Natalia Tellidou, postdoctoral researcher at Central European University and researcher in ELIAMEP’s Mediterranean team, participated in the annual conference of the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum in Bucharest, Romania on 24 and 25 May 2024, where she presented the Wagner group’s activities in Mali and the Central African Republic. The Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum is one of the most important conferences on security issues in the Black Sea region bringing together academics, politicians, and military. The conference is organized by the New Strategy Center with institutional support from the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, the University of Agricultural Sciences and is co-sponsored by the NATO Public Diplomacy Division.