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Dr. Elira Ademi

I am a senior country expert on the Balkans with more than 22 years of professional and academic experience in political science, migration, and human rights. My work has supported courts, NGOs, governments, and international organizations on asylum, ethnic conflict, minority rights, and post-conflict reconstruction, with deep expertise in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Croatia. I have held senior advisory roles with the OSCE and UNHCR, directed human rights monitoring during regional conflicts, taught international human rights law, and authored widely cited publications. Fluent in multiple Balkan languages and English, I regularly provide expert witness testimony across Europe and North America.

Name
Dr. Elira Ademi
Occupation
Dr. Elira Ademi is a senior country expert on the Balkan region with more than 22 years of professional and academic experience in political science, migration, and human rights. She has provided authoritative expertise to courts, NGOs, governments, and international organizations on issues of asylum, ethnic conflict, political persecution, minority rights, and post-conflict reconstruction in the Western Balkans. Her work spans Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Croatia, where she has led field research, advised policy institutions, and delivered expert witness testimony in asylum and human rights cases across Europe and North America.
Expertise

·  Expert witness testimony on asylum and refugee law

·  Ethnic and minority rights (Albanian, Roma, Bosniak, Serb communities)

·  Gender-based persecution and domestic violence risks

·  Post-conflict reconstruction, state-building, and transitional justice

·  Political freedoms, corruption, and rule of law in the Balkans

Experience

·  Senior Advisor (Human Rights & Rule of Law) – OSCE Mission to Skopje (2008–2013)
Advised on minority rights, electoral reforms, and refugee protection in North Macedonia and cross-border with Kosovo.
Contributed to OSCE monitoring reports presented to the Permanent Council in Vienna.

·  Consultant (Migration & Protection) – UNHCR Regional Office for South-Eastern Europe (2005–2008)
Conducted field research and drafted protection guidelines on asylum claims from the Balkans, with a focus on returnees and internally displaced persons.
Supported government capacity-building in refugee status determination (RSD) procedures.

·  Director of Human Rights Monitoring – Committee for Human Rights (1999–2005)
Oversaw national monitoring programs during the Kosovo conflict (1999) and the Macedonian conflict (2001).
Directed publication of the Annual Human Rights Reports, cited internationally by the European Commission, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.
Led field missions on minority rights violations, gender-based violence, and political persecution, working directly with international observers.

·  Research Fellow – ECMI (2003–2005)
Directed projects on minority participation in politics, post-conflict reconciliation, and Roma inclusion.

·  Lecturer (Part-Time) – Faculty of Law, Skopje (2000–2003)
Taught modules on International Human Rights Law and Comparative Politics.

Publications

·  Minority Rights and Political Participation in North Macedonia – ECMI Working Paper Series (2021)

·  Co-author of Annual Human Rights Report – Helsinki Committee of Macedonia (1999–2005)

·  Return Migration and Reintegration Challenges in Kosovo – KIPRED Policy Paper (2004)

Languages
• Albanian – Native
• Macedonian – Fluent
• Serbian – Fluent
• Bosnian – Fluent
• Croatian – Fluent
• English – Fluent
Ethnic groups expertise
Albanians, Macedonians, Serbs, Bosniaks, Croats, Roma, Gorani, Ashkali, Egyptians, Montenegrins, and Turks.
Religious groups expertise
Sunni Muslims (majority communities in Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia), Orthodox Christians (Serbian Orthodox Church, Macedonian Orthodox Church, Montenegrin Orthodox Church), Roman Catholics (Croatia, parts of Bosnia and Kosovo), small Protestant groups, and minority religious communities such as Jews and Bektashi Muslims
Fees
[Private to EIN members]