EDITA TAHIRI

Chair of RWLSEE, Former Deputy Primeminister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief Negotiator, Kosovo

Edita Tahiri is former Deputy Primeminister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Dialogue, Minister of Public Administration, Peace Negotiator and Member of Parliament in five terms. She is a key founder and leader of the movement for independence of Kosovo and, was ten years Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo in hard times of liberation of her country (1990-2000). She is the President of reformist party Democratic Alternative of Kosovo (ADK).

She is a leader of independence of Kosova and has long standing career as a leader, politician, diplomat and peace negotiator. She was one of the founders and key leaders of the movement for Kosovo’s independence, the Democratic League of Kosovo, in the years 1991-1999. She is known as one of key protagonists of political changes in Kosovo and the Balkans since the end of Cold War.

She is a distinguished peace negotiator and chief negotiator in war and peace times for Kosovo and Balkan region with about 30 years’ experience. She is recognized as the only women peace negotiator in the Balkans participating in the international peace processes such as the Rambouillet International Peace Conference on Kosovo (1999), Pre-Rambouillet Peace Negotiation (1998), London Conference on Disintegration of Former Yugoslavia (1992)  and Chief Negotiator of Kosovo at the EU facilitated Dialogue on normalization of neighborly relations between Kosovo and Serbia (2011-2017). As the Chief Negotiator of Kosovo in the EU mediated peace talks with Serbia, she is the signatory of first ever-reached agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, after 20 years of peace talks.  

Dedicated to empowerment of women and WPS agenda, she serves as the Chair of the Regional Women’s Lobby in South East Europe for over 12 years. She was participant at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. She is a member of the Women Waging Peace Network and the Mediterranean Network of Women Mediators 

She graduated at the Harvard University and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School for Government in 2002. She also graduated in the Edward S. Mason program for Public Policy and Management, 2002. She holds a doctoral degree in political sciences from Prishtina University in cooperation with Johns Hopkins University –SAIS, in 2011. She was a Fulbright Scholar in 2006/2007 at the Johns Hopkins University – SAIS at the Program for Conflict Resolution. For her academic achievements, she was awarded the title “Outstanding student of 2002” by the John Kennedy School of Government Public Service Fellowship and an “Edward S. Mason Appreciation for an Extraordinary Contribution.”

She has a long-standing experience in foreign policy and security, international relations, conflict resolution, international peace negotiations, post-conflict transitions, peacebuilding, women’s empowerment and WPS agenda. Her geographical expertise covers: Kosovo, Balkans, Europe, Myanmar, Philippines, Nepal, Middle East and North Africa. She has numerous publications as author and coauthor and has been participant and lecturer in numerous international conferences and universities, and appeared with interviews in world news including CNN, BBC, DW, etc. Speaks fluently: Albanian (mother tongue), English, Croatian, Serbian and Turkish