Krzysztof Strzałka PhD - political scientist, historian and career diplomat. He received a Master's degree in history and post-graduate diploma in management and business from the Jagiellonian University. He also studied law at the same university and graduated (MA) with distinction in international relations from the “La Sapienza” University of Rome (Faculty of Political Science). He holds a PhD in humanities (1999).
Since 1999, assistant professor at the Department of International Relations of the Jagiellonian University (Institute of Political Science and International Relations) and then (since 2005) at the Institute of European Studies (now the Institute of European Studies) of the Jagiellonian University. From 2005 to 2015, he also worked as an assistant professor at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Department of European Studies).
After completing diplomatic and consular application, he was at the same time employed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (as a career diplomat and an appointed official in the Civil Service). In the diplomatic service, he served, among others, as 1st Secretary of the Polish Embassy in Rome (2000-2005), Counsellor in the Department of Europe, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Milan (2008-2012). From 2013 to 2018, he worked first in the Department of Cooperation with the Polish Community and Poles Abroad and then in the Department of Public and Cultural Diplomacy, where he was deputy director and then head of the department. From 2018 to 2023, he served as Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the Slovak Republic. He has been working in the Strategy Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2024. On 1 January 2026, he was appointed to the highest rank in the Polish diplomatic service – titular ambassador.
He has received scholarships from the Foundation for Polish Science, the Lanckoroński Brzezie Foundation, NATO and the Italian government. He collaborates with British, Spanish, Italian and Slovak universities.
Author of one monograph and dozens of publications on international relations, European politics, Polish-Italian relations, Holy See diplomacy and history of diplomacy in Polish, Italian and English.
Main areas of interest: EU and NATO policy in the Mediterranean; European policy coordination; Foreign, security and European policy of Italy; Diplomacy and international policy of the Holy See; Religious freedom and religion in international relations; Public international law and diplomatic law; Modern diplomacy and diplomatic protocol; Public and cultural diplomacy and soft power; International relations theory and foreign policy theory.
