Oana Lungescu is Distinguished Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). The longest serving NATO Spokesperson (2010-2023), the first woman and first journalist to hold the post, she directed alliance communications during the most turbulent period in a generation, providing strategic advice to two Secretaries General – Jens Stoltenberg and Anders Fogh Rasmussen. She was responsible for NATO’s public messaging and chief speechwriter, playing a critical role in NATO’s approach to Russia and China, the accession of Finland and Sweden, and operations from the Western Balkans to Afghanistan and Libya. She pioneered at NATO the concept of “pre-bunking” disinformation in the run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She was awarded a NATO Meritorious Service Medal in 2023.She joined NATO after 25 years at the BBC World Service, where she covered EU and NATO affairs as Europe correspondent. A German national, she was born and educated in Romania under the communist dictatorship.