Dr. Florence Ertel

Since April 2025

• Postdoctoral Researcher at the Chair of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region within the project Authoritarian AI: How large language models are adapted to Russia's propaganda funded by the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt)

November 2018 – July 2025

• Research Associate and PhD Candidate at the Jean-Monnet-Chair of European Politics, University of Passau, (Prof. Dr. Daniel Göler)
• PhD project on "European issues in election campaigns: Opportunities and challenges of applying blended reading methods in European integration research” (thesis defence on 6 February 2026)
• Research, including the Jean Monnet Network EUCON: The EU and the EEU Between Conflict and Competition, Convergence and Cooperation and the
• DFG-Project Web archiving

Since February 2023

• Lecturer at Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
• EU external relations and international business

September 2022 – March 2025

• Director Science Hub for Europe and Strategic Advisor to the University Vice-President for Europe

November 2018 – June 2021

• Research Associate at the Chair of Digital Humanities (Prof. Dr. Malte Rehbein)

May 2016 – October 2018

• Online News Journalist at Passauer Neue Presse

2010 – 2016

• University of Passau Bachelor's and Master's degree in Governance and Public Policy

Ertel, F. (forthcoming). French and German political and public discourses facing the return of geopolitics. In D. Deschaux-Dutard et al. (eds.), The stumbling blocks in the Franco-German strategic relationship: Legacy, misunderstandings and challenges. De Gruyter.

Ertel, F., & Gassner, S. (2026). EU permacrisis through national lenses: A blended reading analysis of Austrian and German election manifestos (2002–2025) using BERTopic and LLM. Austrian Journal of Political Science, 50(1), 1–41. https://doi.org/10.15203/4242.vol55.2026.

Ertel, F., & Göler, D. (2025). Gemeinsame Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik. In W. Weidenfeld & W. Wessels (eds.), Jahrbuch der Europäischen Integration 2025 (pp. 379–394). Nomos. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748950950

Ertel, F., & Plottka, J. (2025). Der Krieg in der Ukraine und die Zukunft der Östlichen Partnerschaft: Geopolitische Chancen für die EU. In W. Gieler & M. Nowak (eds.), Deutschlands Ukraine-Politik – Strategie und Risikoeinschätzung in den Bereichen Entwicklung, Außenbeziehungen und Sicherheit (pp. 167-186). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-47697-7_11

Ertel, F. (2025). La géopolitique dans la présidentielle de 2022: Analyser les campagnes électorales avec le blended reading. Allemagne d’aujourd’hui, 251, 160–172. https://doi.org/10.3917/all.251.0160

Ertel, F., & Göler, D. (2025). European defence: Developments, challenges and gaps in institutions, instruments and strategies. In M. Jopp & J. Pollak (Eds.), The lackluster worldpower: The European Union’s geopolitics (pp. 53–77). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74587-4

Ertel, F., & Plottka, J. (2025). A macropolitical risk analysis of Kazakhstan: Recent changes in the internal and external context of a Central Asian state. In C. E. Sottilotta, J. Campisi, J. Leitner, & H. Meissner (Eds.), Routledge handbook of political risk (pp. xxx–xxx). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003456117

Ertel, F., & Göler, D. (2024). Gemeinsame Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik. In W. Weidenfeld & W. Wessels (eds.), Jahrbuch der Europäischen Integration 2024 (pp. 387–394). Nomos. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748940845

Ertel, F., & Plottka, J. (2024). The European Union’s foreign policy facing war in Ukraine: Security dimension in the future role of the Eastern Partnership. In P. Ertl (Ed.), Security through unity: Europe’s status after Ukraine crisis (Publication Series of the National Defense Academy 18/2024). National Defense Academy.

