Selection Committee
Alexandra Föderl-Schmid
Alexandra Föderl-Schmid is editor-in-chief of Austrian daily Der Standard, media partner of the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence. The first woman in Austrian history to have held such a post, she previously reported extensively on European issues, including the wars in former Yugoslavia and EU enlargement.
Föderl-Schmid brings to the Fellowship the additional benefit of her expertise in communications, in which she holds a doctorate, as well as in-depth study of the dynamics of European integration.
Drago Hedl
Drago Hedl is an editor of the Croatian political weekly Feral Tribune, known for its relentless investigation of political and human rights abuses during the most difficult period of Croatia’s recent past.Hedl was awarded the Knight International Journalism Award in 2006, in recognition of his investigations into war crimes, and remains one of the most authoritative and respected voices in the media of the former Yugoslavia. Gerald Knaus
As president of the European Stability Initiative, Gerald Knaus works from Berlin and Istanbul to lead the institute’s influential research on South Eastern Europe and Turkey.ESI’s projects, publications and policy recommendations on the development and European integration of the Balkans are of great relevance to understanding of these processes. Remzi Lani
As Executive Director of the Albanian Media Institute, an independent organisation set up in 1995 to assist the Albanian media to strengthen professional standards, Remzi Lani brings considerable training and development expertise to the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence.He is also a key figure in the Balkan media sector, having served as the first president of the South East European Network of Media Centers and Media Institutes, as well as a journalist, editor and human rights activist. Christiane Schlötzer
Christiane Schlötzer is a prominent German journalist, now serving as deputy foreign editor at the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Having joined one of the largest German-language dailies to cover domestic politics, she wen