Programme Coordinator, Wider Europe
Albanian, English, French, Italian
Tefta Kelmendi is the coordinator for the Wider Europe programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Prior to joining ECFR, Kelmendi worked as a diplomat at Embassy of Kosovo in France, where she was responsible for Kosovo’s relations with French-speaking countries and integration in international organisations. She has previous experience working with the Ministry of European Integration of Kosovo on human rights policies, with a particular focus on minority rights and integration. Kelmendi holds a Master’s degree in International Security from Sciences Po – Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA).
Leaders in Kosovo and Serbia need to dial back the nationalist rhetoric and prepare their populations for concessions – and the EU’s role in this process remains indispensable
Turkey’s strength in the Black Sea may have persuaded Russia to return to the Ukraine grain export deal. But the agreement also lends another string to its bow
Most Europeans now support Ukraine’s accession to the EU. Yet the union’s energy, economic, and security policies will need to address public fears if it is to sustain this support.
The EU needs to convince Serbia’s newly re-elected president that his country must choose between European integration and subservience to Russia
Georgia is caught in a vicious circle of polarisation and state capture. The EU should respond by explicitly linking support for the Georgian government to its implementation of concrete reforms and anticorruption initiatives.
Young diplomats in Eastern Partnership countries are optimistic and pro-European. Many of them want the EU to become a bolder geopolitical actor.
A new EUROVAX scheme should be at the heart of the EU’s new offer to help its neighbours tackle covid-19 in the years ahead
France has blocked progress on enlargement in the Western Balkans. In the Biden era, Emmanuel Macron should think again about bringing the region into the EU
Many of the EU’s neighbours are hoping it will help them secure vaccines – leaving offers from China and Russia to flood in
Young diplomats in Eastern Partnership countries are optimistic and pro-European. Many of them want the EU to become a bolder geopolitical actor.
Leaders in Kosovo and Serbia need to dial back the nationalist rhetoric and prepare their populations for concessions – and the EU’s role in this process remains indispensable
Turkey’s strength in the Black Sea may have persuaded Russia to return to the Ukraine grain export deal. But the agreement also lends another string to its bow
Most Europeans now support Ukraine’s accession to the EU. Yet the union’s energy, economic, and security policies will need to address public fears if it is to sustain this support.
The EU needs to convince Serbia’s newly re-elected president that his country must choose between European integration and subservience to Russia
Georgia is caught in a vicious circle of polarisation and state capture. The EU should respond by explicitly linking support for the Georgian government to its implementation of concrete reforms and anticorruption initiatives.
A new EUROVAX scheme should be at the heart of the EU’s new offer to help its neighbours tackle covid-19 in the years ahead
France has blocked progress on enlargement in the Western Balkans. In the Biden era, Emmanuel Macron should think again about bringing the region into the EU
Many of the EU’s neighbours are hoping it will help them secure vaccines – leaving offers from China and Russia to flood in
Milorad Dodik used the loopholes of the Dayton agreement to his advantage, to promote his secessionist ideas and take concrete steps to withdraw from Bosnia’s central institutions
Tefta Kelmendi on Bosnia and Herzegovina: the risk of implosion
Tefta Kelmendi participated in a debate on the Western Balkans
How the EU handles the launch of its vaccination certificate and how it prepares for the next episodes of vaccine diplomacy will have a major impact on the bloc’s reputation
Tefta Kelmendi, Joanna Hosa and Nicu Popescu write about write about how the pandemic has damaged the EU’s image and what the bloc can do to win the next round of vaccine diplomacy
