Giorgio Fruscione is a Research Fellow at the Italian institute for international political studies (ISPI), where he leads the Balkans Desk. Before joining the Institute, he spent several years living in the Balkans, working as a freelance journalist for various Italian and international media outlets.

He holds a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Research and Studies on Eastern Europe (MIREES) from the University of Bologna, with a thesis on the Yugoslav socialist system of self-management.

His main research interests include political transition in the Balkans, the EU integration process, and the role of global powers in the region. More specifically, he has focused on Serbia's authoritarian drift, the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Russian influence in the Balkans, and the links between organized crime and state institutions. On this last topic, he co-authored a report for the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (GITOC), and since 2022, he has been a member of its expert network for Southeast Europe.

For ISPI, he has published numerous commentaries, in-depth analyses, thematic dossiers, and educational videos. He has also edited three reports and one policy paper.