About the LAN team in Hungary and Serbia

The LAN team focuses on matters relating to agriculture, horticulture, veterinary and phytosanitary matters, fisheries, nature, food safety and food quality, sustainability, circularity in agriculture, precision agriculture, urban greening and the green transition.

Koen van Ginneken- Agricultural Counsellor

Koen is helming the LAN’s activities in Hungary, Serbia, Austria and Montenegro and is based in Budapest. Together with the team, he is furthering sustainable economic cooperation in the agrifood sector between Dutch stakeholders and their counterparts in the region and functions as the liaison for government relation in the sphere of agriculture, nature and food quality. Koen holds an undergraduate degree in European law from the University of Maastricht and postgraduate degrees in international law and public policy from the University of Maastricht and the University of Cambridge respectively. Previously, Koen was posted at the Netherlands Permanent Representation to the EU as attaché for energy and later, for agriculture.

Mila Mirkovic- Agricultural Advisor

Mila is the team’s advisor in Belgrade, Serbia. Her main activities includeenhancing bilateral agrobusiness relations between Serbia/Montenegro and the Netherlands by organizing Dutch presence at agro fairs and shows, supporting trade missions as well as assisting with market access issues. Mila furthermore organises knowledge exchange through numerous seminars and workshops on  topics of mutual benefit and follows agriculture policy developments and its harmonization with the EU acquis and reports on the latest agro-developments at Agroberichten Buitenland Serbia.

Mila is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. She also finished a postgraduate program in virology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Belgrade as well as in sustainable agriculture production at the CIHEAM Institute, Italy.

Tamás Harangozó- Agricultural Advisor

In the position of agricultural advisor Tamás provides business intelligence services to the Dutch agribusiness sector. He also organizes incoming and outgoing missions on topics of mutual interest to the Dutch and Hungarian agricultural stakeholders. Building on his long history in the Hungarian public sector, he is in close contact with the Hungarian authorities on topics ranging from  agriculture and food to nature and environmental protection. He closely  follows Hungarian agricultural legislation and structural development in the agri-food sector.

Tamás has a Master’s degree in horticultural production and a PhD degree in Plant Sciences. He spent many years in the government sector including the National Food Chain Safety Office and Ministry of Agriculture where he has gained experience in starting material legislation, plant variety testing and protection, cross compliance and fair trade.

Zoltán Szászi- Agricultural Policy Officer

As the agricultural officer of the team, Zoltán handles communication, social media, policy reasearch and project management on various projects involving, among others, the economic side of agriculture policy, precision agriculture, and urban greening. He is also the editor of the pages Agroberichten Buitenland for Hungary and Serbia and the main content creator for the Hungary page, as well as the author of most of the office’s outside communications and publications.

Zoltán has an undergraduate degree in International Studies from Eötvös Loránd University, as well as two graduate degrees, International Relations and Public Policy, from the Corvinus University of Budapest and Central European University, respectively. He has a background in public service, academia and NGOs.

His love for popular culture is the reason why some of our articles might or might not occasionally include obscure Game of Thrones references.