About
Andrei Popoviciu is an independent investigative journalist, foreign correspondent, audio producer, videographer and photographer covering human rights, humanitarian crises, conflict, international development and foreign affairs stories across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. His work was featured in Lighthouse Reports, Al Jazeera English, the Telegraph, New Lines Magazine, Foreign Policy magazine, the Associated Press, In These Times magazine, Washington Post, El Pais, IRPI Media, Libération, Le Monde, the Guardian, Der Spiegel, the New Humanitarian, VICE World News, Christian Science Monitor, Middle East Eye, El Diario, Voxeurop, Tagesschau, Forbes Africa, the Calvert Journal, Publico.pt, Scena9, PressOne, Libertatea and other media.
He has reported from over a dozen countries, including Palestine, Israel, Senegal, The Gambia, Lebanon, Chad, Moldova, Mauritania, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, among others. Andrei earned his bachelor's degree in international relations and war studies from King's College London and his double master's degree in journalism and international human rights and humanitarian law from Sciences Po Paris. He completed his hostile environment and first aid training as a Rory Peck Trust grantee.
You can reach him at andrei.victor.popoviciu [at] gmail [dot] com
AWARDS
Ján Kuciak Award for Investigative Journalists (2022) for covering the arsenal of technologies deployed at the EU’s external borders to pushback asylum-seekers (winner)
One World Media New Voice Award (2022) for exposing human rights violations against asylum-seekers at the EU’s external borders (finalist)
De Tegel Award in the Foreign News Section (2022) as part of an international team of journalists for exposing human rights violations done with EU funds in Romania, Croatia and Greece (winner)
Amnesty International Marler Media Award for Human Rights (2022) for exposing human rights violations done with EU funds in Romania, Croatia and Greece as part of an international team of journalists (finalist)
Fetisov Journalism Award for Contribution to Civil Rights (2022) as part of an international team of journalists for exposing human rights violations done with EU funds in Romania, Croatia and Greece (winner - 1st place)
Signal Gold Award and Listener's Choice (2022) in the documentary category for an audio story about a mysterious medical condition called resignation syndrome, putting thousands of asylum-seeker children to sleep for year in Sweden published with Kerning Cultures Podcast (winner)
IJ4EU Impact Award (2023) as part of an international team of journalists for exposing human rights violations done with EU funds in Romania, Croatia and Greece (winner)
IJ4EU Impact Award (2023) as part of an international team of journalists covering the plight of foreign students in Ukraine in the aftermath of the Russian invasion (finalist)
Superscrieri Awards (2023) in the opinion section for a piece about Romania’s different standards towards refugees depending on where they come from (finalist)
Forbes 30 under 30 (2023) on the Media & Marketing list
BIRN Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence Award (2024) for a piece investigating corporate and political interests in real estate development in a rapidly developing city in Romania (3rd prize)
Livingston Award for International Reporting (2024) for an investigation, co-published in In These Times magazine and Le Monde, into EU migration funds in Senegal (finalist)
European Press Prize (2024) in the migration journalism category for an investigation into EU migration funds in Senegal, co-published by In These Times magazine and Le Monde (winner)
One World Media Award for Freelance Journalist of the Year (2024) for coverage of Africa published in In These Times, Al Jazeera, Le Monde, New Lines and Foreign Policy (finalist)
Superscrieri Awards (2024) longform feature article of the year for an article about a Romanian artist who founded an artists' colony in Israel on the ruins of a Palestinian village (winner)
One Young World Award for Journalist of the Year (2024) for a body of work published in 2023 on Africa (finalist)
Journalism Excellence Award (2024) for coverage of the plight of Ukrainian Roma refugees fleeing Ukraine after the Russian invasion in 2022 (finalist)
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Journalism Prize (2024) for a collaborative investigation on how EU-funds facilitated abandonments of Black African migrants in the Sahara desert (finalist)
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Journalism Prize (2024) for an investigation into how an EU-funded counter-terrorism unit was used to quash pro-democracy protesters in Senegal (finalist)
FELLOWSHIPS, TRAINING & GRANTS
Lighthouse Sessions for Investigative Journalists (2021) masterclasses in OSINT, storytelling, money trails and other investigative research and reporting techniques.
Hostile Environment and First Aid Training (2022) with First Option Safety Consultants in the United Kingdom thanks to a Rory Peck Trust bursary.
BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting (2022) working on a collaborative investigation with journalists from Central and Eastern Europe while attending trainings on OSINT, money trails and data journalism.
Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence (2022) from the Balkans Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) to investigate corporate interests in real estate development in a rapidly developing city in Romania.
Press Fellowship to the Democratic Republic of Congo (2022) from the United Nations Foundation to report on public health, disease eradication and surveillance.
Artist-in-Residence (2022) at Atheer Radio Station and Goethe-Institut Ramallah, Palestine to help Palestinian youth produce audio essays about life under occupation.
Investigative Fellow (2023) at the Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting to report on EU investments in border and migration management in Senegal for In These Times magazine.
Journalismfund Cross-Border Investigative Grant (2024)
Investigative Journalism for EU (IJ4EU) Freelance Cross-Border Grant (2024)
Henry Nxumalo Foundation and Viewfinder Grant for Investigative Reporting (2024)