Plottka, J., Ertel, F., & Stellwag, M. (2024). Die EU vor der Erweiterung: Sicherheitspolitische Prioritäten für die Wirtschaftsstandorte Deutschland und Österreich. Wirtschaftspolitische Blätter, 1, 43–61. https://doi.org/10.2478/wpbl-2024-0011

Plottka, J., Ertel, F., Crawford, C., & Stellwag, M. (2024). Potentiale deutsch-österreichischer Kooperation zum Umgang Europas mit den Folgen des Klimawandels. Analysen und Argumente (No. 520). Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. https://www.kas.de/documents/252038/29391852/Potentiale+deutsch-%C3%B6sterreichischer+Kooperation+zum+Umgang+Europas+mit+den+Folgen+des+Klimawandels+%281%29.pdf

Plottka, J., & Ertel, F. (2024). The status of Transnistria and neutrality: Major obstacles for Moldova’s EU accession and little incentives for reforms. NEXT4EU: Perspektiven auf Moldaus EU-Integration. Institut für Europäische Politik. https://iep-berlin.de/site/assets/files/3637/next4eu_publication_transnistrien_plottka_ertel.pdf

Ertel, F., & Plottka, J. (2024). Re-united in diversity? Challenges and opportunities in the dialogue with Gagauzia for Moldova’s EU accession. NEXT4EU: Perspektiven auf Moldaus EU-Integration. Institut für Europäische Politik. https://iep-berlin.de/site/assets/files/3637/next4eu_publication_gagausien_ertel_plottka.pdf

Ertel, F., & Göler, D. (2023). Gemeinsame Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik. In W. Weidenfeld & W. Wessels (eds.), Jahrbuch der Europäischen Integration 2023 (pp. 351–356). Nomos. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748939405

Ertel, F., et al. (2023). Using web archives for an explorative study of the web presence of German parties during the European election 2019. Quality & Quantity, 58, 603–625. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-023-01654-3

Ertel, F., & Plottka, J. (2023). Internal and external political contestation in Kazakhstan: Analysing political risks of the Kazakh president’s foreign and economic policy response to demonstrators’ demands. Wirtschaft und Management: Schriftenreihe zur wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Forschung und Praxis, 33, 19–36.

Ertel, F., & Göler, D. (2022). Gemeinsame Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik. In W. Weidenfeld & W. Wessels (eds.), Jahrbuch der Europäischen Integration 2022 (pp. 353–358). Nomos.

Reiter, F. (2022). Die Rolle der Europawahl 2019 in der Online-Medienberichterstattung: Eine blended reading Analyse am Beispiel von Spiegel-Online. Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft, 2, 839–864. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41358-022-00325-3

Göler, D., & Reiter, F. (2021). Gemeinsame Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik. In W. Weidenfeld & W. Wessels (eds.), Jahrbuch der Europäischen Integration 2021 (pp. 343–348). Nomos.

Göler, D., & Reiter, F. (2021). The Bundeswehr in German newspaper coverage: Using text mining for analysing strategic culture. German Politics, 32(2), 209–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2021.1937602

Göler, D., & Reiter, F. (2020). Gemeinsame Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik. In W. Weidenfeld & W. Wessels (eds.), Jahrbuch der Europäischen Integration 2020 (pp. 357–362). Nomos.

Göler, D., & Reiter, F. (2019). Gemeinsame Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik. In W. Weidenfeld & W. Wessels (eds.), Jahrbuch der Europäischen Integration 2019 (pp. 325–330). Nomos.

Göler, D., & Reiter, F. (2019). “Let’s archive!” Die Dokumentation internetbasierter Daten als neue Herausforderung für die europäische Integrationsforschung. Integration, 42

(4), 321–328. doi.org/10.5771/0720-5120-2019-4-321

2026

• Ertel, F. (2026). Artificial Intelligence as Geopolitical Power? The Role of Russian Large Language Models in Armenia, Georgia, and Moldova. Conference Presentation. British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies BASEES Annual Conference 2026, Birmingham, United Kingdom, April 10 – 12.

