Experts & Staff

Tefta Kelmendi

Deputy Director, Wider Europe

Areas of expertise

Post-conflict state building; security and protracted conflicts in the Western Balkans and eastern neighbourhood; Kosovo-Serbia conflict

Languages

Albanian, English, French, Italian

Biography

Tefta Kelmendi is the deputy director 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).

Lost in the Dream: How the EU can end the political deadlock in Georgia

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.

How Macron can strengthen the EU in the Western Balkans

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

Publications

Articles

Lost in the Dream: How the EU can end the political deadlock in Georgia

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.

How Macron can strengthen the EU in the Western Balkans

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

In the media