Rigels Lenja is a modern Balkan historian and journalist. He is the author and a member of the Cologne Forum for International Relations and Security Policy (Kfibs). He had published regularly in regional and international media. He holds a BA in History and an MSC in European Modern History from the University of Tirana. In 2024, he defended his PhD thesis at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich on the Modern History of South and Southeastern Europe. His research focuses on modern religion, modern warfare, the history of dictatorship and democracy, and German foreign policy in the Balkans.