2025

• Ertel, F. (2025). French and German Public Opinions Facing the Return of Geopolitics. Conference Presentation. University Association for Contemporary European Studies UACES 55th Annual Conference 2025, Liverpool, United Kingdom, August 31 – September 3.
• Ertel, F., Plottka, J. (2025). Diverging Strategic Cultures as an Obstacle to a Security and Defence Dimension in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood? Conference Presentation. International Council for Central and East European Studies ICCEES XI World Congress, London, United Kingdom, July 21 – 25.
• Ertel, F. (2025). A Political Risk Analysis of Kazakhstan: Recent Changes in the Internal and External Context of a Central Asian State. Conference presentation. International Studies Association ISA 66^th Annual Conference 2025, Chicago, United States, March 2 – 5.

2024

• Ertel, F. (2024). La Géopolitique dans la campagne électorale Européenne de 2024: Une analyse des programmes des partis en Allemagne et en France. Conference Presentation. CIERA-Internationale Tagung Die geopolitische Wende der EU-Außenpolitik: Perspektiven nach den Europawahlen 2024, Passau, Germany, October 17 – 18.
• Ertel, F., Plottka, J. (2024). Geopolitical Challenges of EU Foreign Policy in the Wider Neighbourhoods: Kazakhstan in Focus, Conference presentation. DKU International Conference Central Asia’s Transformations: Politics, Economics and Society, Almaty, Kazakhstan, September 6 – 9.
• Ertel, F., Plottka, J. (2024). Recent Changes in the Internal and External Context of a Central Asian State. Conference presentation. British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies BASEES Annual Conference 2024, Cambridge, United Kingdom, April 5 – 7.

2023

• Ertel, F. (2023). Le discours géopolitique dans les présidentielles en France en 2022. Conference Presentation. CIERA-Colloque International: Le retour de la géopolitique en Europe. La France, l’Allemange et l’UE face aux nouveaux défis internationaux. Metz, France, November 22 – 23.
• Ertel, F., Plottka, J. (2023). European Union’s Foreign Policy facing War in Ukraine – the Future Role of the Eastern Partnership. Conference presentation. Civil-Military Relations Conference 2023 “Security through Unity: Europe’s Challenges after Ukraine Crisis”, Vienna, Austria, September 13 – 15.
• Ertel, F., Plottka, J. (2023). Views from Central Asia and the Caucasus: Kazakhstan, Armenia and Russia. Conference presentation. The European Union, Eurasian Economic Union and the Belt and Road: Perceptions, practices and risks in Eurasia, Budapest, Hungary, May 12 – 13.
• Ertel, F., Plottka, J. (2023). Changing Perceptions in EU-EEU Relations: A Driver for Changing Foreign and Defence Policy. Conference presentation. British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies BASEES Annual Conference 2023, Glasgow, United Kingdom, March 31 – April 2.
• Ertel, F., Plottka, J. (2023). Zeitenwende: Sudden Change or Tipping Point of a Long-term Trend of Changing Perceptions? Paper accepted. 6^th International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP6), Toronto, Canada, June 27 – 29.

2022 (formerly Reiter)

• Göler, D., Reiter, F. (2023). Military ethics and popular culture: An analysis of movies about military missions of the German Bundeswehr. Conference presentation. International Society for Military Ethics in Europe EuroISME 2022 Annual Conference, Budapest, Hungary, May 18 – 20.

2021

• Donig, S., Eckl, M., Gassner, S. Reiter, F., Rehbein, M. (2021). Blind Spots & Silent Pages - Distant Readings of the Archived Web. Conference presentation. RESAW - A Research Infrastructure for the Study of Archived Web Materials 4^th Conference, Remote, June 14 – 18.

2020

• Eckl, M., Donig, S., Gassner, S. Reiter, F., Göler, D. Rehbein, M. (2020). Der Event Crawl als Ansatz für den Aufbau von Webarchiven am Beispiel von politischen Wahlkämpfen. Conference presentation. 7. Jahrestagung des Verbands Digital Humanities im Deutschsprachigen Raum, Paderborn, Germany, March 2 – 6.

2019

• Reiter, F., Eckl. M., Göler, D. (2019). Big-Data-Challenges: Web archives as database for political science? A case study on the framing of European issues during the Bavarian regional election 2018 and the European Parliament election 2019 – first results. Paper accepted. 4^th International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP4), Montreal, Canada, June 26 – 28.