswig-Holstein.

Her political focus includes democratic participation, historical education, social cohesion, and environmental and climate policy.

Renata Kosec is mayor of Domžale, a town of 37 000 inhabitants North-East of Ljubljana.

She has a Master’s degree in defence studies, and completed the London School of Public Relations, the Young Managers Programme and the IEDC Bled School of Management. Before being elected mayor in November 2022, she was senior advisor for public relations, and since 2014 deputy mayor for almost two full terms.

She focuses on discrimination, inclusion (people with fewer opportunities), inclusion of youth in local policital decision processes, environment issues and civil protection.

Cllr Jack Murray is a Sinn Féin representative from County Donegal, Ireland. A former Cathaoirleach (Mayor) of Donegal County Council, he has served on the Northern and Western Regional Assembly since 2014.

Through his work on the European Committee of the Regions, Jack is focused on addressing regional imbalance in Ireland and securing greater investment for the North West, a region that has historically lagged behind other parts of the island.

As a committed Irish republican, he believes in building a new, united Ireland based on equality, opportunity and respect for all.

Niklas Nüssle is member of the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg since 2021.

He grew up in the small town of Wutöschingen, just a few hundred meters from the German-Swiss border. He studied chemical- and bioengineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Since 2019, he serves as elected local and regional councillor in his home region.

As member of the state parliament, he focuses on the topics of European affairs and railway infrastructure.

Before being elected Mayor of Hannover in 2019, Belit was member of the State Parliament of Lower Saxony (2013 to 2019), where he acted as spokesperson for local and domestic policy, migration, sport, network policy and data protection. From 2011-2014, Belit was a councillor in Hannover’s City Council and deputy group leader.

He is committed to an open and participation-oriented society. A car-free city centre, a modern urban transport policy, fostering cultural development and intercultural coexistence play a central role in in his current mandate.

Belit is also Deputy Vice-President of the German Association of Cities and is active in the international association Mayors for Peace.

Vito Parisi has served as Mayor of Ginosa (Apulia, Italy) since 2016, representing the Movimento 5 Stelle.

He is Vice President of the Italian National Association of Municipalities (ANCI), responsible for Local Public Transport, Urban Traffic and Sustainable Mobility, and served as Vice President of the Province of Taranto until June 2026.

An architect by training, he focuses on urban regeneration, landscape protection, hydrogeological risk mitigation and sustainable mobility. He has promoted the regeneration of Ginosa’s historic centre, green infrastructure, cycling networks, pedestrianisation, stronger social services, and initiatives supporting legality and social anti-mafia values.

Henna Partanen has served as a city councillor in Espoo since 2012.

She has also held positions as the 1st vice-chair of the Espoo City Board, chair of the Facilities and Housing Section, and chair of the Green group in the Wellbeing Services County Council of Western Uusimaa. She has previous experience in the Espoo Environment Committee and the Urban Planning Committee. An architect by training, she brings expertise in the built environment and urban development to her public service.

She actively works for a more pleasant and vibrant city and for the protection of local nature, while advocating for climate action and social justice.

Stephen De Ron is a lawyer and a civics teacher. He is passionate about the intersection of legal knowledge and education.

He is part of the Green Executive Committee of the Greens Luxembourg, where he advocates for a greener future.

Chrysanthos has been Deputy Mayor of Famagusta since 2017 and member of the Famagusta Municipal Council since 2007.